From her feminist stance to her power marriage to her fierce persona, Beyonce is known for many things. So sometimes it's easy to forget that the success of the Beyonce empire is due to her being a very acute business woman.
The Harvard Business School takes us inside Beyonce's surprise album launch on Dec. 13, 2013 with a new 27-page report aptly titled Beyonce. Billboard broke the news on Tuesday, Sept. 30, revealing how Beyonce and her team were able to pull off that massive feat. So far, we've learned that when Beyonce is done with a meeting, she's done with a meeting, her collaborations with iTunes and Facebook were key to spreading the word and she shot all 17 videos for the album during a 12-week period last fall.
Beyonce wasn't able to accomplish something that huge out of sheer luck. OK, maybe there was a little bit of luck involved, but it also took having business sense, a strong sense of self and discipline. So in the interest of becoming more successful, we've compiled a Beyonce-style guide to living productively.
1. There's no room for politeness in business
Beyonce revealed in her 2013 HBO documentary Beyonce: Life is But a Dream that her father Matthew Knowles taught her that it doesn't help to be polite in business. "You can be fair, but being polite is not being fair to myself," she said. You don't get to be the biggest artist today just by being nice, after all.
2. Practice and perfect multitasking
Beyonce's father, who was also her manager until 2011, also had a strict exercise routine for her. When she first became the lead singer of Destiny's Child, he had her run a mile while singing so she could build up her strength to sing while performing. Though there have been numerous studies on the evils of multitasking, it seems to be an inevitable fact of life now. If you're going to do it, you may as well be good at it.
3. Set realistic goals and rewards for yourself
Clearly, Beyonce puts some work into maintaining her body, but she takes a break sometimes. "I always treat myself to one meal on Sundays when I can have whatever I want," she told SHAPE in 2013. "Usually it's pizza, which is my favorite indulgence." For many people, setting small rewards for themselves boosts their productivity.
4. Take the time to get peace of mind
Like many artists, Beyonce has a pre-show ritual, but hers is probably more extensive than most, taking her a "few hours," she told Vogue in 2013. "I say a prayer with everyone in the band, then we do a stretch," she said. "I sit in my massage chair while they do my hair and make-up and I have an hour of peace and I have a playlist that I listen to every day."
5. Visualize success
Beyonce doesn't just use her workouts to build her strength. She also uses them to place the stepping stones for future success. Beyonce runs on the treadmill with a picture of an Academy Award nearby, she said in an interview with 60 Minutes in 2010. "It's over in the corner somewhere. Just so it's in the back of my mind," she said. Beyonce hasn't won an Academy Award just yet, but it could just be a matter of time.
