Richard Courtney discovered that to be successful in business
it pays to listen to The Beatles. Ultimate Beatles tribute band
are only too aware of this!
“You
have to let your passion drive you,” says Courtney, who
co-wrote “Come Together: The Business Wisdom of the Beatles.”
“The
book is a guide for anyone and any business on how to succeed
like The Beatles, to be successful in business starts with self
evaluation: who the person is. Then we went with the lyrics from
‘Strawberry Fields,’ where the theme throughout is
‘No one I think is in my tree.’ You have to let your
passion drive you to your tree and then climb your own branch
and develop something that is unique.” Playing in a Beatles
tribute band, we take limitless undying inspiration from The Beatles.
The
how-to-guide looks at how four teenagers from Liverpool, turned
into a multi-billion-dollar franchise with multigenerational appeal.
Covering everything from group dynamic to taxes, revenue streams
and beyond, each of the book’s 100 chapters takes inspiration
from legendary Beatles lyrics to offer up useful business lessons
in conjunction with the intriguing history of the Fab Four (John
Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr).
In
looking to The Beatles, the book reveals two of the main tips
for business success are knowing when to bring on a new partner
and knowing when to let somebody go.
“When
John took Paul on, he knew that Paul was a better musician and
singer, but for the good of the entity he knew Paul’s presence
would make the company better,” Courtney said. “The
other thing is the way they used to fire people. As a company
grows, peoples’ weaknesses grow, and there comes a time
when you have to shatter the weak link.”
Courtney,
56, grew up in Columbia, Tenn., and became a Beatles fan at age
8 when he first heard their hit “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.”
“My
wife, Beth, and I were riding around, and she told me about something
going on in her office. I said, ’That reminds me of how
Paul McCartney must have felt when John Lennon showed him the
album cover of ‘Two Virgins’ (where Lennon and wife
Yoko Ono were nude).’ Beth said to me, ‘Anytime I
tell you something about anything, you tell me how it relates
to The Beatles. You think everything in life relates to The Beatles.’”
The
light bulb popped on in Courtney’s mind, and he began making
a list of business matters and related Beatles’ songs.
“I
already had the concept and 100 chapters. I would write a chapter
and send it to him. Sometimes he would not touch it or just change
a few things, and sometimes he rewrote the whole chapter,”
Courtney said.
Their
collaboration, plus gleaning insight from those who were close
to or worked with the Beatles, propelled the book to national
media attention this spring.
