Lessons from Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson is without a doubt the most successful pop star of the last few years. She's sold over 15 million albums worldwide and won a slew of awards including several Grammys.

Her success to date has been a fairy story, but recently things have been going wrong for Kelly. A highly publicized fight with her record label and tepid reviews for her soon-to-be-released album were the start. More recently she fired her manager and canceled all of her summer tour dates due to poor ticket sales.

The story of how Kelly got from there to here is a manual of career 'dont's.'

It all started with Kelly wanting more autonomy. So far so good.Many of us know the feeling of wanting to be stretched at work, wanting to push for more challenging goals, so we can empathize.

To this end, Kelly decided she wanted to write all her own music for her third album . But here's where she broke my first rule of career management...

Rule #1 - Know Your Limitations.

It isn't enough to just say you want to write your own album (or get a promotion to Manager or take on a challenging new project) if your skills are not up to par. The smart move is to seek help from people who can help you get where you want to go. Having sold millions copies of her last CD, Kelly could surely have called on any number of wonderful songwriters to help her polish her material, but she chose not to. The result is a sub-par album and a cancelled tour.

Don't make this mistake in your own career. Don't push for promotion past the point of your current abilities. Instead, define your goals, and then identify who can help you learn the skills you need to get there. Set a realistic time frame and work towards your goal a little every day. In no time at all, you'll be where you wanted to go, and you'll have the skills necessary to succeed.

Rule #2 - Listen to feedback - both good and bad.

Kelly's label didn't like the new music and asked her to reconsider some of the song choices. They offered to bring in professionals to help her tweak her songs. But she resisted, saying "I’ve sold more than 15 million records worldwide, and still nobody listens to what I have to say. Because I’m 25 and a woman," 

It would have been one thing if that was the reason - but it's not. Most of the songs really are objectively not very good. Listening instead of resisting might have enabled Kelly to find a compromise that would have kept her bosses happy and advanced her own skills, ultimately giving her more power over her career in the long run.

Keep this in mind: You will have much more power to determine your future success if you listen to criticism and learn from it. One day, having developed your skills and minimized your weaknesses, you will be in a position to walk away from the people who may have been keeping you down. But if you refuse to listen to those who point out your flaws, you will never be ready for the step you so badly want to take.

Rule #3 - Never let a disagreement with your boss escalate into a full-blown fight.

In several interviews, Kelly made it clear that she refused to compromise. It seems that neither she nor the label looked for a middle ground where both could feel they had won. This puts her label just a much at fault as she is, but the reality is that they are in charge so they get to make the rules.

The same applies to any of us. Our bosses can always overrule us. Or they can humiliate us in public. Or they can demote us. Or worst case, they can fire us. If you disagree with your boss, be smart about what you try to get from the situation. Accept that you are not in a position of power, and then see if a compromise can be reached - a compromise that brings you closer to your ultimate goal.

Rule #4: Don't air your dirty laundry in public.

As the disagreement escalated, Kelly told Elle magazine that she hated the idea of singing her new single on the American Idol charity show designed to raise money for African AIDS victims:

"My label wanted me to sing 'Never Again' and I was like, to promote yourself on a charity event is beyond crass," Clarkson said [...] "And believe me, everyone wanted me to sing it. Because they are jaded and they have no soul."

Her disagreement was certainly more than valid and she won the argument, but what good can come from publicly embarrassing people who will presumably be working to make her CD a success?

The takeaway? If you disagree with your boss, your co-workers or your company, never say things which may humiliate them. Argue and discuss and negotiate in private, but once you step out into the outside world, you must never express your true feelings. Because you will always diminish yourself in the process.

I like Kelly Clarkson very much, so I hope she comes out of all this in a better place than she is right now. But in the meantime, she's providing a step-by-step guide in how NOT to advance your career.

Cross-posted on Blue Sky Resumes Blog

Comments

[Deb Dib]

Louise, stellar post. This is a great comparison that jobseekers and career managers of any age can relate to!

[Amanda]

I can appreciate the effort to make parallel comparisons between Kelly Clarkson's career and the typical everyday careers most of us have, but Kelly Clarkson is in a completely different position in her career than most of us are and the parallels just can't be made.

When it to comes to our everyday jobs, more often than not in these days of paranoid corporations worrying about litigation, negative feedback is often a purposeful misrepresentaiton meant to cover up for their own exposure/liability due to it's known previous mistreatment of an employee. So I wouldn't advise most workers to just accept negative feedback at face value without questioning whether there is an ulterior motive in giving it.

When it comes to expressing your true opinions about work issues on the job that may differ from those of bosses or co-workers, it may be impossible to have a private conversation in many situations. Often, during meetings, employees are called upon to give immediate opinions to bosses and co-workers. Today's employees are no longer walking on eggshells at work and truth is something that deserves a fair hearing. If we are truly a society of strong individuals, whether at work or not, we should be able to tolerate hearing the truth. Brown-nosing only keeps a negative status quo in ... status quo. Forward-thinking employers will be EAGER to hear differing opinions and challenge their own pre-conceived notions. Bosses who only want "yes-men" around them are in for a stagnant company with dark secrets which need to be hidden in every corner.

As far as Kelly Clarkson goes, good for her. Her honesty may cause her to "pay an unfair price" TEMPORARILY (due to the arrogance of those who would try to guide her in the direction that only benefits THEM); however, in the LONG RUN she will fare much better for not being a patsy. I predict that Kelly will come out on top, even if she experiences a temporary dip for now. And kudos to Kelly Clarkson for calling a LIAR a LIAR.

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I am running a small internet marketing business as my side business. This has helped me cut time when I’m free from my busy schedule. I really get satisfaction when I am my own boss.

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I disagree with her not compromising. She gains respect, and keeps herself who she is instead of being all about the money. If anything, it helps her sell more records in the future.

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