Transferable skills: seeing yourself through other people's eyes.

When I found the article CEOs and inventors most likely took art or music lessons as a kid from Vickie Elmer on qz.com, I was one genuinely happy camper.

Although the article doesn't delve too deep into the specific transferable skills between arts and business management, and linking CEOs' abilities too closely with artistic training may prove "stretchy", I am glad that it introduces a few notions that are often challenging to convey to the non-artist listener. In my case, I find it hard to pinpoint all the special abilities an artistic training has provided, since I am not sure of what an alternative version of me would lack, apart from the more obvious ability to play an instrument. 

But knowing a fair number of artists does help see some patterns across the board. Some recurring abilities are easier to explain than others, so here are few of the former (since I am still somewhat stuck on the latter!):

• Have a differentiated style: no one can tell you what that looks/sounds like. Teachers can help you shape it, but it is mostly your job to figure it out. Audiences don't care much for copycats, but hey, no pressure.
• Think outside the box: to make a piece sounds sad, optimistic, nostalgic, and energetic, all at the same time. Never mind that as a young artist, you often lack relevant life experiences to draw from to recreate such complex moods!
• Have an iron-like discipline: talent is not enough to do things the human body is not designed to accomplish without a significant amount of effort. By the way, the effort curve gets exponentially steeper the farther from mediocrity you aim for.
• Stay poised in the spotlight: you ought to smile, play, or dance like it is all extremely easy and you didn't just spend months getting a 7 minute piece right... which could nevertheless go wrong. 
• Take any falls with humor: moments of truth for artists are very public indeed. Any messes will not go down in the privacy of a paper exam, so a thick skin is a must have in your survival kit.
• Gauge people's mood at a glance and create the ultimate customer experience: when your gig's repertoire can go either way, doing a great job largely depends on your ability to gauge and deliver what will make your audience tick. It is hearbreaking to get it wrong, but extremely rewarding to get it right.

From a business management perspective, an artistic training helps you interact easily with new people, gives you the patience and resilience to work towards long-term goals, enables you to speak up without the restrains of stage fear, and largely equips you with an inordinate amount of poise to listen to the strangest ideas with an open mind... unless someone tells you that J.S. Bach was anything less than genius, of course.