All posts filed under: Purpose

Launching a new ensemble, organization, or business? Read this, Part I. Start with You

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One of the most common questions I get as I mentor artists is how to successfully launch a new ensemble, socially relevant organization, or business. Today, I’m launching a series of “how to” posts designed to help you create and develop your great ideas. These posts will give you the tools to bring your great ideas to life and provide a systematic approach to developing creative solutions to the problems we face in our 21st-century world. Rules: Don’t pay to learn about entrepreneurship.  Learn by doing. In the world of new venture creation, flexibility and context reign supreme. Work with people outside your discipline. Don’t be afraid to fail. Goals: These posts will help you: Develop ideas that use community-based partnerships and principles of social entrepreneurship to change the direction of the business and arts fields. Create sustainable programs that last long after you implement your ideas. Begin at a grassroots level, then work to reach a broad audience. Be socially empathetic and concerned about how you can make a positive difference in the world. Create …

Artistic Micro-Movements

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Last January, I wrote this post in response the inauguration of #45. The premise behind the post was simple: What small things can you do today to make a difference in the world? In January and February, our collective efforts played out on a daily basis, both on line and in person. Now, we are exactly 231 days, 0 hours, 26 minutes and 42 seconds into the presidency of #45 so I’ll ask you this: What are you doing today to help make the changes you’d like to see happen tomorrow? If you’re like me, the rescinding of DACA is on your mind. Now is the time to let your voice be heard.  Here are some examples of artistically minded micro-movements that might help to inspire you. Musicians Take A Stand is an organization under the umbrella of another amazing organization called the Phoenix Ensemble. Musicans Take a Stand advocates for musicians across the country who wish to bring attention to humanitarian causes, and supports other organizations through the philanthropic contribution of our time and talent as artists for the benefit of …

One thing Artists can do in response to the rescinding of the DACA program.

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For most of my adult life, our political parties have been at such odds with each other that even simple legislation has become a challenge to pass. Political score keeping has become more important than the well being of the American people. This type of political paralysis often means that instead of our elected officials legislating policy, our President is put in the position of executing policy through signing or rescinding executive orders. Executive orders are not party specific. Here are number of executive orders signed by the last six Presidents : Ronald Regan—381 (47.6 executive orders per year) George H. W. Bush—166 (41.5 executive orders per year) Bill Clinton 364—(45.5 executive orders per year) George W. Bush 291—(36.4 executive orders per year) Barak Obama 276—(34.6 executive orders per year) Donald Trump 45—(On pace for 72.7 executive orders this year) While executive orders achieve a short term win for the political party of the person in office, they can easily be rescinded with a stroke of a pen by the next President. Today’s announcement by …

The Portfolio Career

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Portfolio Career Defined A person engaged in a portfolio career doesn’t work for a single company, but rather gathers a “portfolio” of jobs around a common theme or skill set, and balances that portfolio much like an investor manages a bundle of stocks. —Charles Handy, organizational and management theorist Charles sums this up nicely, however I might add that a portfolio career is often defined as a project based career.  For the purpose of this post, let’s assume that they can be interchangeable. The portfolio career has been spoken about for well over a decade. At first, the prevailing thought

5 Steps To Help Solidify Your Career Path

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An education rooted in specialization, a career rooted in context. If you’re like me, your journey through school and even the first few years out of college trained you to think narrowly and deeply about the type of work you’d like to pursue. Most schooling is rooted in specialization, which is fantastic. With that said, in the 21st century, your job is to figure out how knowledge you have gained will fit into the type of job you’d like to pursue. Companies are looking for smart, creative, passionate people to come work for them. Dream big about the type