The other day, Michele and I were talking about my past experience as a manager. When I first started out, I did everything for my clients. I found employment opportunities for them. I helped them write songs. I helped them pick their roles. I even went so far as to create an entire vision for their careers, developed strategies for them to attain that vision, and then implemented that strategy on their behalf – what a manager is typically supposed to do.
However, since then, God has given me a new perspective. My original purpose in becoming a manager was to not only create opportunities for success for up-and-coming talent, but also to protect them – to protect them from the snakes in the grass who would try to harm them in the entertainment industry. What I’ve come to realize is that, in trying to protect them, I actually harmed them. My overprotective nature kept them from growing, from learning the business, from becoming more responsible for their own careers. Sort of like a parent, I spoiled them so much that they didn’t appreciate what hard work, commitment, and dedication really meant. I created a situation where they expected everything to be handed to them, where they wouldn’t really have to work for anything.
Not to say that they didn’t work. Of course, they wrote songs, they went to rehearsal, they performed. But what about the business side? Did they ever make a phone call on their own behalf? Did they ever have to search for their own opportunities? Did I give them too much too fast?
What I did in fact is keep them from experiencing the journey for themselves. My blog is called “Journal Your Journey,” but, in fact, my clients have little to journal for themselves. There’s something to be said about lessons that come from pain, from struggle, from strife, from hardship. It gives us wisdom, understanding, discernment, and makes us stronger. Babies don’t learn to walk unless they venture out. They may fall, they may stumble, but it’s all a learning process. It’s all to make them better.
So, in conclusion, I ask you today, is there an area in your life where you need to let go? Is there a person in your life whose growth you are stunting as a result of your overprotective nature? Sometimes, we have to let go in order for people to know that they can stand on their own two feet. If we don’t, we’re only hindering their ability to be the best that they can be.
God bless,
J.W.
