1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,040 Announcer: Marketer of the Day episode, 776 workplace jazz, get 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:09,120 unstuck, rediscover your passion and build a high performing team 3 00:00:09,180 --> 00:00:10,140 with Gerald Leonard. 4 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:16,980 Robert Plank: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the marketer of 5 00:00:16,980 --> 00:00:20,960 the day podcast. We are here with professional bassist Gerald 6 00:00:21,020 --> 00:00:24,860 J Leonard, who is here as a return guest. He was here 7 00:00:24,860 --> 00:00:29,600 previously at marketer of the day.com/ 181 that was about five 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,620 years ago. And Gerald is an international keynote bassist 9 00:00:33,620 --> 00:00:38,480 and culture change expert. He knows so much about productivity 10 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:41,020 in the workplace. He knows more he's forgotten more about 11 00:00:41,020 --> 00:00:43,720 productivity than a lot of us know. He is the author of the 12 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:47,440 culture is the base seven steps to creating high performing 13 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:52,600 teams. His website is workplace dash jazz.com, how have you been 14 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:53,680 these days? Gerald, 15 00:00:54,100 --> 00:00:55,960 Gerald Leonard: I've been doing great. Robert, I've been doing 16 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,200 really, really great. And I was, I'm really excited about my 17 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:01,440 second book, workplace jazz, 18 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,580 Robert Plank: nice and so I'm excited to kind of get dive into 19 00:01:05,580 --> 00:01:10,260 that, because this whole idea of like the musician brain that 20 00:01:10,260 --> 00:01:14,160 sometimes applies to like math and science and business like 21 00:01:14,340 --> 00:01:17,460 I've every now and then I get some guests who that kind of 22 00:01:17,460 --> 00:01:20,660 talks about this, of how like there is, if you have kind of 23 00:01:20,660 --> 00:01:23,720 like a brain, like a musician brain, you also do really well, 24 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,060 let's say, like a computer programmer. And it's kind of 25 00:01:26,060 --> 00:01:29,660 interesting how, just like a lot of these, like, I don't know, 26 00:01:29,660 --> 00:01:33,140 musician principles, like like improvising or things going 27 00:01:33,140 --> 00:01:36,800 wrong, or like redirecting stress, or visualization, it's 28 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:41,140 kind of cool how it creeps in at all these other practical areas. 29 00:01:41,140 --> 00:01:44,320 So I mean, I'm excited to talk about it. So yeah, workplace 30 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:47,680 jazz, if I know nothing about anything that you do, or 31 00:01:47,740 --> 00:01:50,620 anything about anything, what the heck is workplace jazz in 32 00:01:50,620 --> 00:01:52,360 like 30 or 60 seconds? 33 00:01:52,540 --> 00:01:54,880 Gerald Leonard: Okay, so workplace jazz in 30 or 60 34 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:59,740 seconds, that's a good one. So basically, here's the deal. It's 35 00:01:59,740 --> 00:02:05,100 basically the concept of learning how to work together 36 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,480 and use the techniques and secrets that jazz musicians have 37 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,860 used for years in playing in a high performing organization 38 00:02:13,860 --> 00:02:18,480 like a small jazz quartet trio, and taking those skills and 39 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:22,640 applying them to the workplace. That's it in 30 seconds. 40 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,300 Robert Plank: And what does that mean? Exactly like the like, the 41 00:02:26,300 --> 00:02:29,840 teamwork aspect, or like, what is what does this mean? 42 00:02:30,140 --> 00:02:32,600 Gerald Leonard: So imagine, imagine walking into a club, 43 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,840 right? And you have these musicians that get up on stage, 44 00:02:36,020 --> 00:02:39,500 and let's say you have some of your favorite horn players, and 45 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:42,280 you know, one of mine is Gerald Albright. Maybe yours is bony 46 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,600 James, or, you know, someone like that, or Dave cause and 47 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:48,880 they come up to the mic, and they got their band with them, 48 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,400 and they start playing. They play the melody, they play the 49 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:56,200 chords the bands with them, and then they start soloing. And 50 