In my last blog post, we saw how the students in my class at the Yale School of Music, 21st Century Arts Leadership: Inspiration, Innovation, Collaboration, are learning how to cultivate a positive mindset through three research-based interventions: flow, the growth mindset, and SPIRE. In order to adopt new ways of thinking, it is not enough to know the theories. …
21st Century Arts Leadership: 3 Ways to Cultivate a Positive Mindset
How do today’s arts leaders cultivate the positive mindset in order to lead through challenging times? That’s the question that we are now exploring in my 21st Century Arts Leadership class at the Yale School of Music. In my last post, I shared my model for what today’s arts leaders need for personal leadership-the ability to lead yourself before you …
The SPIRE of Career Planning: How to Build Happiness and Optimism with Meaningful Career Goals
My first post on the SPIRE of career planning explained how to embrace a positive mindset around your career planning and then conduct a personal assessment of your purpose, values, passions, and strengths. In this post, we will explore how to incorporate those elements to set meaningful career goals and create an action plan. The result will help you to …
The SPIRE of Career Planning: How to Build Happiness and Optimism into Your Career Part 1
Career planning may feel daunting so here is something that can help to make the process feel fulfilling and motivating, build resilience and lead to greater optimism: The SPIRE model of happiness. Let’s explore the SPIRE of Career Planning! Career Planning is a great way to clarify what you want to achieve professionally and how to get there. My method …
The Coronavirus Pandemic: 5 Questions to Stay Positive Through Challenging Times
The Coronavirus pandemic has dramatically changed to our lives. Social distancing has become the new normal and much of our life is now spent on-line. Those of us in the education sector are now teaching through Zoom. When Yale School of Music students returned to school last week, they found a very different world. Online teaching for performing artists is …
Cultivating Optimism: How Musicians Can Create Life-Long Happiness
I had the privilege of participating in the Community Day at Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music this past weekend, a day-long celebration of transformation through the arts, where I spoke about how musicians and artists can create long-lasting happiness. I am fascinated with this topic since research shows that happiness and optimism generate the positive emotions that make it possible to …