Empowering Leadership and Music Articles
Each article uses our empower framework that we also use for our leadership coaching services.
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...
Round Here… engage your own Intelligence before the Judge does?
engage your own Intelligence before the Judge does?Here Come the Judge!!...If you are the leader everybody assumes has it handled, and you are quietly exhausted by a bar you set...
I Like to Live the Love… renew… planting Seeds you will never see grow?
renew... planting Seeds you will never see grow?There is paint on the kitchen table...There is paint on the kitchen table, a book face down beside it, and 4 of us are heading out...
The Thrill Is Gone… execute at 4 in the morning?
execute at 4 in the morning?"Your job is to last more than a year""Well. You will be the 5th head of engineering in 4 years... and your job is to last more than a year. And you...
To Know You Is to Love You… wonder how Seeds are built?
wonder how Seeds are built?I paid 50 bucks for something I could have done myself..."We can't fix it." My Dad would never have said that sentence. Taking it in at all would...
Lucille… what do you observe?
When Seeds are burning... A vice president stopped at my door...The stereo in my office played louder than a reasonable person would. We were "off campus" ... because we were the...
Riding with the King… partner… before the Seeds show?
partner... before the Seeds show?... barely 5 feet tall with a burr haircut...Walking into debate class in the 10th grade, I am certain Mr. Shumate looked up and thought, here we...
Paying the Cost to Be the Boss… manage what Seeds cost?
manage what Seeds cost?My review came in the mail...I was 19, and I opened my performance review at the kitchen table because it arrived in the mail, in an envelope, like a phone...
Three O’Clock Blues… engage the Seeds someone planted in you?
engage the Seeds someone planted in you?2 men who could not have been less alike...I found out at his funeral... my grandfather... the youngest of 12 was a natural comedian....
Alive… who sings it back to renew you?
You have built that weekend for other people. The offsite, the team dinner, the session where everybody finally says the true thing. You planned it, you ran it, you watched it...
Yellow Ledbetter… can you execute your way back Alive?
Have you been executed?6 months. That is exactly how long I lasted as the VP of Global Engineering at a mid-sized imaging company. I was the 6th head of engineering they had gone...
I am mine… do you wonder who chose you Alive?
There is a version of that question sitting in your calendar. The note from HR lands, the one that says 10 years, and you read it twice. What you feel is not pride and it is not...
Just breathe… and observe what is still Alive
“Hey, thanks for making time to meet me this morning! How have you been?”He was a larger-than-life man, bounding across the coffee shop to join me. We had met at a...
Given to fly… which partner keeps you Alive?
What partner keeps you Alive?Both of our predecessors quit. Mine, in Product Management, and his, the VP of Engineering, left within a few months of each other, leaving a...