13 Great Lessons We Learned from Pharrell

If you’re a young entrepreneur, an artist…even if you simply work around/with other folks, you will appreciate this great article featuring Pharrell Williams in the latest edition of Fast Company Magazine. OK, so you don’t feel like reading..fine. We did the work for you…here are 13 gems we learned about Pharrell, his business sense and his creative mind…

Pharrell on Being an “Odd” Kid

“I’ve always been the kid who didn’t fit in the box, the one who grew up in the projects of Virginia Beach wearing Led Zeppelin T-shirts and playing drums in a hip-hop band.”

So often, young people are distubed by the fact that they don’t “fit in”, or they may be different from their peers, but for Pharrell, being different is a quality that led to his success.

Pharrell surrounds himself with ….

… people who “recognize that they are different, and they’re unafraid of that and don’t mind shaking hands with the next different person.” Almost anything he does, it’s because it involves someone he can learn from. “Sometimes you just gotta put your pride aside and be quiet so that you can absorb not only what a person is saying but how they are saying it–their energy.”

Pharrell would go crazy in an office full of Dudes- women are his motivation!

“What am I going to talk about? Football? I don’t know anything about sports. Women have always been my motivation, and equality is quite naturally a theme for me. So it’s all estrogen: estrogenic–I’m going to create a term–intelligence. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, and everyone works way, way, way harder than me.”

Pharrell’s secret behind all of his ventures –is Collaboration

“You are only as good as your team,” he says. “When you envision success, you should see all the people you work with, in addition to yourself. When I look at that picture, I see giant angels who are much smarter than me, who can oversee the things that I don’t know shit about. “

Pharrell USE TO hire 21-year olds…but now….

“I used to hire 21-year-old monsters with a twinkle in their eye, I saw potential, but it was what I thought they could do, not what they could actually do. But you know what happens when you surround yourself with people with experience, who’ve seen everything a million times? I need to see more than twinkles; I need sparks.”

Pharrell’s best quality is his humbleness

Williams’s productivity is remarkable, but perhaps more impressive is his humility. The author states–In the two hours we are together, he takes credit for . . . nothing. “He has every right to have an inflated ego, but he’s extra humble,” says Tyson Toussant, cofounder of Bionic Yarn. “It has to do with the way he was raised. He’s a very amenable Southern gentleman. He calls everyone sir or ma’am. “

Pharrell aint worried bout Nothin – No Stress?!

Craig Shapiro, founder of Collaborative Fund, says, because of Williams’s clear appreciation for his staff, “P really doesn’t get stressed, which allows him to be more productive.”

Pharrell says, “Be Quiet & Absorb”

Williams is a fan of what he calls tapping in: being open to the kinds of ideas that lead to innovation. It requires an environment that permits fixation –so that you have the ability to “be quiet and absorb.” His calm trickles down to his staff it makes it possible for “P to focus on the big picture and thought-provoking ideas. His staff then fills in the blanks, prioritizes and gets shit done.”

Pharrell spent a lot of time in school, not paying attention

The few times he had a boss, including a stint at McDonald’s when he was a teenager, “I got fired–every time. I had good managers, I was just lazy.” It wasn’t laziness so much as boredom, and his fuel is enthusiasm. Williams describes himself as a visual person, a kind of intelligence that isn’t celebrated in most schools. “The school system isn’t spending a lot of time looking for specific potential. We are bred to be worker bees; to grow up, get married, have a kid, drive a Volvo, do our taxes, invest in something, find a hobby, I spent a lot of time in school not paying attention.”

Pharrell’s has established and partners in Many companies, including his non-profit

From One Hand To Another (FOHTA) is a 501 C3 Not for Profit Foundation established by Pharrell Williams for the sole purpose of supporting the Pharrell Williams Resource Centers’ (PWRC) learning programs developed for every one of the underserved youth between the ages of 7 and 20 in at risk communities throughout the country.

Pharrel has Bank!

He is currently worth around $80 million and takes in roughly $10 million a year, after taxes.

Pharrell asks his Mentees these 2 important questions:

Pharrell has mentored countless young artists. He asks them–and anyone he collaborates with–two questions: “What do you want?” and “What haven’t you done?” Capabilities come into play, of course, but his chief mission, he says, is “actualizing potential.” There is no failure, “only lessons.”

Pharrell’s biggest disappointment in the Music Industry is:

“It’s the only industry where the artists have historically been considered to be at the bottom of the totem pole they built,” he says. “And when lawyers started running the labels, you saw the best groups and producers get dropped or turned away. But that’s true of any art-dependent company run by venture capitalists who don’t respect the content, who put their money behind accountants, not creatives.”

Want to read the interview in its entirety…visit Fast Company