The Power Playbook: Rules for Independence, Money and Success - Hardcover

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ALSO BY LA LA ANTHONY

INTRODUCTION

Power is like being a lady . . . If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.

—Margaret Thatcher

Character is a power.

—Booker T. Washington

I got my first taste of power pretty early in my career. I was sixteen years old and working at WHTA in Atlanta as an intern. Local artists would often show up to the station, desperate to have their music played on the air. Atlanta was becoming a hotbed for music, particularly rap and hip-hop, and our station was the number one station in town.

Working as the intern for and eventually the assistant to the music director, Chaka Zulu, I got to see the parade of people who would come through—artists, producers, record labels—all vying for his attention, all in hopes of gaining some opportunity, some introduction, some advantage. They would send over all kinds of gifts just to get that record played.

Chaka held the keys to their success. He had the power. If he decided to put a record into the rotation, it could mean the difference for that artist or record. Eventually, some of that power trickled down to me. Artists started coming to me, too. They knew I had Chaka’s ear. He trusted my opinion. I learned that I could have power, even in my lowly position as an intern or assistant, if I could be trusted.

I didn’t go to Chaka often with a new artist’s tape—in fact, I did it very rarely—so that when I did do it, he was interested in what I had to say.

If I went to him every week or every other day with a tape saying, “This record is hot!” at some point I would lose my power. But if I went once a month, it had more weight.

I also knew that if I told him someone was hot, they had better be hot. If I gave him a tape or CD of an artist and told him they were good and they ended up being whack, he would never trust my opinion again. But if I told him someone was good and they were really good, my word would be valued from then on. And that’s what happened. I saw firsthand the power of building my credibility.

I also learned about abuse of power during my first few years in radio. There was something called payola that was very prevalent during this time. Record labels and even artists would pay deejays and program directors to play their songs. Pay for play they called it and it was illegal. I learned that with power comes responsibility and I watched people in the industry get into a lot of trouble because they abused their power or used it in ways that splintered the trust you should have between you and your audience.

Thankfully, we never had any payola at my station, but I paid attention to everything going on in the industry and I remember thinking to myself, “I will never put myself in a position to lose it all over money.”

But many people did. They lost their power—and careers—by abusing it. I was just realizing that I could actually have a career in radio—not just a hobby or a love, but I could make a real living. I wasn’t about to do anything to jeopardize that.

I got to see the power of being on the radio really play out when I started working in the number two market in the country—Los Angeles. Instead of local artists coming to the station trying to be heard, we saw some of the biggest artists in the business coming through. Record labels were now calling us to see if we’d have on Aaliyah, Method Man, and Brandy, who were the big names during this time.

“Wow, they are calling me to come to my show!” It was flattering and exciting, and a little intimidating at first. If I cosigned, or endorsed that artist and his or her music, everyone would think it was cool! That’s when I really got a taste of power. I could literally make or break an artist or an album with my opinion on the air.

While I never let it get to my head, I did think it was kind of cool. People were going out of their way to impress me because they wanted me to support their music on the air. I had the power of that mic.

The other side of that was I never knew who was being nice to me because they wanted something. I started thinking everyone had an angle. Do people really like me or are they trying to gain favor for another purpose? Back then radio deejays held all of the cards, and had so much power.

That was my first experience with really having power and it was bittersweet. But it taught me three valuable lessons.

1. Power must be put in perspective.

People will try to use you; they will give you things, do things for you to get your attention and favor. So you have to know who you are first, or else that power can go to your head and you will think it’s all about you when it’s really only about what you can do for someone else.

2. Power should never be abused.

Just because you have the power to help someone, you should never use that power to hurt or control another. If you use your power for anything other than doing the right thing, it can have bad results. I heard about people losing their livelihoods and careers and even ending up in jail over payola, a prevalent abuse of power in music. It wasn’t worth it.

3. Embrace power in moderation.

I liked the way I felt when I could control my own destiny, when I had the connections to make the calls and get the meetings I wanted, and even when I had the power to help others. Power is contagious. The more you have, oftentimes the more you want. But for me, it was always about having the power to do things for others and myself. I wanted to be able to open doors, to make paths smoother and easier for my friends and family. I liked how that felt and I wanted to be able to do that on an even larger scale. What I knew for sure was that I never wanted to be powerless.

•   •   •

Everyone I know seems to have read The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. It is this generation’s version of The Prince by Machiavelli or The Art of War by Sun Tzu. This book is like a bible in the hip-hop community because it lays out how to obtain power in this world.

The book looks at power from the perspective of conquering countries and conquering people. Greene acknowledges in the first pages of his book that everyone wants more power, but he warns that it is dangerous to seem too power hungry. So his book illustrates through historical examples how to make power moves being “subtle—congenial yet cunning, democratic, yet devious.”

There are laws such as, Law 2: “Never Put Too Much Trust in Friends, Learn How to Use Enemies,” Law 7: “Get Others to Do the Work for You, but Always Take the Credit,” Law 27: “Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following,” and Law 38: “Think As You Like, but Behave Like Others,” that show you how to gain power and how to get ahead.

I believe these laws totally work when you think about the steps it takes to be a political leader or how you work your way up the corporate ladder or how to dominate and conquer an industry like the music or television industry.

I cannot dispute that throughout history men and women have used such rules and laws to gain power.

But for me, the real power starts with control and mastery over yourself—not anyone else.

You can’t find success on your own terms unless you first attempt to execute your vision for yourself on your own. No two paths are exactly the same. What works for a friend or a colleague in navigating a tricky situation in the office or in setting up your own business may not be right for you. Only through forging your own way do you...