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September 14, 2007 by  

I never tire of reading about Rick Rubin: record producer, musician, co-head of Columbia Records and the man big music hopes will save their industry. To me, he’s also a larger-than-life embodiment of self-awareness as core to business leadership. I call it D.R.I.V.E.

Discernment

”Lars” — Ulrich, the drummer — ”will play two things for me, and I’ll say, ‘This one is great and that one is terrible,’ ” Rubin recalled. ”Lars will say: ‘How do you know? They both sound good to me.’ Well, I just know. The right sound reaches its hand out and finds its way. So much of what I do is just being present and listening for that right sound.”

Radical

I have no training, no technical skill — it’s only this ability to listen and try to coach the artist to be the best they can from the perspective of a fan.”

Intention

Though Rubin maintains that his intention is simply to hear music with the fresh ears of a true fan, he has built his reputation on the simultaneously mystical and entirely decisive way he listens to a song.

Vigilance

”Columbia is stuck in the dark ages. I have great confidence that we will have the best record company in the industry, but the reality is, in today’s world, we might have the best dinosaur. Until a new model is agreed upon and rolling, we can be the best at the existing paradigm, but until the paradigm shifts, it’s going to be a declining business. This model is done.”

Enthusiasm

I would take the train from Lido Beach into Manhattan, and I’d hang out in magic shops. When I was 14, I had magician friends who were 60. I learned a lot from them — I still think about magic all the time. I always think about how things work, the mechanics of a situation — that’s the nature of being a magician.”

Via NYT Select

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Filed under: career, Consciousness, going solo
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