Bossing It: Embracing Responsibility with Michael Gie
Michael Gie is partner and executive producer of Rumble Studios. As a creative producer Michael works closely with composers to ensure their music delivers on emotion, authenticity and quality and is committed to giving clients an exceptional studio experience.
天美棋牌> What was your first experience of leadership?
Michael> In the tender years of my late teens I worked at a surf store (in the surfing mecca of Brisbane I should add), and because I was adept at selling product they promoted me to 2IC under a very absent manager. I had no idea what I was doing, so luckily the stakes weren鈥檛 too high, but it was my first taste of juggling various egos and work ethics and taking responsibility for a team.
天美棋牌> How did you figure out what kind of leader you wanted to be 鈥 or what kind of leader you didn鈥檛 want to be?
Michael> I built my framework by observing other leaders; both ones I admire and ones I don鈥檛. I never wanted to use fear as a motivator. Having been in environments where people were afraid to make mistakes, I saw a culture of blame that traced back to senior staff. Communication was always high on my radar. I鈥檝e had bosses who spoke lots, spoke loud, and didn鈥檛 inspire any passion, and others that said very little and were incredibly inspiring.
The one鈥檚 I really admired led through their own work ethic, protected their people, shouldered the burdens and failures but shared the successes. I鈥檓 still working on it but that鈥檚 the goal.
天美棋牌> What experience or moment gave you your biggest lesson in leadership?
Michael> Resignations from people you respect tends to give way to reflection. Obviously there鈥檚 a myriad of reasons people leave a business and it鈥檚 an unavoidable part of the job, but knowing the reasons can give you lots of perspective and learnings you can use to make improvements. Seeking brutal honesty can hurt but it can help greatly in your development.
天美棋牌> Did you know you always wanted to take on a leadership role? If so how did you work towards it and if not, when did you start realising that you had it in you?
Michael> While I knew I wanted to excel I wouldn鈥檛 say it was a fully conscious decision to be a 鈥榣eader鈥. I was driven to be great at what I do and that was the focus. Then one day you look around and people are coming to you for guidance and support and because of your experience you鈥檙e in the position to provide that. I think that鈥檚 the fork in the road where you choose to deflect that responsibility or embrace it.
天美棋牌> When it comes to 'leadership' as a skill, how much do you think is a natural part of personality, how much can be taught and learned?
Michael> I believe it can all be learned, but your style of leadership should be determined by your nature. The most effective leaders are authentic, so as long as you鈥檙e true to yourself and your values then there are many ways to be successful at it.
天美棋牌> What are the aspects of leadership that you find most personally challenging? And how do you work through them?
Michael> The most challenging part I鈥檝e found is continuously adapting to individual needs. We鈥檙e all unique and emotional creatures who are motivated in different ways and respond very differently to critique. I鈥檝e learned to give due consideration to who someone is and how they work, rather than a one size fits all approach.
When you鈥檙e under pressure that can be tough, as you need to invest a lot more time and mental energy, but you get a much better result. When you鈥檙e an inexperienced leader, uncomfortable conversations can be quite challenging but you can鈥檛 shy away from them. The more you鈥檙e exposed to those difficult situations the better you become at dealing with them.
I read somewhere that your success can be measured by how many uncomfortable conversations you鈥檙e willing to have, so by that metric I鈥檓 definitely on my way, ha ha.
天美棋牌> Have you ever felt like you've failed whilst in charge? How did you address the issue and what did you learn from it?
Michael> For sure. Failures are par for the course, especially at the start when I was inexperienced at managing people. I realised most of my failures came when I reacted too quickly to a situation and let emotions drive my response. I鈥檝e tried to build a habit of not reacting instantly when something happens.
If it鈥檚 in conversation it might be a couple of breaths, if it鈥檚 a bigger situation it might be a day or two to assess and come back with a much more considered perspective. I love the Victor Frankl quote, something along the lines of 鈥淏etween stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom鈥. Sounds easy, but it鈥檚 really not.
天美棋牌> In terms of leadership and openness, what鈥檚 your approach there? Do you think it鈥檚 important to be as transparent as possible in the service of being authentic? Or is there a value in being careful and considered?
Michael> I鈥檓 a fairly open book and I think everyone deserves a degree of transparency. But this goes back to my point on adapting to the individual; Knowing who appreciates a bit of candour and who needs a more considered or delicate approach. As long it鈥檚 respectful then for me openness is the preferable approach.
天美棋牌> As you developed your leadership skills did you have a mentor, if so who were/are they and what have you learned? And on the flip side, do you mentor any aspiring leaders and how do you approach that relationship?
Michael> My father has always been my mentor. He鈥檚 from a very different sector (environmental science) and managed the southeast Asia market of his business. He had to deal with not only personality differences but deep cultural differences between staff. He fostered such mutual respect because he always sought to understand first and then give his assessment and he didn鈥檛 play any games. For him as a leader they wanted to work with him but also have a beer with him, I liked that.
My business partner Tone Aston has also been instrumental in guiding and advising me. His foresight and objectiveness to situations and creativity has helped me be able to shift perspective when I need to and see the importance of viewing things from the other side. My mentoring journey is just beginning, I鈥檒l get back to you on that one.
天美棋牌> In continually changing market circumstances, how do you cope with the responsibility of leading a team through difficult waters?
Michael> Just don鈥檛 panic.
天美棋牌> As a leader, what are some of the ways in which you鈥檝e prioritised diversity and inclusion within your workforce?
Michael> We鈥檙e fortunate in music as it鈥檚 so diverse by nature and universal as an artform that we attract people from all walks of life. Inclusivity has always been part of our ethos and as we鈥檝e grown as a business we鈥檝e ensured our team stays diverse and that everyone feels safe and celebrated for who they are; their culture, ethnicity, sexual preference and everything in between.
天美棋牌> How important is your company culture to the success of your business? And how have you managed to keep it alive with increases in remote and hybrid working patterns?
Michael> It's vitally important. We鈥檝e created an in-studio environment that our clients love, our team culture feeds off, and that is better for our workflow and ultimately our creative output. We are client facing every day so hybrid working has not been a part of our patterns. We do a lot of team events, dinners and celebrations, Friday lunches and aggressive Uno and ping pong battles.
天美棋牌> What are the most useful resources you鈥檝e found to help you along your leadership journey?
Michael> I鈥檝e read a lot of books and listened to a lot of podcasts but the best resource is the people around me. Connecting with peers in other businesses, or leaders from other industries, and chatting through challenges, asking questions, continuously learning and absorbing the lessons that others have learned the hard way. You鈥檇 be surprised by how generous people are with their knowledge and insights if you just ask.