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,980 everybody stops and starts listening, and they play quietly 51 00:02:59,980 --> 00:03:02,700 as this as the person starts soloing, which is basically a 52 00:03:02,700 --> 00:03:06,420 reinterpretation of the melody. And from that point on, 53 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:09,660 everyone's really paying attention, kind of following the 54 00:03:09,660 --> 00:03:13,080 changes are or the other music and then, but they're really 55 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,260 focused on the person who's leading. Now, what happens in 56 00:03:16,260 --> 00:03:20,100 jazz is the horn player may lead for a while, and then the piano 57 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,600 player says he's got a solo so then everyone else starts 58 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,840 listening to the piano player. And so you have this ebb and 59 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,680 flow that happens. And you know what I found out, because for 60 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,460 the longest I've been working as a musician and as a business 61 00:03:34,460 --> 00:03:38,000 consultant, and I started experiencing that when I go to 62 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,200 project teams where we're delivering some solution, are 63 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:45,160 rolling out a solution, our product, for a customer, and the 64 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,360 team is kind of vibing and and kind of working like a jazz 65 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,380 team, it starts feeling the same experience, where people are 66 00:03:53,500 --> 00:03:56,560 listening, they're they're focused on who's leading at the 67 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,200 time. Maybe it's the business development person, because 68 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:01,380 we're at that point in the project, or maybe it's the 69 00:04:01,380 --> 00:04:04,200 developers, or maybe it's the testers, or maybe it's the 70 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:08,280 customer. And so you have this flow. And so there are specific 71 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:11,520 things that jazz musicians have developed in a part of the 72 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:16,500 process I figured out based like a nine step process of what are 73 00:04:16,500 --> 00:04:20,240 the things that jazz musicians bring to the table that a 74 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,660 business person could learn and really take their performance 75 00:04:23,660 --> 00:04:25,160 with their team to the next level. 76 00:04:26,180 --> 00:04:28,460 Robert Plank: And so giving us a taste of like this nine step 77 00:04:28,460 --> 00:04:31,640 process, what do you think's more appropriate focusing on one 78 00:04:31,820 --> 00:04:36,020 or giving us the kind of inch deep nine steps? What do you 79 00:04:36,020 --> 00:04:37,100 think? Well, I 80 00:04:37,100 --> 00:04:39,680 Gerald Leonard: think you know, looking at all of the nine steps 81 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,760 is really, important, but there are a couple of processes that 82 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:47,860 are really, really important. So how would you like to play it? 83 00:04:47,980 --> 00:04:48,520 All right, let's 84 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:49,780 Robert Plank: do it. Let's play. 85 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,340 Gerald Leonard: So if we take the improvise framework, right, 86 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,640 we're basically looking at, you know, basically the nine steps. 87 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:00,900 And if you look at the word improvise. Right, starts with i, 88 00:05:00,900 --> 00:05:04,740 which is to improve. And so the first thing you a musician does 89 00:05:04,860 --> 00:05:08,760 is they work on their skills, they do deliberate practice, 90 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:13,080 they they push themselves to grow, and then they focused on 91 00:05:13,140 --> 00:05:15,420 measuring what they're doing. They're not just trying to 92 00:05:15,420 --> 00:05:18,000 improve just for the sake of improving. They're trying to 93 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,620 improve in a way that makes things happen, and they're 94 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,920 basically trying to grow themselves and really grow their 95 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,700 team, but they want to do it in a measured way. And then they 96 00:05:28,700 --> 00:05:33,980 look at the P right for improve or improvise. And so with the P, 97 00:05:33,980 --> 00:05:38,420 it's basically having a positive attitude. And with the positive 98 00:05:38,420 --> 00:05:41,200 attitude, they're basically looking at it from the 99 