Empowering Leadership and Music Articles
Each article uses our empower framework that we also use for our leadership coaching services.
Bent… renew what is already Bent?
renew what is already Bent?"My proudest accomplishments are the names on the back." I thought it was a gimmick honestly. We needed a new Senior VP to consolidate our business...
Push… execute the handover, or keep planning it?
execute the handover, or keep planning it?"It is VERY important that you call..."... it was the late 80's, and "cell phones" were the size of a suitcase. My boss had decided in...
Unwell… wonder what is out there for you?
wonder what is out there for you?"Are you trying to get rid of me? Why should I interview outside ... now... and every year?"If you read these often, you know that I have changed...
3 AM… observe what 30 years actually built?
observe what 30 years actually built?"You are never going to be a good guitar player." He was right, and I knew it, but it really hurt. I was a college Freshman, brought my...
If You’re Gone… partner before the seat opens?
partner before the seat opens?"DAD!!! I am keeping the time ... NOT you!!!"Kyle... for the second time this week, taught me about Succession the hard way. I was playing rhythm...
Real World… manage the seat before it empties?
manage the seat before it empties?"The cancer is back" ... said by a good friend, in the season where we were working 140 hours a week. Welcome to the Real World... Succession as...
Smooth… engage who comes next?
engage with what is actually said..."Wow, Santana has a new song out." My son Kyle said, "No, Dad... THAT is Rob Thomas from Matchbox Twenty!!" ... leading to the classic blame...
Heart-Shaped Box… renew by letting the Compression out?
renew by letting the Compression out?... working 140 hours a week... there are 168 total... In one season I worked 140 hours a week for nearly 2 years. There are 168 hours in a...
Serve the Servants… can you execute a plan you were never given the reason for?
can you execute a plan you were never given the reason for?26 VPs, an NDA, and a spreadsheet with 1,765 names on itFive hours in Mountain View, a red eye home, and then a...
About a Girl… wonder whether the limit was ever the problem?
wonder whether the limit was ever the problem?20 minutes. 5 paragraphs. 13 unique sentences.Tenth grade English, deep East Texas, a classroom with no air conditioning, which is...
Smells Like Teen Spirit… observe what arrived, not what you sent?
observe what arrived, not what you sent?12 people in the room, 13 versions of the orderIn a meeting I was facilitating, the CFO of a large bureaucracy came in to address a small...
All Apologies… who is the partner you keep not listening to?
who is the partner you keep not listening to?"No your not."We left our home in Houston... because we had won the Space Station contract. Six years of campaign, an executive who...
In Bloom… who are you actually Compressing in that room?
...who are you actually Compressing in that room?"...but you always say 3 sentences too many""You know Mark, you are brilliant... but you always say 3 sentences too many. And......
Come as You Are… engage the “people” you just called “your resources”?
engage the "people" you just called "your resources"?"Do you believe all this crap you say about people..."My door swung open 45 seconds after I hit send. One of my directs...
Angels of the Silences… renew… by choosing the band over the billing?
renew... by choosing the band over the billing?The family was laughing in the kitchen...I remember a Christmas morning distinctly. It all came together at once: the family was...
Come Around… execute tired, without the Judge in the room?
execute tired, without the Judge in the room?I had nothing left...I returned from one Christmas exhausted. Just a thing, not a bad or good thing, to pay attention to. The old me...
Rain King… wonder what Intelligence is actually for?
wonder what Intelligence is actually for?Curious. And mischievous.You got into tech because you love to figure out how things work... somewhere along the way the Judge took that...
A Long December… observe what the spotlight is costing you?
observe what the spotlight is costing you?"What is the worst thing that could possibly happen?"You're running so hard you have stopped looking at what it is costing you...That...
Hanginaround… partners who were there before the fame?
partners who were there before the fame?They made me join a pod...Everybody leans on you... and you cannot name a person you lean on... We had wound down my 12-year partnership...
Mr. Jones… manage the part of you that wants to be in every band?
manage the part of you that wants to be in every band?I own 37 guitars...Your bar keeps moving every time you clear it, and YOU are the one moving it... A David Gilmour. Two...