Working successfully with other musicians in an ensemble or another collaborative project involves not only an exquisite blend of musical styles and skills but also a high degree of emotional intelligence to manage the relationships with your fellow musicians. Inevitably, when creative people come together, there will be varying ideas on how to approach the music as well as how …
Time Management for Musicians: 4 Strategies To Help You Power Through Time
Musicians need a lot of help with time management since they have so much going on and they have to manage multiple professional activities, not to mention all that goes on in their personal lives! Last time, I introduced Steven Covey’s model of Quadrant II Time Management which helps musicians achieve their goals by focusing on what is really important. This …
Quadrant II Time Management for Musicians: Achieve Your Goals by Focusing on What’s Important
The life of professional musicians is complicated! Professionally, musicians engage in a wide variety of activities both for creative stimulation and financial stability: Rehearsals Performances Tours Running concert series and festivals Teaching Collaborations Creating new ensembles and ventures Tending to the business side of being a successful musicians That’s just on the professional side. They also have families and friends, …
Conversation with David Lang: Creativity, Entrepreneurship and What it Means to be an Artist in the 21st Century
Last week, I initiated a new program at the Yale School of Music featuring important thought leaders around Yale to open up a conversation on the arts in the 21st Century. For our first program, I had the pleasure to interviewing my friend and colleague, composer David Lang, along with 3 students at the Yale School of Music, for …
Conflict Management for Musicians and Arts Leaders: 4 Tools to Diffuse Conflict and Build Stronger Relationships
This week, I had the pleasure and privilege of working with the Fellows of Ensemble ACJW/The Academy, the preeminent teaching artist program and ensemble collective of young top-level musicians, on the fascinating topic of conflict management. Conflict is inherent in the work of musicians and arts leaders who are passionate and have strong ideas about and high standards of excellence …
Relationship Management for Musicians and Arts Leaders : 3 Strategies for Making an Effective Connection with Others
My last post on developing your emotional intelligence focused on how to build successful relationships by mastering 3 communication skills. Relationship management also means that you know what to say in order to make others feel understood and be seen as a trustworthy person. You can start by mastering 3 strategies for making an effective connection with others: Compliments Showing …
Emotional Intelligence for Musicians and Arts Leaders Part IV: 3 Communication Skills to Help Build Quality Relationships
In the course of your work as a musician or arts leader, you inevitably encounter conflict, challenges and other “slippery” situations. How do you handle yourself and your relationships with all of the people with whom you deal? Here is where the fourth emotional intelligence skill comes into play: relationship management. Relationship management is the ability to create successful bonds …
Building Empathy: Lessons from the Heroically Thwarted Georgia School Shooting
In my most recent post on how to build emotional intelligence for musicians and arts leaders, I focused on how to develop empathy and 5 other strategies for social awareness. Empathy is particularly effective in creating a social bond because it enables you to understand what someone else is going through and see the other person as a fellow human …
Emotional Intelligence for Musicians and Arts Leaders Part III: How to Develop Empathy and 5 Other Strategies for Social Awareness
As a musician or arts leader, you have undoubtedly dealt with some “interesting” personalities in the course of your work! Inevitably in the course of putting together an artistic venture, people put forth strong ideas that might clash with your own. Have you ever stopped to think what might be going on with the other person that would lead him …
Emotional Intelligence for Musicians and Arts Leaders Part II: 10 Ways to Build Success by Managing Your Emotions
In my last post, we took a look at how musicians and arts leaders can begin to ramp up their EQ by becoming more emotionally self-aware. The second skill in developing Personal Competence skills is self-management, the ability to express the appropriate emotions at the appropriate time. Self-management is about slowing yourself down so that you can check any inappropriate …