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:47,500 standpoint of, how can I how can my attitude impact my team? For 100 00:05:47,500 --> 00:05:52,360 instance, if someone has is working on a team and they are 101 00:05:53,500 --> 00:05:57,820 playing together, and let's say somebody has a bad day, that 102 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,320 negative attitude could impact the team. I mean, imagine trying 103 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:05,460 to play and encourage and support someone when you have a 104 00:06:05,460 --> 00:06:08,520 negative attitude towards them, you're not going to be very 105 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:11,100 encouraging, and you're not it's not going to swing, and it's not 106 00:06:11,100 --> 00:06:14,760 going to groove, it's not going to have that feel to it. And 107 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,780 then what about R? So the R stands for risk and reward. And 108 00:06:18,780 --> 00:06:22,100 so what the risk and reward is musicians are willing to take 109 00:06:22,100 --> 00:06:25,820 the risks and put themselves out there for the reward of the 110 00:06:25,820 --> 00:06:28,460 accolades and the rewards of being able to share their 111 00:06:28,460 --> 00:06:31,520 talent, and the rewards of really making those things 112 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:36,080 happen. And so from from that standpoint, you know, you're 113 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:41,440 going through the improvised process, and it really inspires 114 00:06:41,740 --> 00:06:45,460 everyone on the project to just grow in their skills. I don't 115 00:06:45,460 --> 00:06:46,960 know if you had any questions right now. 116 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,020 Robert Plank: I mean, I don't really have any questions. I'm 117 00:06:50,020 --> 00:06:52,600 just what's coming to mind as you're explaining a lot of this 118 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:55,360 is how there's like, that whole there's the aspect of like 119 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,720 everyone's just like a piece of the machine. But then there's 120 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:02,220 also the time for like, each person to shine. And then 121 00:07:02,220 --> 00:07:04,860 there's also kind of the like you're mentioning, like the 122 00:07:04,860 --> 00:07:09,060 listening, like, not just plowing ahead and doing your 123 00:07:09,060 --> 00:07:11,700 your performance, so to speak, right? If you're playing the 124 00:07:11,700 --> 00:07:14,160 instrument, or you're like, doing the they're in the work or 125 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,580 something. There's also kind of like, I don't know if it waiting 126 00:07:17,580 --> 00:07:21,140 your turn is the right kind of way to put it, but like, the the 127 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:25,100 just giving other people room to breathe, or, like, giving giving 128 00:07:25,100 --> 00:07:28,220 other people time to shine. And so there's, like, all these kind 129 00:07:28,220 --> 00:07:31,040 of aspects as I'm kind of absorbing your your acronym and 130 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,980 these steps. And the thing that's that's at least kind of 131 00:07:33,980 --> 00:07:37,820 coming into my head randomly, is that, like, at least when I used 132 00:07:37,820 --> 00:07:41,380 to play an instrument in the school band, and there was like, 133 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,760 like, work was somehow fun, right? Because, because, I mean, 134 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:48,760 like, what are we doing? We're blowing air into an instrument. 135 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:52,120 We're dealing with, like, you know, timing and, like, rest 136 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,960 notes and quarter notes and and just the the loudness and trying 137 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,320 to hit the the keys just right? And it doesn't sound fun. It 138 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,700 doesn't sound like work. But then when it all comes together 139 00:08:02,700 --> 00:08:05,880 and you have, like, kind of the satisfaction of, like, you did a 140 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,460 good job, everyone did a good job, there's kind of, like that 141 00:08:08,460 --> 00:08:11,880 warm and fuzzy feeling. So am I just crazy, or, like, Do you 142 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,040 know what I'm talking about, and is there a way to kind of 143 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:17,760 capture this energy and kind of turn work into fun when it comes 144 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:19,500 to making money and running a business, 145 00:08:19,620 --> 00:08:21,560 Gerald Leonard: exactly? So basically, you know, let's, 146 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,980 let's finish up the process with, with, with the framework, 147 00:08:24,980 --> 00:08:28,160 right? But, and that's one of the things that that, I think 148 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:32,360 it's key, is that when musicians get together, they probably, you 149 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:34,820 know, most musicians feel like they never worked a day in their 150 00:08:34,820 --> 00:08:37,940 life, because every day, they get to do something that not 151 00:08:37,940 --> 00:08:42,220 only that they like, but that they love, and it's incredibly 152 00:08:42,220 --> 00:08:47,860 rewarding to be able to share that talent, but also to give 153 00:08:47,860 --> 00:08:51,460 back and to support other musicians and to be supported. 