What Future Are We Creating?

An Interview with Cameron Brown, International Speaker, Coach. Click here to listen to the podcast.

James Eron: Hi, we're talking today with Cameron Brown, international speaker and executive coach. Cameron empowers people to create lasting change and impact. He does this through executive coaching for C-level executives and their teams, delivering experiential talks with a grand piano live on stage, and writing music about human behavior and the world we live in.

James Eron: Cameron delivered the closing talk, “What Future Are We Creating?” at Italy's largest TEDx Conference in 2018. Welcome, Cameron.

Cameron Brown: James, it's great to be here.

James Eron: I know we've been talking before and I just love your story. You've been a keynote at global events and coached CEOs around the world. How did you get here?

Cameron Brown: When it comes to the coaching side, I have always had a passion for helping other people. But it really came about a decade ago. There was a suicide of a teenage boy living across the road from me at the time, and it was then... It had nothing to do with coaching CEOs or anything like that. It was, well, there's people that need help, what are you doing about it? And no one should have to go through that, not the kid that felt like that was the only way out, and the family that, you know, everything they would have gone through afterwards. It was from there that I started looking around for how can I help? And it's what led to uncovering and discovering coaching. And what happened then turned into working with business owners, to working with executives on their personal lives. And then seeing the correlation between improving personal wellbeing, emotional intelligence, with leadership capability, with business growth. And that's become an absolute passion for me in coaching people around the world.

Cameron Brown: And then as far as the keynotes go, I've been writing music for nearly 20 years now and have used music around the world for different projects which has been heard by people in 195 countries now. It was about how do I utilize music in a way, not only where I can educate people, but also entertain. And blending those two together is a pretty cool experience, with having a grand piano onstage.

James Eron: That's excellent. We'll put the link to some of your YouTube videos in the article here, I think it's going to be excellent. It's very moving and empowering. Now, I have a question for you; technology is supposed to make our lives better and more connected. But many feel that it isn't. What are we missing?

Cameron Brown: Yeah, I think it comes down to because... Technology, I see is a magnifier. It magnifies that which we feel about ourselves. If we don't feel good enough, if we feel we need external validation to know that we're enough, if we feel that we're having to compare ourselves to other people, technology just becomes a magnifier of that. And because we're looking for fulfillment in external sources, that is never ending, and it never fulfills. And so, it's about getting fulfillment internally first and foremost, and then being very strategic about how and why you're utilizing that technology in the first place. Because if you don't, then technology will... It'll feel like it's consuming you. And I know this is definitely the case for me, where I've taken time completely away from technology to allow myself to be more creative, to give myself the space to do that. I just did this yesterday, took a technology and time free day, where I had no idea what time it is for the entire day. Technology is completely off, and I find I'm able to be really creative in those times, to be able to recharge my energy. And that allowed me to then utilize technologies throughout the week in a much more empowering and decisive way.

James Eron: What steps can individuals and organizations take to improve creativity and innovation in their companies and in their own lives?

Cameron Brown: I think what I was just mentioning there, that's one big part of it, is actually creating the space for it. A lot of organizations say they want to be more creative, and yet they don't create the space or the time for it, because there's so much stuff that has to get done. And so, they get bogged down into the details. But there's a time and a place for space, there's a time and a place for curiosity. There's a time and a space for being open to new ways of doing things, or better ways of doing things. And if you're first and foremost not creating that space, then you're setting yourself up for disappointment. And so, creating that space first and foremost.

Cameron Brown: The other thing I get my clients to do as well, executive clients to do, is strategically guide their curiosity. And that often will come with a powerful question that you can ask. Pixar, for example, does what if type questions. What if there was a group of toys that came to life when people left the room? That's Toy Story. And so, these what if type questions, they can also be what questions, how questions, that allow you to really guide your curiosity towards an outcome that you're wanting to experience. How can we make this even better? Well, your mind now presupposes that it can be better, and it gets your mind focused on how to make it better.

Cameron Brown: And so you go, "Well we could do this, we could do this." And so, giving yourself the space first and foremost, strategically guiding your curiosity, and then knowing when it's a good time to switch your focus from curiosity to commitment. Because curiosity is an openness, whereas commitment is doubling down on something that you're committed to doing. And when you've committed to that, then it becomes, "Well, what are the steps we need to make it happen? How are we going to do that? Who's responsible for making that happen? Have they been trained in how to do that? When's it going to be done by?" And then putting some specific accountability rhythms in place. Because that really then takes you from being able to not only have a really creative idea, but actually being able to implement it. Anyone can come up with creative ideas, but if you're not implementing, then it just becomes noise, that doesn't really create any impact in the world.

