Share Your Big Goals: How SMART Goals Set You Up for Success

One of the highlights of my summer is teaching the Art of Career Planning at the So Percussion Summer Institute, the wonderful program for budding percussionists founded by my buddies at So Percussion.  In our session, I help these aspiring musicians to gain greater clarity on their career goals. And this year, one of our students surprised everyone by sharing …

Creative Careers Podcast for iCadenza: How to Leverage Happiness for Success

I am thrilled to be included in iCadenza’s most recent Creative Careers Podcast. In the Podcast, you will learn about my career path from law to career coaching and music entrepreneurship.  I also discuss my method of coaching wherby I help students and clients discover their values, strengths and passions and learn how to put the pieces together in order …

Collaborative Artistic Leadership: 3 Tips on Leveraging Strengths to Enhance the Power of Your Team

Recently, I conducted a leadership training at Ensemble Connect, the wonderful fellowship program at Carnegie Hall that prepares young professional classical musicians for careers that combine excellence in performing with teaching, community advocacy, entrepreneurship and leadership. Our session focused on helping the Fellows develop an authentic leadership style in team settings, using strengths and communication styles.  The Fellows particularly enjoyed discovering their strengths …

Demystifying the College Teaching Job Process: The Search Committee Review and On-Campus Interviews

In my last post, I introduced the four-step process for applying for a college teaching job according to Yale percussionist Professor Robert Van Sice and covered how to find a college job posting and create great materials. What’s next? This week, we will demystify the Search Committee Review Process and the On-Campus interview.  Step 3: The Search Committee Review Process Initial Review …

Demystifying the College Teaching Job Search Process: Part I

Can recent music graduates realistically aspire to teaching at the college level? College teaching is an aspiration of many music students. While these jobs, especially tenure-track positions, may seem out of reach, it is still possible for recent graduates with masters degrees to compete successfully for these jobs. Recently, Professor Robert Van Sice, the renowned head of the percussion studio at …

Rejection and the Growth Mindset: The Power to Change

This is the season where graduating students are hearing from doctorate programs, festivals, grants, fellowships, professional auditions and other opportunities for which they have applied. Inevitably, there will be rejections along with a few acceptance letters. And with those rejections, it’s not hard to fall into the trap that you are somehow not good enough and that you will never …

The Growth Mindset Updated: 3 Ways to Help Music Entrepreneurs Achieve Success

As I sit in my office at Yale listening to a piano student next door repeating the same passage in the same EXACT way for what seems like hours, I have an urge to knock on the door and say to this person, “Mere repetition is not going to help you improve. You need smart new strategies and the growth mindset!” …

Riding On Talent: Why Musicians Need the Growth Mindset to Succeed

Working with the high-level graduate students at the Yale School of Music reveals an undercurrent that pervades a lot of high-achievers: riding on talent.  It stems from a mindset (known as the Fixed Mindset) that does not allow failure.  Paradoxically, those who ride on talent are not as likely to experience success as those who work hard and learn from …