154 00:08:51,820 --> 00:08:55,960 And so there's this camaraderie that happens, and musicians are 155 00:08:55,960 --> 00:09:00,040 also one of the one of the only groups that naturally have what 156 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,040 they call whole brain integration, because of how 157 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:06,480 music impacts your life. So the O stands for being open to 158 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,380 feedback. Think about it. Musicians are always open to 159 00:09:10,380 --> 00:09:13,320 feedback. The first thing you do as a musician when you start off 160 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:18,360 is you go look for a teacher, a coach, and you want to look for 161 00:09:18,420 --> 00:09:22,520 people who are much better than you are so that you can then 162 00:09:22,580 --> 00:09:26,180 play with them, get feedback, show what you're doing, learn 163 00:09:26,180 --> 00:09:31,700 from them, and so on. The next 1v, stands for visualization. So 164 00:09:31,700 --> 00:09:35,420 with visualization, you're basically looking at, how can I, 165 00:09:35,540 --> 00:09:38,540 you know, what do I want to be in the future? I'm going to look 166 00:09:38,540 --> 00:09:41,320 and find musicians that I want to emulate. I'm going to learn 167 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,500 to speak their language. I'm going to learn to to grow and 168 00:09:44,500 --> 00:09:50,740 become more like them, and to to just really grow The I stands 169 00:09:50,740 --> 00:09:53,680 for integrate, basically integrating and implementing 170 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:57,880 what you've learned from, you know, the practicing and the the 171 00:09:57,940 --> 00:10:01,800 lessons and all the feedback. That you're getting the N stand 172 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,880 the S stands for support. And in one of the things that happens 173 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:08,880 with musicians, especially bass players, and not the fact I'm a 174 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,300 bass player, but here's what happens as a bass player. Your 175 00:10:12,300 --> 00:10:16,020 whole life is doing nothing but supporting. I mean everything 176 00:10:16,020 --> 00:10:19,200 that you do as a bass player, if, unless you're soloing, 177 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:23,900 you're simply keeping the base, the foundation of the song going 178 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,960 so that other people can shine. So it becomes kind of like 179 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,960 you're surrendering yourself to play this supportive role for 180 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:33,260 most of your career. But there's a blessing to that, because the 181 00:10:33,260 --> 00:10:37,400 more you support others, the more they grow, and the more you 182 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:41,440 grow. I've become friends with a gentleman who plays with pieces 183 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:44,680 of a dream. In fact, the music conductor and a composer. Name 184 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:49,000 is David Dyson. David, most of his career has been playing 185 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,360 that, that support role. In fact, I write about him in my 186 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:56,920 book, but David is also one of the bases that is one of the 187 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:01,260 hardest working bases on the scene right now. And in fact, he 188 00:11:01,260 --> 00:11:04,740 has played with so many people because they know David's is 189 00:11:04,740 --> 00:11:08,760 going to be there to support me. And then the last thing is E 190 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,940 excellence in execution. And with excellence and execution, 191 00:11:11,940 --> 00:11:15,480 it's all about, you know, becoming a virtuoso, doing it 192 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,900 right, getting everyone to play their best, and so that everyone 193 00:11:18,900 --> 00:11:22,220 comes to rehearsal, prepare, ready to work and have a great 