In my last blog post, we saw how the students in my class at the Yale School of Music, 21st Century Arts Leadership: Inspiration, Innovation, Collaboration, are learning how to cultivate a positive mindset through three research-based interventions: flow, the growth mindset, and SPIRE. In order to adopt new ways of thinking, it is not enough to know the theories. …
21st Century Arts Leadership: 3 Ways to Cultivate a Positive Mindset
How do today’s arts leaders cultivate the positive mindset in order to lead through challenging times? That’s the question that we are now exploring in my 21st Century Arts Leadership class at the Yale School of Music. In my last post, I shared my model for what today’s arts leaders need for personal leadership-the ability to lead yourself before you …
The Wisdom of Improv: 6 Principles to Enhance Your Happiness and Well-Being
Last month, I was thrilled to offer a workshop on improvisation (or improv) at the live retreat of my science of happiness program in Akumal, Mexico. It was amazing to meet our professor, Tal Ben-Shahar, and 60 other happiness journeyers from all over the world who are part of the Happiness Studies Academy community for a beautiful weekend on Riviera …
Entrepreneurial Projects at the Yale School of Music: Exploring Through the Lens of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
My project-based class at the Yale School of Music explores how to generate innovative solutions to the problems facing classical music today. This year, our projects focused on how to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the classical music field. In my first post on this class, I introduced the wonderful mix of students in my class who were eager …
Arts Leadership in the Post-COVID World: Start with the Creative Success Mindset
We are finally reemerging from COVID isolation and the world of the arts is beginning to open up! The past year has seen tremendous change in our field. The pandemic shut down the ability to perform for live audiences. On top of that crisis, we had a collective reckoning with race. Moving forward, today’s arts leaders and professionals are facing …
Entrepreneurial Projects in the Time of COVID: Innovation at the Yale School of Music
The COVID pandemic has taken its toll on higher education, with many universities pivoting to the virtual realm. Notwithstanding the challenges of on-line education, the students in my graduate seminar at the Yale School of Music successfully designed and executed four innovative entrepreneurial projects. These projects addressed the problem of how to ensure the place of classical music in the …
The Innovation Process in the Time of COVID: Entrepreneurial Projects at the Yale School of Music
What a year this has been! With the COVID pandemic raging, our lives pivoted online, including my graduate seminar at the Yale School of Music entitled Collaboration, Creativity and Innovation. The focus of this year’s class was how to ensure the place of classical music at a time when COVID has shut down the performing arts sector. Our learning vehicle …
Authentic Personal Leadership for Arts Leaders: Goal-setting for Leadership Development
Once again, I had the privilege and pleasure to train the mid-career leaders selected for Opera America’s Leadership Intensive 2020. Our work together centers on authentic personal leadership to prepare the participants to step into larger leadership roles. Authentic Personal Leadership Development Curriculum My curriculum focused on how to develop the necessary qualities and skills for taking on larger leadership roles …
Creative Success Now: Overcome the Creativity Killers
It has been a busy summer for me! I finished up my book, Creative Success Now, which will be published in a few weeks. I traveled, did some fun guest teaching and performed at my annual piano retreat in California, pianoSonoma. It was here that I learned a valuable lesson in what to do when your creative pursuits butt heads with …
How’d You Get That Music Job Podcast: Career Success for Today’s Music Entrepreneurs
I am thrilled to be on the most recent music job podcast episode of “Hey, How’d You Get That Music Job?”, one of the top career podcasts of 2018. The host is L. Ariel, singer/songwriter/producer of dance synth pop, who hosts a series of podcasts with music industry experts with advice on how to succeed in the music business today. …