TAG: leadership

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 …

Find Your Life Purpose in 4 Steps: Your Compass for Navigating Career Success

As someone who has experienced many career transitions, I know what it is like to feel at sea and unsettled by not knowing what direction to take your career. This feeling to “stuck” can happen at any stage of your career: in the early stages of your career when you are not sure which of the many options to follow. …

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, …

Thoughts on Ben Zander’s TED Talk on Music and Passion (Leadership and Possibility)

I am in the process of finalizing the reading list for my course next semester at the Yale School of Music on “Creating Sustainable Careers in the Arts” and am including Ben Zander’s TED Talk on Music and Passion. TED Talks originated from a conference with the world’s thought leaders in Technology, Entertainment and Design around the theme of “ideas worth spreading”.  The talks have broadened in scope to include inspirations voices that anyone can access for free online on the ted.com website. I have chosen this particular talk because not only it is an inspiration for today’s conservatory students to hear one of the world’s great proponents of classical music but also because it contains some powerful leadership lessons that transcend music and apply to all areas of life.

Communication 101 for Music Entrepreneurs: Know Your Communication Style

In my recent post about what it takes to be a successful musician in the 21st Century, one of the skills that I mentioned was Communication Skills.  What do I mean?

Musicians need powerful communication skills in many different settings:

  • In ensembles to make sure that the group is on the same page musically, listening carefully to each other so that the music flows;
  • In collaborations with other artists to maximize the synergies and create a powerful experience for the collaborators and their audiences;
  • Engaging their audiences so that the audience members will appreciate the music and have a deeper and richer understanding of the performance;
  • Teaching so that their students understand how they can improve and grow and learn;
  • Creating something new, be it a festival, a non-profit organization or an ensemble, and getting people on board to support the new venture
  • Networking so that they can meet and connect with other people.

Effective communication is a powerful leadership skill.  It starts with knowing who you are as a communicator and what are your strengths.  One way to do this is to know your communication style.

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Music Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century: A Mindset, A Skillset and a Process

I consider myself ever so fortunate since I am in contact with a continuous stream of talented, intelligent, successful professional musicians, in my work as a career coach, guest lecturer the Yale School of Music, Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music and now as the new head of Career Strategies at YSM.  As such, I am constantly on the lookout …

How to Spot the 4 Communication Styles: An Essential Leadership Skill

I used to get offended when I received short emails from my friends.  In response to my suggestion of “Let’s meet for lunch tomorrow,” I would get “Can’t” or “Sure” or “Where?”.  This used to drive me crazy because I am someone who likes to provide context for my emails, as well as find out what is going on with …

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 …