194 00:11:22,220 --> 00:11:25,880 time with it. And so it's a framework where not only do I 195 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:31,400 espouse on those concepts, but I have stories from musicians as 196 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:34,940 well as business executives, our business consultants, our 197 00:11:34,940 --> 00:11:38,180 speakers who are also musicians, so they can relate to it, and 198 00:11:38,180 --> 00:11:40,660 they share their story of how music has impacted their 199 00:11:40,660 --> 00:11:44,260 business and their life. And then I add something else. I add 200 00:11:44,380 --> 00:11:48,760 concepts around the neuroscience of each of those principles. And 201 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,980 it's amazing the things that I've learned when I was 202 00:11:50,980 --> 00:11:53,560 researching and putting that all together. And then there are 203 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:56,380 steps and processes and things that you can take away right 204 00:11:56,380 --> 00:11:59,920 away to start seeing immediate results to your business. 205 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,900 Robert Plank: And like, when we're talking about some of 206 00:12:03,900 --> 00:12:07,500 these concepts, what comes to mind is that, like, I don't know 207 00:12:07,500 --> 00:12:12,600 what it is, but a lot of the the musical aspects are like, 208 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,600 they're like, simpler and they're more exaggerated, and 209 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:19,140 they they kind of the analogy at least helps me to make sense of, 210 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,340 like, the bigger picture in life, and so I mean things like, 211 00:12:22,460 --> 00:12:25,760 like you mentioned about in one of those letters, like the whole 212 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:30,260 like, the having, like, a good leader, right? And having 213 00:12:30,260 --> 00:12:33,200 someone who can and there's also, previously, there's like, 214 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,320 taking the criticism. And it made me think of, like, over the 215 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:40,300 years, I had some really, like, mean music teachers that were so 216 00:12:40,300 --> 00:12:42,760 mean, like, it didn't matter how helpful they were, it was hard 217 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:45,280 to overcome the meanness. But then I had some teachers that 218 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:49,240 were like, not mean enough. And maybe they would, would had good 219 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,120 things to say, but they they didn't scare you enough into 220 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,400 doing it. And then, as you're kind of mentioning that in the 221 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,860 acronym, it makes you think so think of like, if we have a 222 00:12:56,860 --> 00:12:59,200 mentor, or we have, like, working for, like, an 223 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:03,540 organization, like, sometimes high stress is good. And then 224 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:06,720 also, like, along in that journey you mentioned about, 225 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:09,900 like, there's, there's something about, like, the like, kind of a 226 00:13:09,900 --> 00:13:13,380 hard, I guess, the hard work and like, the consistent practice. 227 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:16,860 And then there's also, like, the virtuoso Ness. And what comes to 228 00:13:16,860 --> 00:13:19,800 mind there is like, you know, if you, if you play an instrument 229 00:13:19,860 --> 00:13:22,400 of any kind. If you don't practice, you just won't be 230 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:27,560 good. And sometimes a lot of the elbow grease can overcome, like, 231 00:13:27,620 --> 00:13:31,220 an initial lack of skill. But then some people are, like, 232 00:13:31,220 --> 00:13:34,580 naturally talented, and they squander it, I mean, and you can 233 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,640 put that on musicians, and you put that on if someone has, 234 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:41,740 like, good luck early in life with like, like money, or their 235 00:13:41,740 --> 00:13:44,740 business, a lot of people can squander it, and so it just, 236 00:13:44,860 --> 00:13:47,440 what comes to mind here is, like, there's a lot of little 237 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:51,940 puzzle pieces, and like, the music and all that helps us just 238 00:13:51,940 --> 00:13:55,120 to understand it and to kind of see it in a different lens. 239 00:13:55,180 --> 00:13:58,240 Gerald Leonard: Yes, exactly. And what's what I really love 240 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:03,480 about this concept, and the way it works out is that it's very 