We spent our entire musical training and profession being told what to do. The thing is: people don't like being told what to do. The plot twist is: people also like being told what to do. This is the conundrum that musicians can face. The solution is to take action and choose. We have two - both valid - choices.

I think the relationship we have with our why can feel like the relationship we have with our clothes. I found myself in the metaphorical changing room recently when I updated my "why" message.

We don’t give ourselves credit for what we find easy and natural. We actually devalue them. What we find easy is definitely not easy for everyone else. Arts leaders have a responsibility to shed light on these qualities in our people, including musicians. Here are 3 steps to do this.

Pilots often have only one goal in simulators - fly the perfect flight. We actually don't want to do this in a setting where we are allowed room to experiment. Rehearsals are the musician’s equivalent of the flight simulator. And we, like pilots, often are only using rehearsals to “fly the perfect flight.” So how could we use our simulator differently for innovation and growth?

There is no question that good conductors make orchestras sound amazing. What makes this possible? We think first musical imagination, powerful stage presence, or command and control over the orchestra. Those are all true. Something to add to the list is the conductor's ability to create comfort - both physical and psychological comfort.

When we lead by assumption, we imagine that 1) the way we see the world is accurate and 2) everyone else sees it that way too. This can result in missed communications, misunderstandings, loss of connection, and decline in trust. Here are five assumptions we may be making as conductors.

When leaders operate simply under the premise of “do what I tell you”, the result is (at best) hushed compliance. What if we start with the premise that we can’t control anything people do, say, or think? Our next best strategy is to get them to want to do it on their own accord - in other words, influence. I share three actions that can help.

"Culture is the sum total of shared habits and expectations." One of my favorite definitions of culture from Atul Gawande. Here are 4 tiny habits we need more of in our orchestral and opera rehearsals.

What is good feedback? What if our feedback is not as good as we think it is? Here's a different way to think about feedback.

Once upon a time when I ran my own orchestra, I wrote thank you cards, one for every musician - a deeply meaningful ritual for me. Recently, I realized… I stopped doing this. I asked myself, why did I stop? Why don’t I do it anymore? The honest answer is that I felt weird doing it.

To have creative freedom as musicians, we need to feel safe. We need to feel safe from judgment, rejection, and retribution. Unfortunately, these kinds of spaces don't come as a default in our orchestras and opera companies. We have to intentionally create them. Here are 3 ways to do this.

Seth Godin said, "The easiest thing is to react. The second easiest thing is to respond. But the hardest thing is to initiate." What makes it so hard for us to initiate? Three things immediately come to mind for me: loneliness, fear of failure, and lack of clarity. Here are some thoughts about them.

Conductors are typically middle managers, above the ensemble and beneath executive leadership. It's one of the hardest places to be as a leader. Tony O'Driscoll talks about how we can call middle managers "center leaders" instead. It reframes us to a position of untapped power.

It feels great to make other people feel good. In the arts, we can believe that our work is intrinsically enjoyable, so we can underestimate the need for us to be intentional about helping our musicians feel good at work. Here are 5 ways to do it.

I've been advocating for conductors to reconsider their place in the hierarchy but neglected to see that musicians also have to be willing to reconsider their position too. That's where I think we can start - to agree that this is the change we want to see.

When making complex decisions, futurist Peter Schwartz advises us to tell three stories. And I love considering the third of those stories.

Here's a dilemma I have as a leader: I know that I can't possibly know everything and get things right all the time. If I admit to not knowing something or not having done something before, I'm afraid that I'll be seen as not good enough for the job. Hmm…

Leaders must believe deeply in a future that doesn't yet exist. We have to believe it is imminent and achievable - just within reach. If we could only imagine what already exists, it is likely there would be no growth.

When a musician is hired for a job, a cycle of pressure begins. The musician feels the pressure to do well to please the boss. The boss feels the pressure to promote the musician they hired. And this pressure manifests in two common ways: sucking up and playing favorites.

I hesitate to say that I often feel more resonance with people outside of music than those in music. I journaled about how I felt about this. And a thought appeared in this process about conformity.