Last night my son's band performed for the first time with a new member. The new guy is a lead guitar player and the band has been struggling to communicate with him. Although he is a talented player, he isn't a team player. He doesn't listen to the music being played by the other three and attempt to blend, rather he tries to "out play" the others with his wild electric guitar solos.Yesterday as they set up and rehearsed, the bass guitar's dad mentioned that the new player needed to turn down his amp so that their blend would be improved. The new player took that to mean, "Your music is too loud, sonny," and so he turned UP his amp.
The result - he overpowered the vocals and all of the other instruments.
I realized that it wasn't just the older generation not communicating with the younger, but even within his own peer group - there was a struggle to get the message across.
Sometimes we have an employee or a customer that is like that. No matter who gives the message or how we give the message, they just aren't willing to hear. Like an alcoholic who hasn't yet admitted to having a problem, we need to first help them realize there is an issue before we can talk about solutions.
In this case, the new band member will shortly be looking for yet another new band to overpower. What happens in your neck of the woods? How do you handle those who are difficult to reach?
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