A major aspect of emotional intelligence is the ability to build and manage your relationship and dynamic communication is an important component of relationship management. I recently had the opportunity to teach these skills to the members of the 2014 Opera America Leadership Intensive group. One of their favorite communication tools was learning how to spot and use the 4 …
Networking for Arts Leaders: Top 10 Tips for Creating a Life-Long Supportive Network
In my work with arts leaders, I emphasize the importance of networking and therefore consider networking to be an essential leadership skill. My definition of networking is very simple: Connect + Share + Remain Relevant This boils down to the art of creating successful relationships in a mutually-supportive community that can help you both personally and professionally, as well as …
How To Adopt the Attitude of Success Part II: Raise Your Energy in 7 Steps
My last blog post on how to adopt the attitude of success introduced the 6 different levels of energy– the different attitudes that you might have about your career– showing the thought that is associated with each level: Stress-Inducing Levels: Level 1: Worried Level 2: Frustrated Motivating Levels: Level 3: Managing Level 4: Service Level 5: Opportunity Level 6: Flow Here …
How to Adopt the Attitude of Success Part I: Tap Into Your Positive Energy
What comes to mind when you answer the following two questions? What do you do professionally? How do you feel about your career? The first is relatively straightforward: I’m a student, a musician, an arts administrator, a lawyer, a business professional in transition. The second is trickier because it gets beneath the surface and examines your attitude towards your career. …
Top Picks from My Bookshelf: Inspiration on How To Create Success
As an inveterate life-long learner, I constantly read in order to get new ideas and refresh my learning. I still love books: e-books for convenience, hardback and paperbacks for marking up and filling with notes! And I love to share my resources with friends, colleagues, clients and students. If you are an arts entrepreneur or leader looking for some new inspiration …
Being in the Flow: The Start of Authentic Leadership
This past week, I attended the 2014 Opera America conference in San Francisco where I had the privilege of working with the 2014 Leadership Intensive participants. These 14 talented mid-career opera administrators from North America and Europe were selected to participate in a program that provides training and resources designed to “bolster their leadership capacity and advance their careers”. My …
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How to Achieve Your Big Goals: Challenge Your Assumptions through SMART Life Experiments
Think about the last time you set a big, transformational goal for yourself. Maybe it was to change careers, feel more confident in your work or assume a leadership position in your organization. Thinking big is a hallmark of entrepreneurship so you have undoubtedly done this! For some people, it’s a matter of setting the goal, breaking it down into …
Public Speaking for Musicians: 3 Steps for Audience Engagement
This spring, I had the honor of appearing on the Chamber Music America First Tuesdays Series to speak about one of my favorite subjects: public speaking for musicians. Public speaking is a vital tool in making music relevant to today’s audiences since it is a way for musicians to share their passion and draw audiences into the wonders of classical music. …
Great Career Materials for Musicians: How to Get Started
Summer is here and for busy musicians, it often means having a little bit of down time in between festivals and tours. For proactive music entrepreneurs, here is suggestion for using that extra time to move your career forward: create and/or spruce up your career materials! Your career materials are often the first contact that you will have with prospective …
How Smart Music Entrepreneurs Decide on Gigs: 3 Factors to Evaluate
As young musicians begin to develop their careers, they often wonder how to decide which gigs to take on. The advice from many professional musicians I know–including many of the alumni who have spoken at my class at Yale–is to consider how well an opportunity satisfies the following 3 criteria and to choose gigs that give you 2 out of 3: …