A Study of Personality and Leadership Styles among Members of a Rock Band

Musicians, in a very real sense, are entrepreneurs, and their bands, likewise, are in essence, small businesses. Snyder (2012) actually offers an online course of a similar name in which he helps musicians understand this additional role and responsibility, and recognize that beyond the art, they also have to consider the business aspect of their organization. Various small, medium, and large companies in virtually every industry have been studied for decades, examining multiple factors including organizational structure, leadership, and style. However, the music industry has seen relatively little research, although bands, regardless of genre, would almost all fall in the category of a small business. Perhaps the reason is that musicians have not historically been considered "entrepreneurs", and their bands have not generally been thought of as a business. Conducting research on this venue, and in particular, the personalities and leadership styles found in this type of organization, can open a new avenue of research into small organizations. Personality is one of the most frequently reported influences on human behavior, and has been referred to as the "the essence of a human being" (Hall & Lindzey, p. 9). Individual personalities range from calm to aggressive, loud to quiet, extroverted to introverted. Personalities can be defined at the extremes, or somewhere in between, and have also been shown to be inherent or situational. Personality defines who people are and how they act towards and with others. Another important factor which is often used to define an individual is their approach to leadership. Leadership is defined as the ability to influence a group for the sake of achieving a vision or goal (Stogdill, 1948). Leadership can have a significant iinfluence on relationships and group behaviors. Previous research has also related personality and leadership, including whether leadership traits are acquired or inherited (Ruvolo, Peterson, & LeBoeuf, 2004; Olson, 2009). This research examined the relationship between personality and leadership, both from a general point of view as well as how these factors apply to members of modern day rock bands, specifically examining the relationships members have with each other and the way roles are defined in a band. Specific questions attempted to determine who is generally identified as the leader of the band, whether personality affects leadership roles in a band, and what personality and leadership attributes should a member have to be a better leader in their business--their band. The remainder of this paper identifies supporting and relevant literature, presents the methodology used in this study, and discusses the findings of a series of interviews with various band members. Implications, suggestions for further research, and limitations are also presented. LITERATURE REVIEW Musicians as entrepreneurs, bands as businesses Hauge (2012), in associating musicians as entrepreneurs, stated it rather succinctly that, "To become entrepreneurial mean that musicians undertake commercial activities that are necessary for artistic creativity and performance" (p. 1). She goes on to explain the nature of musicians, and their inevitable progression towards entrepreneurship: People who establish a life project have an all-consuming interest and vision. Musicians' life project is their artistic universe, represented by their talent, creativity and desire to create outcomes such as new songs, albums, live shows, festivals, sound studios, and record companies. Becoming entrepreneurial is thereby a strategy and perpetual activity where musicians commercialise fragments of their life projects. This process develops through the choices they make in order to realize a pathway into an imaginable future where music is doing business, and business is doing music. (Hauge, 2012, p. 2). A recent study by Coulson (2012) examined bands in north eastern England, among other aspects, specifically looking at "the accidental nature of their enterprising work lives" and "the musicians' understanding of the entrepreneurial nature of their work" (p. …