All Blog Posts

Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

Get buy-in from musicians

The key to the game of collaboration is buy-in. What if a conductor's job is to get buy-in from the musicians? This shifts the nature of the relationship between conductor and ensemble. Here are 3 ways to get buy-in from your musicians.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

The resume algorithm

How being curious about the life that exists between the plot points can free us from the resume algorithm. That might be where life really is.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

Strategy is about choices

After leading a strategy meeting for an arts organization, I reflect on a helpful definition, some questions I posed, and what came out of our discussion. Plus, there are some ideas for you to help clarify your strategy.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

4 benefits of consistency

Why is consistency so hard? I share my love-hate relationship with it and 4 benefits that remind me to keep going.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

4 ingredients for pleasure

Why pleasure is fundamental to the success of any business. And Will Guidara's 4 ingredients for pleasure in the workplace.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

An experiment in motivation

At a final dress rehearsal, I invited the musicians to ask themselves, “what would make you proud?” It was an experiment in motivation - one that had a surprise side-benefit for myself.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

Confidence is a perception problem

A definition of confidence I found too good not to share. Maybe the solution to our low confidence in ourselves and our people are these two simple steps.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

The awkward stage

We all know that change is hard. We hear it again and again. And it's easy to get stuck knowing it's hard and not knowing what to do about it. I found Sam Horn's 4 A's of habit change helpful to manage this challenge - especially the second A: awkward.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

Hold the spotlight

The Spotlight Principle on how to be the most powerful person in the room. And 3 ways we may already do this as conductors.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

3 ways to make teamwork easier

When we add more musicians, teamwork just becomes a harder task. The conductor simply makes it easier. Here are 3 ways leaders can make teamwork easier.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

The power of process praise

Specific praise is fantastic. What's more powerful? Specific praise focused on process. It helps us all become better.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

Good leadership is boring

Why is good leadership boring? Here's something I learned from business author and historian Martin Gutmann.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

5 lessons after 200 posts

This is my 200th post! To celebrate, here are 5 lessons I learned. Thank you for being a part of my journey. Thank you for witnessing it. I hope it provides you value, growth, and camaraderie.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

The secret second job

Everyone has two jobs: 1) the job they’re hired to do and 2) managing everyone else’s perception of them. Do you have this secret second job? What does it look like? How could you eliminate it?

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

Make excellence less scarce

We can make excellence less scarce by finding more data points to measure excellence.. Here are some areas to consider. Which ones can you start being ambitious about?

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

The paradox of integrity

I realized that the more integrity we have, the more uncertain we become. And that can be misinterpreted as lack of confidence. It's a paradox.

Read More
Tiffany Chang Tiffany Chang

What makes a team?

Putting people in a group doesn't automatically make them a team. How do we make them a team? Here are 4 things we can do as leaders.

Read More