I began to focus on my relationships, mainly with the people who worked for the company I had built. I began to study leadership and realized that effective leadership is servitude and that true success is realizing your purpose and planting seeds that benefit those around you.

With this realization, my love for hardcore rap music waned to a softer, more lyrically-driven alternative of the same genre. I found meaning in the lyrics of Lupe Fiasco, Common, Kid Cudi, and Nas.

Saying Goodbye, ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’

Winter set in. I reached the point of a necessary ending. I had taken the organization I had founded fifteen years earlier as far as my passion allowed. I made the decision that the best course for myself, for the organization, and most importantly, for my people, was to pursue an acquisition from a national organization.

A painful year later, the transaction was consummated, and I gave my final speech to my people. I knew I had to remain stoic to instill confidence in them that everything was going to be okay, but I couldn’t even hold back tears of my own.

“Where are you going? Take me with you,” one man said. I did what I had set out to do, but in the end found myself as a leader with no one to lead. I was not prepared for that emotional period. For some reason, and I don’t know why, I bought the Bob Dylan box set on iTunes, the calming melodies of Folk Rock soothed my emotions, gave me perspective, and helped me get through that chapter.

The experience has been the reward. Now I find myself again right back where I started. I am a co-founder of a lawn care tech startup. We’re scrappy as hell; every day is hand-to-hand combat talking with users, customers, investors, and mentors.

It’s funny, the other day surfing on Pandora, I locked into Nine Inch Nails and a feeling came over me. I have been here before. It felt like seeing an old girlfriend and realizing I had never stopped loving her, even after all the years. The hard-edged sound of that music set me on fire for greatness all over again.

An Entrepreneur’s Playlist

Ideas are stillborn; vigor and relentless aggression are required to bring them to life, and I believe music has helped me do that. Each season of my entrepreneurial experience has a musical genre that fueled my ambition, helped me cope with the magnificent highs and lows, celebrate the spoils, and sooth the unexpected melancholy at the finish line. Now at the beginning stages yet again, I marvel that my subconscious uses music as a power plant of energy to propel me through spring time once again.

Connect with GreenPal on Twitter.

[hr]

Bryan Clayton is a serial entrepreneur that currently serves as the Co-Founder of GreenPal , a web/mobile application that is revolutionizing home services.