Sometimes we have to lead a group of strangers. When we encounter challenges, we don't often feel psychologically safe to speak up, take risks, or share half-baked ideas that may not work. Amy Edmondson explains that situational humility plus curiosity is what leads to psychological safety within groups of strangers.

We are conditioned us to believe that the default relationship status between a conductor and orchestra is one of conflict and distrust. We can turn this around by believing we can trust them to want us to do well and that they can trust us to want them to do well. And as leaders, we are responsible for taking the leap to trust first.

61% of us hide who we are at work. We hide our background, our likes and dislikes, and we unconsciously try to conform to fit the norm. We have become performative so we can be recognized, get validation, and feel belonging. What can we do about it?

Simon Sinek shared a simple idea that changed my life. He called it the golden circle and challenged how we believe we should operate within it: we all know WHAT we do, most of us know HOW we do it, and very few of us know WHY we do it.

Google is famously known for implementing the "20 percent time" policy within the company. Gmail resulted. Choice and creation are two factors crucial to the success and impact of these initiatives. It's an investment that will ensure continued innovation and growth.

Malcolm Gladwell speaks of two interesting ways to look at a problem: it can either be a puzzle or a mystery. Applying it to the context of auditions and how we hire: are auditions puzzles or mysteries for those making decisions? Do we have not enough information or too much information?

Malcolm Gladwell talks about overconfidence in the context of how and why experts fail. One idea he explores is miscalibration. I reflect on how simply asking for help can mitigate the gap between what we think we know and what we actually know.

Could we always empathize with others? The scientific answer is no. German psychologist and social neuroscientist Tania Singer found that, "We are wired for empathy, but only toward those who we believe are behaving well.” What does this mean for us?

One thing we don't often do when we stand up on the podium is to ask, "How can I help?" We often enter the room asking, "How can they help me? How can I get them to do what I want?" Thinking about all this made me wonder - what is it that we help the ensemble with anyway?

The IKEA effect is a cognitive bias in which consumers place a disproportionately high value on products they partially created - like IKEA furniture. I share 3 reasons why this is and 3 ways to help musicians see what we're building together.

We are visual beings. We believe what we see. When we see fancy press and reviews, we think we know a person's worth. I wrestle with the idea of reviews, testimonials, customers. I suggest three ways we can balance outside and internal reviews.

I once heard Robert Spano say that a conductor is just a glorified chamber music coach. What does a coach do? One of the things that they don't do is to provide answers all the time. I take a cue from Michael Bungay Stanier's book The Coaching Habit where he says, "Tell less and ask more. Your advice is not as good as you think it is."

As musicians, we assume that our innate love for our work means that our lives are great and we should feel nothing but happiness in doing the work. The truth is that we are not immune to feeling lost or unfulfilled like in any other profession. It is possible to forget why we love it.

Surgeon Atul Gawande spoke about how when we focus on avoiding failure, we by association also avoid considering plans for rescue. This is because we don't want to believe that we are capable of failure nor have the need for rescue. The reality is that things go wrong all the time, and there are 3 ways in which we fail to rescue.

Artistic organizations often strive to improve by focusing on their audiences--a customer-centric approach. I consider how I might take two actions for an employee-centric approach.

Positive reinforcement is important and we can use praise balanced with constructive feedback, but it doesn't always have the effectiveness that we intend. What we don't ever talk about the tension that exists in praise, particularly in the hierarchical work setting. And showing appreciation doesn't need to happen only when extraordinary things happen.

When asked to rank a variety of jams (the kind you put on your toast), how do jam experts compare with random college students? I share the ramifications of this psychological study on hiring committees in our industry and what we can do about it.

As a conductor and leader, I'm tired of two things: 1) I'm tired of having to be right all the time, 2) I'm tired of the pressure of having to know everything. I realized that as a leader, I must not hoard the expertise. I must share the expertise - the responsibility of employing our collective expertise - with the musicians.

Krulak's law states that the future of an organization is in the hands of the privates in the field, not the generals back home. In other words, the closer you are to the front lines, the more power you have over the brand and customer experience. Musicians are the frontline workers that serve the customers.

There is currently no way for us to measure growth momentum in our hiring processes. When we hire musicians based on a snapshot, what do we give up? What does it tell us about our values? I share Simon Sinek's take on why we should place more attention on growth momentum.