For you to create value, you must be able to see - empathize - with the venue and their patrons. In this post, I share a few strategies that might work.
All in Empathy
Play the music that may not artistically fulfill you. Don't play the gig for yourself. Serve others who came to receive from you an answer to their problems. Be their answer.
They Don't Try to Suck.
If you are like so many other leaders, consider using the sentence I suggested. Take a step to see a bandmate's problem and invest the time to be an answer. Empathy helps.
You're a Cog
In the end analysis, a lack of "empathy" kept me from getting the things I had seen others receive, and worse, ruined relationships. You might be a cog now, but you don’t have to be.
Grant Yourself Some Grace
To be empathetic is to be able to put yourself in someone else's shoes. To be able to see and accept their present - their truth. Grace is your ability to be thankful for the present.
"He who begins to be your friend because it pays will also cease because it pays." - Seneca