Episode 114: Susan Drumm & Her Book, The Leader’s Playlist: Unleash The Power of Music and Neuroscience to Transform Your Leadership and Your Life

Episode 114: Susan Drumm & Her Book, The Leader’s Playlist: Unleash The Power of Music and Neuroscience to Transform Your Leadership and Your Life

Susan is a disruptor who loves to play and have fun. (That's the foundation of who she is.) She is someone who went to law school, and then decided to switch things up and go to business school, jumped into the corporate world of management consulting, and then decided to switch things up again and move to London and get a master's degree in acting.

A seemingly random configuration of experiences then culminates in a powerful outcome and mission today.

In this episode she paints a vivid picture of her upbringing -- and it makes complete sense that she's the disruptor she is today. She sees patterns, and either identifies them to build and improve, or blow them up and start something new -- all in the name of moving forward while having fun.

A lesson she learned from her father's journey is, beware of what you compromise of yourself in life and career. Her personal lessons and experiences are infused as the basis for the lessons she shares with her clients and her readers.

I forget where I had come across Susan's book, but once I read about it's concept -- having to do with music, reprogramming our thinking, getting out of our own way and eluding our own mental and emotional traps, and how leaders could apply this to who they were, which then determines how they show up in their leadership role -- I wanted to give it a read.

A year later, I was pumped when Susan's team reached out about coming on the series. I love learning about what drives a leader to be who they are sitting in front of me and doing the work they do. Learning about Susan, after enjoying her book, was no different.

Who a leader is outside of their formal role comes out in that formal role. It's hard to separate who we are personally from our leadership duties. Because of that, we have to be careful.

Who we are reverberates into what we do. If we allow ourselves to be hijacked and tripped up by old wounds, we -- and others -- will pay a price. Too much is at stake.

Susan's work demonstrates what I've been learning in my coaching journey in that the more that I study leadership, the more of a connection there is -- and less of a wall exists -- between who somebody is as a person and who they are in their leadership.

CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHTS

• When it comes to having an eclectic background, each step infuses the leadership development work that we do today.
• How learning to look for finer distinctions in law school coursework contributed to Susan's leadership coaching.
• Developing a skill set and losing interest in it's application.
• Strategy - Culture = Dead In The Water
• Measuring the seemingly unmeasurable.
• "What am I going to do with the rest of my life?"
• How acting taught Susan to deal with her inner critic.
• "It's okay if you don't figure it out. It's about collecting experiences, because if you stay open, the background will come together."
• "If you keep looking and keep pursuing where that sort of bliss or passion will come from, you'll find it."
• "Childhood wounds and experiences...give you a superpower, but they also can come with a liability."
• Returning home to an inherent sense of play: Spirit of Play + Fostering Creativity = Producing Best Work
• Susan's Super Power: Patter Recognition & Disruption, which lead to Freedom.
• Using music to help recognize patterns, to shift them and shape and build new habits.
• Suffering is a great teacher.
• From watching her father: I was never going to suffer in a job I didn't like.
• On being stuck.
• "You are who you are in everything you do."

The MAIN QUESTION underlying my conversation with Susan is, Have you learned about what triggers you in life in order to elevate yourself above it to lead others?

MENTIONED OR APPLICABLE BOOKS

• Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts / Becoming The Person You Want To Be by Marshall Goldsmith
• The Leaders' Mindset: How To Win In The Age Of Disruption by Terence Mauri
• The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good For You, And How To Get Good At It by Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.
• Us: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship by Terrence Real

MENTIONED OR APPLICABLE PAST EPISODES

• Episode 109: Ernest Ellender, PhD & (a) His Book, This Is How We Heal from Painful Childhoods: A Practical Guide for Healing Past Intergenerational Stress and Trauma & (b) Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington.
• Episode 73: Kimberlee Pita & Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Episode 68: Pete Sena & The Creative Act: A Way Of Being by Rick Rubin

ABOUT SUSAN

Susan Drumm is a CEO Advisor, Speaker, USA Today Bestselling Author and Leadership Coach focused on helping leaders and their teams to develop the capacity and mindsets to lead in today’s disruptive environment. She has personally coached billionaire CEOs, high profile political figures, prominent Fortune 100 executive teams and incredible entrepreneurs that set out to disrupt the marketplace. She is the two-time #1 bestselling author of The Leader’s Playlist: unleash the power of music and neuroscience to transform your leadership and your life. Susan’s YouTube channel and podcast, The Enlightened Executive, is ranked in the top 2% of podcasts globally. In the show, she spotlights ground-breaking techniques and strategies to help executives and entrepreneurs get the edge in personal and leadership effectiveness. Susan’s firm, Meritage Leadership Development, works with C-suite executives from financial services, private equity, tech, healthcare, professional services, media, consumer products, consulting and law. She has worked with organizations such as KPMG, Oracle, Viacom, Microsoft, Conde Nast, L’Oreal, A&E Networks, USS Steel and Cisco.

FIND SUSAN

• Website: meritageleadership.com/
• Website: susandrumm.com
• LinkedIn:?linkedin.com/in/susan-drumm
• The Enlighted Leadership Quiz: https://susandrumm.com/quiz/

YOUTUBE TIME STAMP

• 01:02- Introduction & Bio
• 03:01- Who are you today? Can you provide more information about your work?
• 04:16 - How did your path into your career look like, and what did it look like up until now?
• 16:20- How does the work you're doing today reconcile to who you were as a child?
• 17:55 - What is your superpower?
• 19:42 - What does leadership mean to you?
• 20:56- Can you introduce us to the book we’re discussing?
• 23:37 - The importance of music in Susan's life.
• 25:30 - Can you provide a general overview of the book?
• 28:12 - What lessons have you taken away from the book?
• 37:37 - What’s next for your writing?
• 38:59 - Where Susan's aptitude for disruption comes from.
• 42:04 - What book has inspired you?
• 44:58 - What are you up to these days? (A way for guests to share and market their projects and work.)

About The Book Leads

On?The Book Leads?podcast, I speak to specialists and experts across various industries and from varied backgrounds to learn about the book that made an impact and left an impression on their work, life, and leadership. In the course of my conversation I also learn about my guest's background, experience, and work they're carrying out today.?

This series has become my Masterclass In Humanity. I'd love for you to join me and see what you take away from these conversations.

Learn more about The Book Leads and listen to past episodes:

• Watch?on?YouTube
• Listen?on?Spotify
• Listen?on?Apple Podcasts
• Read About The Book Leads?–?Blog Post

About Me

I'm a?Leadership Performance Coach and Consultant?at Coach It Out, LLC (www.coachitout.com).?In addition to coaching, and as you can see above, I enjoy writing, podcasting, and speaking about leadership. Specifically, I work with clients to realize what they're all about when it comes to (1) new positions they've been hired or promoted into; and (2) rediscovering what they want out of their leadership, development, and career.

My signature talks include?Design Your Leadership! Nine Ways to Sharpen Your Leadership Brand In The Everyday, and?Platinum Networking: Designing A Unique Experience For Others In A World Of Disconnection.

Please subscribe to my newsletter Last Week's Leadership Lessons, if you haven't already!

Reach out to me at?johnmjaramillo@coachitout.com.