Last week I was honored to interview the National Speakers Association’s Master of Influence recipient – Dr. Mathew Knowles. Also, known as Beyonce’s Dad.
Each year The National Speakers Association (NSA) chooses a speaker whose influence and life have transcended the speaking industry. Speakers such as Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, and Deepak Chopra. And after spending time with Mathew Knowles, I have to say he stands right up there with the giants.
The staff of NSA, along with Dr. Knowles team, had carefully prepared and approved the questions I was to ask in the interview. An interview that would be conducted on stage in front of 900 anxiously awaiting NSA members.
When I entered the green room, Jaime Nolan (our NSA President), suggested that when Dr. Knowles arrived, I spend a little time connecting with him. Good idea I thought!
Not twenty minutes later, a tall, striking man, accompanied by his beautiful wife and mother-in-law walked into the green room. Jaime immediately connected us, and Mathew Knowles and I sat down for what I thought would be a five-minute, high-level chat. To my surprise it was anything but that.
Now this is a man who has accomplished so much. Long before he launched Destiny’s Child or Beyonce’s solo career, he was a high-level executive with Xerox at a time when you did not see many African American’s hold that position.
While Dr. Knowles was obviously highly successful and accomplished, I also found him to be one of the most open, kind and interesting people I had ever met. That five-minute-high level conversation, turned into thirty minutes of highly engaging conversation that was only interrupted (sadly) because we had to go on stage.
And what was supposed to be a well-scripted and highly choreographed interview, now became an intimate, honest conversation between two people and 900 eaves dropper. And in the course of that interview I learned so much about life, resilience, and what it takes to turn uncertainty to competitive advantage.
3 Uncertainty Lessons I Learned from Beyonce’s Dad
1
Take Ownership
Dr. Knowles grew up in Alabama. His mother was a maid and his father drove a truck. This was a time when segregation was alive and well in the south, and his parents’ ability to succeed was limited by the laws and traditions of that time.
Now most people would accept that, maybe not like it, but accept it. But not Dr. Knowle’s parents. His mother convinced the woman she worked for to give her old clothes, and Mrs. Knowles and her friends would make quilts they sold for $300 a piece – more than she made in a year. His father convinced his boss to let him use his truck on the weekends, and he started a side business hauling furniture and supplies on the weekends.
Dr. Knowles parents were highly successful, at a time when they had no real opportunity or support. Despite the odds they made it happen.
The Lesson: Take ownership of your life, your success and your ability to achieve. The only true obstacle you have in life is your belief you can’t.
2
Hard Work & Passion = Success
Dr. Knowles always had a passion for music, but he knew very little about the industry when he started. He spent twenty years in sales for Xerox not exactly the resume of most music moguls.
But he had learned from his parents that if you are passionate about something and willing to do the work, you can achieve and become anything you want. So, he left Xerox and set out to learn any and everything he could about the industry. He read books, attended classes, and dedicated time everyday to learn what he needed to know to make Desitny’s Child and his dream a success.
The Lesson: You have to be passionate about what you do, be on a mission. Passion fuels your work ethic. Then be wiling to do the work – our learn, out practice, out work everyone else in your industry.
3
Differentiation Matters
when Dr. Knowles launched Destiny’s Child and his music company, Music World Entertainment, he noticed something very important. Everyone, and I mean everyone was working hard to sell records. They were in the music industry, and he saw just how crowded that industry was. How hard it was going to be to get noticed, standout from the competition and become successful.
Dr. Knowles had learned from his parents that getting around obstacles, and finding new and different ways to achieve a goal was just part of the journey. So, while everyone else focused on selling records, he focused on building a brand. Now the standard of how to make it in the music industry.
The Lesson: In times of uncertainty, the marketplace is crowded and if you want to standout from the competition don’t just follow along. You need to rewrite the rules and redefine how success is achieved.
It hard to believe I could learn so much in such a short interaction with this man. But as I shared, he was kind, generous and incredibly interesting.
Probably the biggest lesson I learned was that how far you go in life, what you achieve and the legacy you leave – even in times of uncertainty is one-hundred percent up to you. And that lesson, for me, is the most valuable lesson of all.
