Out Prepare Your Competition
A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to see a presentation by David Rosenthal. He has been Billy Joel's keyboardist and Band Leader for the last 20+ years. David's keynote was about how he was able to accomplish amazing things, not by having more talent, but rather by out preparing his competition. The story of landing the gig with Billy Joel resonated with me. The tale illustrates how preparation can be the difference between success and failure.
David had an accomplished career before getting an audition to work with Billy Joel. He was a talented musician who had toured with Robert Palmer and other rockstars. He shared an experience from an audition when they asked him what he would do if the lead singer's guitar string broke. David began to improvise and played to fill time so the string could be repaired. He ended up getting the gig. Later, David asked what made them choose him over the other musicians, and he learned that nobody else played anything when asked that question. Everyone answered with what they might do, but David was the only one that just started playing.
My favorite part of the talk was about what made the difference in landing the gig with Billy Joel. It wasn't talent; it was the preparation before the second audition. First, David had to have the skills to make it through to the callback. The thousands of hours spent learning, practicing, and refining his chops that ivory keys accomplished that. He was worthy of being on stage with the greats, but so were many of the others.
David did receive the call to return for a final audition. Billy had narrowed it down to David and one other keyboard player. To give himself the best possibility of getting the gig, David continued to prepare even after besting all but one of his competitors. At the first audition, they had been asked to play on a new electronic keyboard that was cutting edge. Knowing he had only scratched the surface on what was possible with the instrument, David called around New York City to find a music shop with the exact model keyboard in stock (this was well before the days of YouTube tutorials). He spent hours at the music store reading the manual and experimenting to see how he could use the instrument to its full potential.
David's performance landed him the gig he has had for the last two decades. The time spent reading the manual, learning the features, and practicing them allowed him to utilize the new tech to its full potential, and he stood out above his competition. David is a masterful pianist, but he will tell you that it was the preparation that made the difference in his career. This lesson is valid in all walks of life. The difference between an all-star and just playing in a professional league is preparation. Bennie Fowler is a perfect example of that. He is the only NFL player to catch passes for points by both Eli and Payton Manning and caught Payton's last throw in Super Bowl 50. Beanie is an impressive human to be in the presence of when it comes to physical strength, but so are all his peers. What separated Beanie and David was the same thing that made Michael and Kobe champions. The mamba mentality. None of them ever stopped working on getting better.
