While most motivational gurus and life coaches will tell you that having a personal mantra is key to envisioning and achieving success, artist manager and Canadian Idol judge Jake Gold prefers to keep his philosophy simple.

"You have to love it," he tells Eye on Idol from his office in downtown Toronto. "As soon as you stop loving it, you should stop doing it."

Pure passion, it seems, has driven Gold to the top of the music industry and has kept his career ticking for more than 20 years.

As president of The Management Trust, a company he formed with business partner Allan Gregg, Gold has represented and managed the careers of popular bands The Tragically Hip, The Watchmen and Big Wreck.

Currently, his list of clients includes The Hip front man Gord Downie, Sass Jordan and former I Mother Earth lead vocalist Brian Byrne.

Gold admits he's never envisioned his successes, including becoming a three-time recipient of the Manager of the Year award by the nation's music industry.

"You don't have those kinds of goals," he says.

For all his triumphs, Gold maintains the music industry is "a tough business."

"You have to worry about making a living," he says. "You work for yourself. Basically, you run your own business and you write your own paycheque."

Gold also has to worry about his clients and the success of their careers.

"We're on budgets and we have to make money and we have to stay in business to be able to service our clients," he explains.

That means securing record and publishing deals as well as organizing and funding concert tours, to name a few.

"It's a big responsibility and, at the same time, I started it because I love music and I love being with artists and I love doing it."

Dealing with ups and downs

In recalling moments of adversity, Gold doesn't point to one particular moment in his career. Rather, he says it is an on-going experience that he faces every day.

"I think your day is a series of ups and downs. Every day you come in and you hope that good stuff will happen. You work your tail off to make sure good stuff will happen and then there are days where it's all just bad stuff happening," Gold says.

"The adversity of being in the music business is tough enough," he adds. "The competition is really strong, trying to keep your acts successful, trying to re-invent and do new things."

And when it comes to dealing with unexpected setbacks, Gold relies on his instincts and prefers to let certain situations unfold instead of reacting to them right away, which he feels can sometimes make things worse.

"So I think while you need to react to situations that you can't actually fix, I think you need to assess the situation first, whether you can fix it or not," Gold says. "Sometimes things just fix themselves."

"Good enough isn't"

Gold describes his management style as "fair and firm". He also claims to be a perfectionist.

"I think a lot of people don't pay attention enough to the little things and I really do believe it's all about the little things," Gold says.

Attention to details and appreciation for the fans are what spell out success for Gold. He feels part of being a good manager is "making the band understand that the number one customer is the fan."

"You should be caring more about your fans than about being on the cover of magazines," he says.

Perhaps it's the memory of his Grade 8 gym teacher that continues to drive the manager to strive for the best. He fondly remembers his teacher having a sign on the wall that said: "Good enough isn't."

"At the time it seemed kind of trite, but in reality, as you move on in life, it really is true," he observes.

Proudest career moments

Despite office walls lined with gold and platinum records and a shelf full of JUNO awards, Gold's proudest career moments involve two philanthropic acts.

In 2000, Gold organized the War Child benefit concert in Winnipeg, drawing top acts and raising more than $400,000 for War Child Canada. In 2001, he teamed up with a who's who of managers and artists for the Music Without Borders concert in Toronto to raise funds for Afghan refugees.

From a strictly business side, Gold counts the time he, along with his business partner and The Tragically Hip planned and organized the first season of "Another Roadside Attraction," the festival tour which ran in 1993, 1995 and 1997, as one of the prominent achievements in his career.

The Hip

With The Hip's induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame this April, Gold can't help but be thrilled for the band he managed for nearly 18 years.

"I think it's a great thing. I think it's well deserved and I feel, personally, a big part of it," Gold says.

However, he does feel the distinction has arrived a little soon. "I think they still have something left in their career."

The business of Canadian Idol

As former clients step into the realm of rock immortality, Gold continues to be on the lookout for fresh young talent.

Currently in his third year as Canadian Idol judge, Gold has seen and heard thousands of aspiring singers from across the country. Though he's witnessed his fair share of talented singers, Gold is still looking for that something special.

"I don't care how great you sing. You either got it or you don't. You're either a star or you're not. And there are a lot of great singers out there who aren't stars," he says.

Part of being a star, Gold says, is having that "intangible" quality that allows the performer to form a connection with the audience and he says it's got nothing to do with confidence. In fact, he finds most artists are insecure.

"It's an insecure business," he says.

According to Gold, Canadian Idol is one such musical universe that breeds insecurity.

"These people are being asked to perform and be judged not just by the four judges but by the Canadian public on a weekly basis. They get to show their wares for one minute…and then they're told whether it was any good or not," he explains.

So does he feel bad for what these Idol hopefuls must go through? He says no.

"They chose to do this. I feel bad when they fail because I don't want to see them fail but at the end of the day, they chose this and they know what it's like going in. Although you never know until you're in it," he says.

He does, however, salute those who embark on the Canadian Idol experience.

"It's a lot of hard work and I tip my hat to them for even doing it because I wouldn't do it."

In terms of the competition, he says he's learned how to differentiate between those who are committed and those who are not. It's an important distinction for Gold who says it's one of his key criteria in working with an artist.

Not interested in finding the next one-hit wonder, his management philosophy includes establishing a long-lasting relationship with artists who are committed to carving out a lengthy music career. Case in point: The Watchmen, a band that he handled for almost 14 years.

"Now that's longevity. Most people's marriages haven't lasted that long," Gold observes.

With his managing career still going strong and his popularity on the rise as a Canadian Idol judge, is Jake Gold hungry for more success?

"I'm not interested in having an airplane. I'm not interest in having a gazillion-dollar home in the Bahamas. That's not what I'm all about," he says.

After all, it may be hard to top his already impressive list of achievements, including managing and cultivating the career of The Hip, a band he believes has "meant more to Canadians than anybody else."

Gold seems to have had his career fill and points out that his only goal is to continue to be happy.

"It hasn't been about topping it. It's just doing good work and working with great people. If there's one thing that I do today is that I don't work with people that I don't like."

Eye on Idol