James Eron: On a practical note, you play a grand piano in remote places around the world. Given airline restrictions on overhead baggage, where do the pianos come from?

Cameron Brown: Yeah, I look at it and think man, maybe I should have learned how to play guitar instead. It's definitely probably the least portable instrument. You know, funny story, a number of years ago before I sold everything that I owned, I had looked... Because I had grown an absolute love and passion for travel. And I still wanted to create music. And I researched, I thought, "I wonder if there's a piano that you could almost roll up in your suitcase, like a keyboard," to be able to take that with me. And it turns out there is, it's just really, really poor quality. And I grew up on a piano, like an actual piano learning how to play it on there. And so even a basic keyboard doesn't really allow me to get the feel when I'm pressing and playing the notes to express myself in the way that I want to express myself.

Cameron Brown: And so, while that wasn't an option, it then got my curiosity sparked about, "Well, I wonder what other options there could be." I thought, "Well, I wonder if there're places around the world that I could stay in. What if there were places around the world that I could stay in that have grand pianos already in them." And I did a search, and bingo, there's tons of places that have pianos all over the world. And also, companies in larger cities, companies that lease them. I'm in a beautiful two-story, three bedroom house at the moment in Colorado. And an organization has leased a grand piano, a beautiful Steinway grand piano for the few months that I'm here, to be able to create music on. And we put it into the middle of the living room.

Cameron Brown: So, to me, home is where the piano is. And to me there's got to be a way. There's got to be a way to get a grand piano out to these cool locations. And then when it comes to the music videos that we do, and the speaking engagements, it's usually the company that I'm speaking for, where we're building that into the conference. And when it comes to the music video, it's finding somewhere and someone that is maybe as crazy as we are, and okay with us taking a grand piano out into nature somewhere. Because yeah, they are some pretty unique spots.

James Eron: What are your 2020 plans and ambitions?

Cameron Brown: 2020, there's a number of key metrics that I'm measuring success on this year, both personally and professionally. Personally, there are some wellbeing focuses for me, to be in even better shape than I've ever been in before. As well as deepening the relationships that I have with people that are close to me. Across into business, the three verticals are speaking, coaching and music. So, continuing working with my great executive clients, the talks that I have coming up with the grand piano onstage and getting over to Europe where my producer is, we're producing a bunch of new music and finishing those off. So, yeah. Really excited about releasing that music and continuing to make an impact through the speaking and coaching as well.

James Eron: And it seems like you have a lot of things going in life, but what would you say you need more of?

Cameron Brown: I think this is a great question. Last year, when I went to Europe, I was there for about six weeks. And the week after I got there, I decided to remove social media and all that technology for what ended up being three months. I was only going to do it for a week or two, but it felt so good when I removed myself from it. It allowed me just to simply focus on the creative process, and being the best version of myself, and being really present. And three months of that, I absolutely loved it. And while I absolutely use social media and other forms of technology, it's for me, about creating more space this year to create even more depth. And that's depth of experiences, depth of relationships that I have, depth of connection to myself. And the depth of, in a number of key verticals within a business context, to increase and magnify the impact that I can make in those space. And I think there is a lot of noise, and a lot of people living their lives very wide, but not really deep.

Cameron Brown: And I know from last year, the impact that that had on my life, I want to continue developing that and deepening down on the experiences that make my life really meaningful.

James Eron: And if executives are interested in coaching or keynotes, what's the best way to get in contact with you?

Cameron Brown: I mean, the easiest way is cameronbrown.co, which is the website, as well as if you search Cameron Brown on LinkedIn. Hopefully I'll come up number one for you! Otherwise my social media handle is cameronbrownreal, for things like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube.

James Eron: All right. Cameron, wonderful. Thanks so much for chatting with us today. I think what you're up to in terms of with your music, et cetera, is amazing and I wish you the best of luck.

Cameron Brown: It's an absolute pleasure. Thanks for having me.

https://www.facebook.com/CameronBrownReal/videos/2831876406889690/

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