Seth Godin said, "The easiest thing is to react. The second easiest thing is to respond. But the hardest thing is to initiate." What makes it so hard for us to initiate? Three things immediately come to mind for me: loneliness, fear of failure, and lack of clarity. Here are some thoughts about them.

Conductors are typically middle managers, above the ensemble and beneath executive leadership. It's one of the hardest places to be as a leader. Tony O'Driscoll talks about how we can call middle managers "center leaders" instead. It reframes us to a position of untapped power.

It feels great to make other people feel good. In the arts, we can believe that our work is intrinsically enjoyable, so we can underestimate the need for us to be intentional about helping our musicians feel good at work. Here are 5 ways to do it.

I've been advocating for conductors to reconsider their place in the hierarchy but neglected to see that musicians also have to be willing to reconsider their position too. That's where I think we can start - to agree that this is the change we want to see.

When making complex decisions, futurist Peter Schwartz advises us to tell three stories. And I love considering the third of those stories.

Here's a dilemma I have as a leader: I know that I can't possibly know everything and get things right all the time. If I admit to not knowing something or not having done something before, I'm afraid that I'll be seen as not good enough for the job. Hmm…

Leaders must believe deeply in a future that doesn't yet exist. We have to believe it is imminent and achievable - just within reach. If we could only imagine what already exists, it is likely there would be no growth.

When a musician is hired for a job, a cycle of pressure begins. The musician feels the pressure to do well to please the boss. The boss feels the pressure to promote the musician they hired. And this pressure manifests in two common ways: sucking up and playing favorites.

I hesitate to say that I often feel more resonance with people outside of music than those in music. I journaled about how I felt about this. And a thought appeared in this process about conformity.

When only female conductors who behave like men are acceptable, that is another level of gender bias. The argument that "we are hiring more women now, aren't we?" is not an excuse to overlook this bias.

If I were to give a masterclass on rehearsing, it would be all about experience design - considering the musicians' experience from the moment they engage with you to the moment they leave you. There are 4 components to this: clear communication, awareness of needs, designing around purpose, achieving flow state.

When we ask others "What do you think?" - what are we really looking for? We are looking for validation. We hope them would agree with us. Now this implies that we already know what we really think! Could we be asking for opinions before we've become sure of our own?

Goals with specific deadlines don't work for me. I was taught adhering to a timeline is the ultimate sign of success. I realized that that is why deep down I always feel like a failure. And maybe this rule is faulty. I explore why in this post (and how it can apply to orchestras).

When I enter a new professional environment or even engage with a new person, one of my most nagging thoughts is "do I belong here??" That could actually be a dangerous question. I share why and the alternative question of: can I make a difference here?

How often are we surprised by someone we thought we knew really well? The reality is that we can never fully know someone even after some time interacting with them. So we can't expect that to happen in a high-stakes situation like an audition or a public performance. Why don't we give us more than one chance?

I came across the idea that "a good employee is codependent" (and it wasn't presented in a positive light). I share how I have been conditioned to seek rewards and how it leads to codependent behavior. I consider what it means to be a “good” employee, and how good employees are not codependent.

I share Malcolm Gladwell's idea about how the world is shifting from a "strong-link" game to a "weak-link" game. I subscribe to this proposition. I believe this is a path forward for our industry too. I reflect on why this idea is so validating for me in this post.

"The questions you ask someone suggest the journey you want to go on with them." I've been using this as a guiding principle for networking, which has always been hard for me. I know I'm not alone in that feeling. It helps me feel more centered, purposeful, and genuine in connecting with other people. It also allows me to find my people.

We spend much of our lives trying to fit into boxes, to follow directions, to satisfy imperatives from external sources. At some point, we stop interrogating ourselves to truly understand what drives us, what makes us tick, what we want to contribute to the world. I share 4 paths that will help your purpose be sustainable and resilient - because you are fueled by you from within.

We expect that the love for our art is enough to keep us going - forever. And we perhaps even think that loving it is our purpose in life. I don't think it's that simple. In this post, I share 4 ways this idea limits us and why it's important to recognize that our love for the art is not our purpose.