It feels so good to show up authentically, os why doesn't it often work out for me? I've realized that the problem lies in that different often equals bad. I explore this idea and share how dissent is a sign we may be going in the right direction.

As a conductor, I wholeheartedly identify as a servant leader. It feels right and I'm proud of it. Servant leadership is also often misunderstood. I explore why and share how the powerful qualities of service are also what makes it difficult to grasp.

I took the risk of trying some new approaches. In reflection, I panicked and thought, "Oh no, I did it all wrong!" Then I had an epiphany that changed everything. In this post, I share why I need to get it wrong and what is the silent dilemma we all face when we want to do better.

As humans, we are so resistant to change. One way to reduce this resistance is to call change an experiment. In this post, I share the 4 things that happen when we say, "let's try an experiment."

One of the pitfalls for a leader is to jump to the rescue too quickly. When I get to the end of a rehearsal, I'd ask, "Any concerns, requests, questions?" I asked the musicians to identify problems, but I didn't give them permission or the chance to offer solutions. In this post, I share the difference between asking people to be issue-spotters and problem-solvers.

When things don't work out as we hoped, humans naturally look to blame someone. The solution is not to ignore the problem either. So we must "confront the brutal facts" as Jim Collins describes it in Good to Great. How can we do it without falling into the blame trap? I share 4 guidelines from Collins we can use to remove blame.

I'm trying to take concrete steps to increase psychological safety in my musical workspaces. I can do this technically "correctly" and it still may not work. I answer why not and explore my expectation of people meeting where I am, plus how to shift toward meeting people where they are.

When we were children, we learned inadvertently that love is conditional upon our behavior. We learned quickly how to please to get the love we desire. Love became something we "earned" through something we did - like a transaction. It's no different in our professional lives. What do we do about it?

Studies have shown that any resume gets about 7 seconds of viewing time. We want to see someone have experience in that same position elsewhere. The more documented experience, the more qualified we believe them to be. I think the key word here is "documented." In this post, I uncover what are some intangible, undocumented qualifications, and I share 3 ways to bring those forward.

Imagine you are hosting a dinner party. How would you go about it? Hospitality professionals strive for exceptional performance in every part of the customer experience. What if orchestras were in the hospitality business?

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.