241 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:09,900 relatable. It's something that you don't have to be a musician 242 00:14:10,020 --> 00:14:13,380 to take advantage of these concepts. I mean, we've all, you 243 00:14:13,380 --> 00:14:16,320 know, either you played music in school, or you've gone to a 244 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,260 concert, or, better yet, you've, you know, you've gotten in your 245 00:14:19,260 --> 00:14:22,700 car and you turned on the radio, right? I mean, everyone in the 246 00:14:22,700 --> 00:14:26,180 world loves music in some form or fashion, whether it's 247 00:14:26,180 --> 00:14:30,260 classical, jazz, bluegrass, whatever. And most musicians 248 00:14:30,260 --> 00:14:33,320 that are really open minded and trying to grow, you know, they 249 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:37,220 may have their genre that they kind of specialize in, but they 250 00:14:37,220 --> 00:14:41,440 love all good music. You know, I can listen to bluegrass. I can 251 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,920 listen to classical. You know, one of one of my favorite bands 252 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:48,940 is Bella Fleck and the flextons. It's a guy playing the banjo, 253 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:52,420 but he's playing jazz banjo, but sometimes they're playing kind 254 00:14:52,420 --> 00:14:56,080 of like the country bluegrass banjo, and out of some flavor of 255 00:14:56,080 --> 00:15:00,480 jazz to it. And it's like mind blowing, because you're. Someone 256 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,200 who's taken their skill of playing the banjo extremely 257 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:08,040 serious, and he's taken it to a whole nother level, and all you 258 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:10,680 can do is sit back and go, Wow, you know, I've never heard 259 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,940 someone play a banjo like that, you know? And so it's really 260 00:15:14,940 --> 00:15:18,780 inspiring. But if you take these concepts, for instance, let's 261 00:15:18,780 --> 00:15:22,460 take the concept of surrendering to support. Imagine being on a 262 00:15:22,460 --> 00:15:25,820 project team where you have developers, you know, business 263 00:15:25,820 --> 00:15:33,680 analysts, coders. Let's say QA folks are subject matter experts 264 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:37,520 in the technology or the business process, and as the 265 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:41,380 team is working together, let's say it's the analysis part, and 266 00:15:41,380 --> 00:15:44,740 everyone knows that the business analyst, it's kind of driving 267 00:15:44,740 --> 00:15:48,520 the show. Well, if everyone comes to the meeting saying with 268 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:52,240 the mindset of, I'm surrendered to support, whatever help you 269 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,880 need, I'm going to be there for you. I'm going to give you, I'm 270 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,820 going to contribute, I'm not going to overstep, because I 271 00:15:57,820 --> 00:16:01,360 know right now you're leading and they provide that support. 272 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:03,540 What kind of team are you going to have? You're going to have an 273 00:16:03,540 --> 00:16:06,480 amazing team. And then when you get into the development phase 274 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:08,460 of the project, where the developers are now leading, 275 00:16:08,460 --> 00:16:10,980 because they're doing all the coding, and the testers are kind 276 00:16:10,980 --> 00:16:15,060 of beginning to test things, and they everyone now supports them. 277 00:16:15,540 --> 00:16:18,900 So you find, you find where, when you build something like 278 00:16:18,900 --> 00:16:21,980 that, or you take that mentality of working together, like 279 00:16:21,980 --> 00:16:25,820 musicians work together, then it becomes, you know, work becomes 280 00:16:25,820 --> 00:16:29,720 fun. The people that you work with become more than just your 281 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,240 colleagues. They actually become like family. They become like 282 00:16:32,300 --> 00:16:36,560 best friends. I remember being on some shows and playing a show 283 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:40,840 in St Louis where a few of the band members I never met, and 284 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:44,500 literally within one or two rehearsals, we were like, best 285 00:16:44,500 --> 00:16:49,480 friends. I mean, it was like we were emotionally connected from 286 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,720 rehearsing. We were, you know, we could, like, look at each 287 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,540 other and know where the part was happening or what we needed 288 00:16:55,540 --> 00:16:59,140 to do. And