We associate "effortful" with work and "effortless" with fun. What if we flipped them as a way to upgrade our lives and work? I also share Laura Vanderkam's idea of effortful fun and effortless fun.

Equality is not the same thing as equity. The consequences not equal. The support systems are also not the same. In the arts, I consider how we think too often in terms of equality instead of equity. And I share 4 steps to get started toward equity.

Our desire to be better provides us with great motivation - like we can do good and meaningful things. At the same time, it can also make us feel distracted and paralyzed. I share what Nate Zinsser called being “seduced by the results and outcome of how important this [work] is” and what it means to focus on the next step instead.

I'm about to start a new rehearsal process. I share how I'm going to start asking instead of guessing. This is the key to exceptional teamwork.

It's our job as leaders to solve problems. I wonder: do we ever pause and ask if we have appropriately identified the problem? I share 3 quotes that inspire problem reframing. I then attempt to tackle 3 common problems we face in the arts and see if I could play with the frame a bit.

What makes us decide to take action? We look for precedent. Using precedent to make decisions satisfies two human needs: safety and belonging. Especially during uncertainty. I unpack why we lean toward precedent and ask: what if what we really need is principle?

I'm making my 100th post all about you - taking to heart Mark Goulston's 3 C's for showing how much you value someone. I invite ALL of you to share your story with me and how I can better help you via this blog. Choose from one of the 4 ways!

AIDA, like the opera? Not quite. I share the career lesson I learned from AIDA, the marketing strategy model for customer engagement. How could it help us in selling our concerts and our events, encouraging donations, or even getting buy-in from musicians about a new interpretation or idea?

“The Feedback Fallacy" by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall reveal that "feedback is more distortion than truth.” The distortion leads us astray in what we think of ourselves and how we decide to improve. I consider two alternatives for feedback - introspective questions and seeing feedback as a leader's reactions.

I live with my sister and she works for Harvard. Since work-from-home, one thing that keeps making an impression on me is her weekly 1-on-1 check-ins with her direct manager. I explore why we might have them and how to incorporate them as a conductor.

When we feel a lack of control, we panic. Fight or flight kicks in. How much control do we really have anyway beyond ourselves? I share the two things that happen when we try to take full responsibility and seize an illusion of control.

When do we collect feedback? How often? How long does it take? Maybe we need to build in more urgency in our feedback timeline. I share Jim Collins' story about implementing "red flag mechanisms" in a class. He says that red flags "turned information about the shortcomings of the class into information that [he] absolutely could not ignore." Could we imagine issuing red flags to orchestra members? What could they be used for?

Musicians are creative people. Maybe we take the creativity in our work for granted? How can we regain access to our inherent creativity as musicians? I share 3 ways non-musicians are thinking about creativity that may help us.

Each leader is allowed to define "inspire" differently. Regardless of those details, it's always humbling to examine how that definition infuses the experiences of the people we lead. In this post, I share some discoveries and lessons I learned in reflecting on this.

I have been consuming a lot of books, podcasts, and various content related to leadership. I keep on seeing the same messages again and again, and noticing that have caused me to rethink some of my assumptions and ways of operating as a conductor and leader. I want to share three of those things I've recently been rethinking.

We are in service to the people we lead, but we can't do everything for them. When we try to take responsibility away from people, we ignore the fact that the people require an innate sense of agency, purpose, and ownership. What if we aim to help musicians to serve themselves in this way?

We’ve all heard the saying “Great minds think alike.” A couple weeks ago, someone challenged that thought for me. That person said that great minds actually should not think alike. When we all think alike, we end up with conformity and a lack of diversity in ideas or perspectives. So why do we all want to be alike?

As conductors in rehearsals, it is so easy to be lost in ourselves. We forget that musicians are people too and not machines that simply execute what we tell them to do. When we are dealing with people, all roads seem to lead to empathy. I share 4 ways I am personally trying to exercise more empathy in rehearsals.

Risk is when the outcome is uncertain. It's safer within certainty, so we avoid taking risks. In this post, I consider disassociating outcome with decision via the work of former professional poker player Annie Duke. Does a good outcome necessarily mean you made a good decision?

I ponder on what Marshall Goldsmith says about our environment, "It either helps us be the person we want to be or it prevents us.” What's encouraging us to do the wrong thing?And what's discouraging us from doing the right thing?