What 10 Years as a Professional Drummer Taught Me About Running a Business

 

I was 21, sitting behind a drum kit in a smoky jazz club in Johannesburg, absolutely butchering a Miles Davis number. Our guitarist was brilliant. Our bassist was locked in. Our saxophonist was magic.

And I was rushing the tempo. Just slightly. Enough that the whole thing felt... off.

After the set, our band leader—a 60-year-old keyboard player (Werner Krupski) who'd forgotten more about music than I'd ever know—pulled me aside. "Frank," he said quietly, "you're playing for yourself, not for the band. And when you're out of sync, it doesn't matter how good everyone else is. The whole thing sounds wrong."

                                                      

That conversation changed everything. Not just about drumming, but about how I've approached business for the past 25 years.

I spent a decade playing drums—jazz mostly, some funk and rock, a bit of country when rent was due.

I learned more about leadership, teamwork, and performance in those smoke-filled venues than I ever learned in a classroom.

Here's what the music taught me about business. Because the parallels (and paradiddles) aren't just interesting, they're transformational.

1) One Person Out of Tune Ruins Everything (And Everyone Knows It)

If one person is out of tune, the entire performance suffers. Doesn't matter if four band members are playing brilliantly—that one slightly flat saxophone makes everything sound wrong.

The audience might not know what's wrong. They just know something doesn't sound right.

Business is identical.

One team member who's "out of tune"—delivering poor quality, missing deadlines, treating customers badly—affects the entire organization. Your customers feel it.

Your other employees feel it. The whole operation sounds off.

In a band, you can't hide weak performers.

In business, your customers experience them. Your best people become frustrated carrying the load.

Eventually, they leave for companies where everyone's in tune.

Your move: Don't tolerate chronic underperformance. It's not just about that one person—it's about the impact on everyone else. Address it quickly, compassionately, but decisively.

2) You Have to Actually Listen (Not Just Wait for Your Turn)

The best drummers? They're the best listeners in the band.

You're responding to the bassist. Supporting the soloist. Creating space for quiet moments and energy for crescendos. You're in constant dialogue, even when you're not playing.

The bands that sounded magical? We listened to each other.

The guitarist would throw in a lick, the bassist would respond, I'd accentuate it, and suddenly we'd created something none of us planned but all of us felt.

The bands that sounded mechanical?

We were each playing our parts correctly but not actually listening. Just waiting for our turn.

I see this constantly. Sales isn't listening to marketing. Product isn't listening to support. Leadership isn't listening to front-line employees.

Your move: Build genuine listening into your operations. Create feedback loops between departments. Actually act on what you hear. The best strategies emerge from real-time collaboration, not from silos executing predetermined parts.

3) Your Audience Is Everything (And They Know When You're Phoning It In)

Your audience is the most important person in the room. Not you. Not your ego. Not your clever technique.

I learned this at a gig in Cape Town playing at the Crazy Horse. We played sophisticated, complex jazz. Very clever.

The audience looked bored. Half left before the second set.

The band leader was furious—with us. "We're entertainers," he said. "Our job is to give them an experience they'll remember. If they're bored, we've failed."

Your customers are your audience.

And they know—they always know—when you're phoning it in.

When you're going through the motions. When you care more about impressing colleagues than serving them.

Your move: Every interaction is a performance. Not fake—genuine. But intentional. Present. Focused entirely on giving them an experience worth remembering.

4) Rhythm Is Everything (And It's Created Through Coordination, Not Control)

As a drummer, I was the "timekeeper." But that's misleading. The entire band was creating rhythm together.

The best rhythm sections felt like one organism. The bassist and I were so locked in you couldn't tell who was leading. That synchronization let everyone else fly.

Business needs rhythm too. Not rigid "this is how we've always done it" rhythm. The organic, responsive, synchronized kind.

Marketing launches Monday. Sales is ready with talking points. Support knows what to expect. Finance knows projections. Everyone's playing the same tempo.

Your move: Create rhythm through coordination, not control. Regular communication cadences. Clear handoffs. Shared understanding of priorities and timing. You're not micromanaging—you're ensuring everyone's playing the same groove.

5) There Are No Stars—Only Teams (And Ego Kills Performance)

I played with a guitarist who was genuinely brilliant. Technically gifted. And he knew it.

Every song became a showcase for his abilities. He'd play over other people's solos. Turn up his amp mid-set. Take bows like he'd performed alone.

That band lasted three months. Not because he wasn't talented—because nobody wanted to work with him.

The bands that lasted years had no stars. We were all stars. Or none of us were. We were a team, and we succeeded or failed together.

I see businesses make this mistake constantly. The "rock star" developer who's arrogant. The "superstar" salesperson who won't share techniques. The executive who takes credit for team successes.

Your move: Build a team culture, not a star culture. Celebrate collective wins. The moment you allow one person to believe they're more important than the team, you've started dismantling it.

6) Don't Play Louder—Play Better (Volume Isn't Impact)

Young drummers think louder equals better. If the crowd isn't responding, hit harder. It never works. You just sound like noise.

The drummers I admired had dynamics. They knew when to play quietly, building tension. They knew when to explode. They understood that the softest moment could have more impact than the loudest crash.

In business, people make the same mistake. More emails. More meetings. More presentations. Louder voices. It's exhausting. And ineffective.

The most impactful professionals aren't the loudest. They're the most thoughtful. They speak less but make every word count.

Your move: Impact isn't about volume—it's about precision. Say less, make it matter more. Do fewer things, do them brilliantly. Stop confusing activity with achievement.

The Bottom Line

I stopped drumming professionally years ago (but still jam everywhere I travel now), but those lessons show up in my business every single day.

When I'm training a sales team and they're not synchronized, I hear a band out of time.

When I see ego destroying collaboration, I remember that guitarist nobody wanted to work with. When a business leader tells me their team isn't performing, I ask, "Are you listening to each other, or just waiting for your turn?"

The skills that make a great band make a great business: Listening. Synchronization. Humility. Consistent practice. Audience focus. Leadership that gels people together. Full energy in every performance.

After 25 years training teams across 70+ countries, I can tell you with absolute certainty: The businesses that sound like jazz ensembles—everyone listening, responding, building on each other's contributions—consistently outperform the ones that sound like five people playing different songs in the same room.

Your business is a band. The question is: Are you creating music, or just noise?

 

Want to build a team that works together like a world-class band?

I've spent 25 years helping organizations in 70+ countries develop the rhythm, communication, and cohesion that transforms good teams into unstoppable ones.

Visit frankfurness.com—because your customers deserve a performance worth remembering.