Three Things My Friend Jimmy Buffett Taught Me About Life
and Business
Buffett was as talented
an entrepreneur as he was a musician, author, sailor, and aviator. He never
forgot about keeping successes and failures in perspective.
Jimmy Buffett. Photo: Getty Images
Everyone
who ever worked with Jimmy Buffett, and I did, will tell you the
same thing about him. Which is that they took far more away from the
experience--however fleeting it may have been--than simply a love for the guy
and his music. He was every bit as successful an entrepreneur as he was an entertainer,
and he brought the same focus, passion, and enthusiasm to whatever he did.
The
insiders' joke was that he was about the
least "laid-back" guy you were ever gonna meet. Whether it
was music, his Margaritaville-themed businesses, charity, or politics, it was
the same story--if he was in, he was in 110 percent, and he did everything with
a vengeance. Jimmy was direct, down-to-earth, and deliberate in his dealings
with you whether you were a peasant or a prince, although he never paid
attention to those kinds of distinctions. And that openness, attitude, and approach
never changed over the more than 30 years that I knew him.
So,
it's a little surprising to hear from so many people that they had no real idea
that he was such a substantial businessman in addition to being a great writer
and musician. I'm reluctant to add "philosopher" to the encomium
because he always hated it when anyone used such "high-falutin'"
terms to describe him. He was thoughtful and certainly took a great deal of
pride in his craft and worked his butt off to make that happen.
But he
was also amazingly modest and always said that he was just one of the guys who
got far luckier than he ever expected or deserved. And, he'd usually add that
the luckiest thing in his life was his family. I know he usually meant his
immediate family, but there were plenty of others in his various circles who
felt that familial bond as well and knew that--if the need ever arose--he'd be
there for you.
There
are dozens of lines in the lyrics that mean a great deal to millions of
listeners as they applied his folksy and touching wisdom to their own lives,
but very few that related to business as opposed to his mostly imagined
aquatic, romantic, and intoxicated lifestyle. However, if there's an
entrepreneur alive whose long, lonely nights and life on the road doesn't
resemble Come Monday, I'd
like to meet him. In any case, here are the three most important things
that Jimmy shared with me over several projects and many years.
1. Your
work is what you do, not who you are.
It's
difficult for any new business builder to separate himself from the
business--the best entrepreneurs never leave much of anything at the office at
day's end--and taking things personally and to heart is critical to their
eventual success. The ones who care the most win. But maintaining a healthy
distance between what you do and your own identity and self-worth is crucial to
your mental health.
And
when you're a celebrity, and a walking lifestyle, like Jimmy was, it's even
harder sometimes to remember to separate your public "persona" from
the work and the audience's response. No one's "happy-go-lucky" all
the time--it's not part of the human condition. Performers face a far more
immediate and regular test of their efforts every time they cut a record,
perform, write something, or offer new material to the world because the
world--especially these days--is a picky and nasty place. When he faced criticism,
complaints, and even outright rejection or disappointment, Jimmy always took a
step back and said that he could only do his best and that, as long as he did
that, he could live with whatever came after. Success is fleeting, but
excellence is forever. His work was a wonderful part of his life, but making a
living was only a part of making a life worth living.
2.
Take your work seriously, but not yourself.
It's
easy as an entrepreneur to convince yourself that the weight of the world is on
your shoulders, that everyone inside and outside of the company is depending on
you, and that the work you're doing is the most pressing and important work
around. And it's sadly too short a step for too many people to translate that
actual and awesome responsibility into the belief that your shit doesn't stink.
An entrepreneur needs plenty of self-confidence, but that power and passion
need to be tempered from time to time with some self-awareness as well.
Jimmy
could always laugh at himself. He'd sometimes catch himself pressing a little
too hard, lecturing out loud, or even pontificating, and--full
stop--he'd just shut up and shake his head and say: "Where'd I go
wrong?" or "Who is this guy anyway?" He knew he could get caught
up in the work and in the moment, and he would never compromise the take or the
music or the project. But he'd often take himself to task, take a short
break and a mental reset, and then come back--a little sheepishly--and hit
things twice as hard.
He
knew that, from time to time, the person most likely to get in the way of
moving things forward was Jimmy Buffett, and he always kept an eye out for
times when he thought he was getting too full of himself or ahead of the game.
3.
Never expect to get what you give--not everyone's heart is as big as yours.
I'm
not sure that Jimmy ever got enough credit for his charitable work--not just
the music appearances at all the big-deal group events over the years--but the
gestures and the sleeves-rolled-up time he devoted quietly to a number of
causes, people, and charities that were personally near and dear to his heart.
But--unsurprisingly--not everyone else in these ventures lived up to their end
of the bargain, delivered on their promises, or even showed up when they said
they would. What was completely amazing to me was how he never let these
disappointments get him down, interfere with what he needed to do, or even
break his belief that most of the people out there were solid citizens,
well-intentioned, generous, and willing to help others in need. It would have
been so easy to get angry, to hold a grudge, or to say, along with the
Who, "We won't get fooled again" and
walk away. But he never did. He didn't measure, he didn't compete, he didn't
lose his faith, and he never stopped giving back. He did everything he could,
never expected anything in return, and never tried to impose his contributions
and commitments on others.
There's
never a best way to say goodbye or to close a piece like this, but I'm sure
that Jimmy wouldn't mind if I take a line from Now and Forever which Carole King wrote
in 1992: "We had a moment that will last, beyond a dream, beyond a
lifetime." We'll be together, now and forever.
SEP 5, 2023