TAG: musicians

My Brilliant Career: Messages to Inspire Today’s Musicians

The June 3, 2012 New York Times Sunday Review section featured a series of essays from 5 prominent people in different fields entitled “My Brilliant Career” reflecting on the “crooked paths to success”.

I was delighted to see that music figured prominently in this round-up since the writers included the brilliant composer and my colleague at the Yale School of Music, David Lang and pop record label president Jonathan Poneman, as well as politician Olympia Snow, the novelist Hilary Mantel, physicist and polymath Leonard Mlodinow.

The article, aimed at college graduates, shows us that the path to success is often a series of odd jobs and bizarre circumstances.  Moreover,  there are a number of themes that resonate powerfully for the creative people with whom I work.

Let’s take a cl0ser look.

Networking for Musicians: How to Get Started

So now you get it:  networking is the way to go if you want to expand your reach and create opportunities that can lead you to career success based on a mutual exchange of information, resources and contacts. You understand that networking is about connecting with, sharing and being relevant to others.  You have your Elevator Speech.  You are eager …

Play to Your Strengths–Literally–to Feel Self-Mastery and Fulfillment

I advocate playing to your strengths instead of compensating for weaknesses as a way of creating self-mastery and empowerment in your life.  Helping my clients to recognize and use their strengths is one of the hallmarks of my coaching and my teaching. Recently, I had this very experience in a domain that is near and dear to my heart-my piano playing.  See how I learned the different between playing to my strengths and struggling to overcome my weaknesses.

Hope Springs Eternal: How to Change Your Perspective of Your Difficult Situation

Last week, I had the privilege of conducting a class on life balance for the medical residents at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.  The class is part of a wonderful program that the medical school runs called “Advancing Idealism in Medicine”.  The goal of the class is to prevent residents from “burning out” on the job.  I was asked to …

Know Your Core Values: Great Decisions vs. Difficult Decisions

Values are the core principles that run your life.  They are the key to your authentic self. One of the best ways to create success in your life is aligning your life with your top values and making decisions that honor those values. In my career development workshops, I introduce the concept of values so that my workshop participants can …

Celebrate Your Achievements and Get Over Your Perfectionism

Many high-achievers reach their goals, only to move on to the next one without pausing to reflect on their accomplishments.  Then they wonder why they do not derive satisfaction from their achievements. Often, the reason stems from perfectionism and the voice of your inner critic.Celebrate Your Achievements and Get Over Your Perfectionism

The Music Entrepreneur’s Personal Board of Directors Meets Again: Specific Ways to Get Support and Boost Your Career

A few months ago, I wrote about the first meeting of the personal board of directors of my friend and mentee, a brilliant, talented musician. This young music entrepreneur has assembled a personal board of directors with a wide range of experience: 

•    An internationally famous professional musician
•    A retired business executive
•    A retired media executive
•    Her boyfriend/life partner, also an early-stage professional musician
•    Me, a lawyer, life coach and former arts executive who knows a thing or two about creating career success in the music world

Whereas our first meeting was a general discussion of how our young musician could launch her career, this meeting has a very specific goal:  to provide feedback on her applications to university teaching positions.

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Personal Branding for Musicians and Artists – Using Your Unique Gifts to Connect With Your Audience

One of the most important tools for advancing a career in the creative world is the use of a personal brand. Once the domain strictly of commercial enterprises, the principles of branding are now used successfully by individuals who want to clearly communicate why they are the best person to provide a service to the audiences they want to reach. The same principles that have made Steinway “the finest pianos in the world” and Nike products for athletes who “just do it” can be applied to musicians and artists who want to distinguish themselves from their peers.

 

Creative Personal Branding – Find Your Brand in 4 Easy Steps

One of the most important tools for advancing your career is defining and using your personal brand.  A brand is your vision of who you are and what you do for your audiences.  It is a message that distinguishes you from your competition by expressing what makes you unique and memorable, so that your target audience connects with you emotionally and wants to work with you.
Defining your personal brand is simple using this four-step process: