This is one of my life-long challenges as a leader and conductor. Here are some things I learned in navigating the art of being tough on results and tender on people.

I came a cross a way to describe stigma that completely changes the way I experience, manage, and respond to it. This can be a part of all our DEI efforts.

For the first time, I led a check-in at a first rehearsal where I gave 3 prompts and asked everyone to share their responses. I'm confident there is something powerful here, and I share 5 of my key takeaways from this experiment.

How an author's definition of "story" can help us gain clarity and see others with more understanding and empathy. Discover the 3 main goals we all share that drive our stories.

Resistance to change is rooted in 4 things. Here's how we can navigate through them as changemakers.

A game-changing way to rethink validation from clinical psychologist Caroline Fleck - why we seek it, and how we give it.

Why admiration is the missing element in how we traditionally network (usually through a blind pursuit of affiliation with fame and power). When we catch ourselves forcing a connection with someone we don't really admire, there are 3 things I do to help me refocus.

We all want to do our best. So it is important to create cultures that enable our best. Here are 4 ways to do this for musical institutions.

Musicians often operate in survival mode without realizing it, but it doesn't have to be this way. Discover the deeper fears at play and how we can do better to help us all get out of survival mode.

Do you let others control you? My thoughts on how this is a sign is something wrong with the system - not us. And how we can nudge our system forward.

What’s magical math? What makes it magical? And how do we look for it to make our collaboration easier, our results better, and our finances improve exponentially?

The key to the game of collaboration is buy-in. What if a conductor's job is to get buy-in from the musicians? This shifts the nature of the relationship between conductor and ensemble. Here are 3 ways to get buy-in from your musicians.

How being curious about the life that exists between the plot points can free us from the resume algorithm. That might be where life really is.

After leading a strategy meeting for an arts organization, I reflect on a helpful definition, some questions I posed, and what came out of our discussion. Plus, there are some ideas for you to help clarify your strategy.

Why is consistency so hard? I share my love-hate relationship with it and 4 benefits that remind me to keep going.

Why pleasure is fundamental to the success of any business. And Will Guidara's 4 ingredients for pleasure in the workplace.

At a final dress rehearsal, I invited the musicians to ask themselves, “what would make you proud?” It was an experiment in motivation - one that had a surprise side-benefit for myself.

A definition of confidence I found too good not to share. Maybe the solution to our low confidence in ourselves and our people are these two simple steps.

We all know that change is hard. We hear it again and again. And it's easy to get stuck knowing it's hard and not knowing what to do about it. I found Sam Horn's 4 A's of habit change helpful to manage this challenge - especially the second A: awkward.

Why it's helpful to give grace to those who struggle. And two things we can offer in that space of grace.