Job Alignment & Rock 'n' Roll

A few nights ago I saw the documentary on Lemmy Kilmister, lead singer of Motorhead.

I am a huge Motorhead fan, and also love Hawkwind, and The Head Cat - so a documentary on Lemmy was of huge interest to me.

Now most people wouldn't link HR and Lemmy; I mean this is the guy who was quoted as saying, "they said acid wouldn't work if you took it 2 days in a row, but we found it did if you doubled the dose."

Pictured above: An HR nightmare, or success story?

Still, I couldn't help but see the parallels between how Lemmy was portrayed and our job as HR Professionals to make sure the right people are in the right jobs.

Let's do a quick profile of what we know of Lemmy:

• He loves music (everything from Chuck Berry to Metallica to Johnny Cash)
• He does not care what you think of him
• He is a great leader (only original member still in Motorhead)
• He is respected by many in the music community (from Ice T to Ozzy Osbourne)

Before he had his own successful band, he was a roadie... If he isn't setting up the equipment he is playing it.  Music is his life.

As he said in the movie to the question 'how long will you continue to perform', "I'm not really qualified to do anything else."

As much as I love his dry wit - this definitely isn't true.  He is extremely knowledgable about the second world war and has a fascination with historic weaponry... but I wouldn't make him a tour guide at a museum either.

He has never settled down, but his bandmates in all his different groups are clearly his chosen family.  He is committed to what he does, not because he has to be there - he very much wants too!

Despite some of his lifestyle choices, he has always put the music first. 

Whether you are a fan or not, I would suggets going to see the movie if only for his dry british humour alone.