Empowering Leadership and Music Articles
Each article uses our empower framework that we also use for our leadership coaching services.
Higher Power… renew the dream you filed as impossible?
"FINALLY, someone in the commercial sector can actually do this better..."... So when SpaceX started, I thought FINALLY, someone in the commercial sector can actually do this...
Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall… execute the deadline around the date that matters?
"... in April of 87 as my wife was pregnant with Kyle... our third child 😉"... we won the Space Station Contract on December 1, 1987. I was on the team to help build the lab and...
Coloratura… wonder what the people at the top see?
"Very few senior IBM leaders were technical."... With the exception of Jack Kuehler - who was the one of the top 3 leaders in the 80's. He was an engineer, and at the time, I...
Moon Music… observe your team from as far away as the Moon?
"I was in Richardson Texas watching on a Black and White TV."... Christmas Eve, 1968. Apollo 8 had gone into orbit around the Moon that day, and that evening the crew went on...
My Universe… partner with the people who know what you don’t?
"Without this, we would never have semiconductor memory in Space."... It must have been 1983 or so... I was the prime researcher on an IRAD (Independent Research and Development)...
Viva la Vida… manage the launch you cannot carry alone?
"It was one of the few missions that went off on schedule."... It was October of 1984. I had helped lead a team to design an experiment that was flying in Space! I watched STS...
Yellow… engage Space… in 256 colors?
"Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of Mark House through NASA, IBM... and people 😉"I was barely 22 when I worked on the Space Shuttle Display system. The equipment...
Freedom in Your Mind… renew your team by being unreachable?
Our offices in Crystal City were magnificent, with my boss having a great view of the city. It was a small team, so we would gather around his desk and he would engage each of...
Smooth… execute the Change you keep asking others to make?
The whole concept of LeadingWithMusic is to talk about using the power of Music to Change the way we think and act as Leaders and people, taking you on a journey linking the 2...
Winning… wonder what you would build if you walked out tomorrow?
Today's story starts in a Maryland suburb with a kid graduating from high school and started at a local college. There he started working on building his first guitar from...
Europa (Earth’s Cry, Heaven’s Smile)… observe what worked before it is your turn?
So at this point, we were trying to get a staid Federal manufacturing facility to become "lean" and cost-efficient to produce commercial products. At the same time, we were...
Open Invitation… partner with the one who will push you to Change?
If you ever are asked to work a business show, my advice would be say NO. You stand in a booth and answer questions from people who are never actually interested, and/or handing...
Let the Children Play… manage the bad news before it manages you?
Being "different" was a core competency of not just me, but my boss for this season, and probably why we bonded so well initially. He could have easily selected an office in FSD...
A Love Supreme… engage the Change you want everyone else to make?
As you might have guessed from last week, despite saying we would never move to DC, by the Summer we had made the decision to make a Change and permanently leave Texas for the DC...
All the Love of the Universe… renew your Hope with a few simple words?
"Well... we will certainly NEVER live in the DC area..."Transitioning the project from Research to FSD included my boss changing into our division, and physically moving from New...
Everybody’s Everything… execute the demo when the demo crashes?
Hiding in the dark, they left... leaving me time to get the system up again...Having already worked multiple business shows for IBM on the Space Program, I was the natural person...
No One to Depend On… wonder what you learn when you stop talking?
As they locked us INTO the conference room, they took my slides...IBM had always been involved with the American government marketplace. They formed the Federal Systems Division...
Black Magic Woman… observe where the land mines are before you walk in?
"That is what I need you to do..." he said as we both left the bathroom...Now surfing across the top of IBM, I had access to VP's and Senior Vice President's who literally...
Oye Como Va… partner with someone who shares your rhythm?
"Mike? Welcome! Where is your luggage?" "This is it. Let's Go!"...a week in a thin briefcase...While we had lost the funding for the full solution, building a card for the PS/2...
Evil Ways… manage the state you bring into the room?
Driving 80 mph through the snow storm that closed the airport, my friend said... "What? It's just Winter!"It was always dicey traveling out of the Ithaca area in the winter,...