it was just like this spiritual, emotional thing that 289 00:16:59,140 --> 00:17:03,840 happens. And it was like it transcended the the the language 290 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,200 of that we spoke, because we were speaking the language of 291 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:12,540 music. And so that's powerful happened. Yeah, I think a lot of 292 00:17:12,540 --> 00:17:16,440 those things actually had can happen in the business world, as 293 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:20,340 people take their this concept and put it into practice in 294 00:17:20,340 --> 00:17:23,660 their own in their own life, and I've seen it where, you know, my 295 00:17:23,660 --> 00:17:26,420 business groups or clients I've worked with, where the team has 296 00:17:26,420 --> 00:17:27,980 really become, like, family, 297 00:17:29,540 --> 00:17:32,060 Robert Plank: nice, yeah, and just, and, like, very quickly, 298 00:17:32,060 --> 00:17:35,240 too, without, well, a lot of the hassles. Like you, like you 299 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:37,820 said, you're, you're performing together, you musicians 300 00:17:37,820 --> 00:17:40,720 together. There's like, that instant connection that's, like, 301 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,720 unlike anything else, and, you know, in there you mentioned, or 302 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,420 there was, kind of, like, a little bit of the idea, or the 303 00:17:46,420 --> 00:17:49,360 concept of, like, coming up with ideas. And I know that I was 304 00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:52,660 looking at your your blog a couple hours ago, and you had 305 00:17:52,660 --> 00:17:56,500 some posts there about, like, like, ways to kind of almost 306 00:17:56,500 --> 00:17:59,140 systematically, like, come up with ideas. So can you talk 307 00:17:59,140 --> 00:18:01,200 about that a little bit, since we're talking about, like, the 308 00:18:01,260 --> 00:18:05,820 kind of these practical, I don't know, outputs of this kind of 309 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:08,700 the philosophy. Like, I think that's a kind of a cool concept 310 00:18:08,700 --> 00:18:11,880 there, like, just being able to, like, think differently and 311 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:13,860 better and come up with ideas. So, like, What have you 312 00:18:13,860 --> 00:18:17,400 discovered lately about this whole idea generation thing? 313 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:19,680 Gerald Leonard: So here's one of the things that I discovered. 314 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,520 You know, a lot of people get together for brainstorming 315 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:24,860 sessions. You know, that's brainstorming is nothing new, 316 00:18:24,980 --> 00:18:29,120 right? And even doing a a mind map is nothing new. Or doing 317 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:31,880 what in in the project management world, doing what 318 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:35,000 they call a work breakdown structure, where you take work 319 00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:37,880 and you kind of, you know, get together in a big room and get 320 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:40,420 sticky notes, and everybody kind of gives their thoughts. But 321 00:18:40,420 --> 00:18:45,940 here's something that becomes unique in that process, and that 322 00:18:45,940 --> 00:18:52,300 is when you understand the neuroscience behind what's 323 00:18:52,300 --> 00:18:56,980 happening in the room. Now, here's what I mean when you are 324 00:18:56,980 --> 00:19:02,040 in a networking or brainstorming session and someone has a, you 325 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,160 know, the team is vibing. They're working really well. The 326 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:09,660 person who's leading the group, their brain is, is producing 327 00:19:09,900 --> 00:19:14,280 oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin, those are neuro 328 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,760 chemicals that are positive. So that's why you walk away from 329 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,820 like, Man, I really enjoyed that conversation. This was really 330 00:19:20,820 --> 00:19:23,600 great. I mean, you have all those, those nice and fun 331 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:29,180 experiences. Well, guess what happens that person's what 332 00:19:29,180 --> 00:19:32,120 they're going through gets transferred to everyone else in 333 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:35,420 the room, and in fact, their brain begins to impact the 334 00:19:35,420 --> 00:19:39,680 brains of everyone else. And so now the entire team's mindset, 335 00:19:39,740 --> 00:19:42,760 their brains and our bodies are producing dopamine, serotonin 336 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:46,180 and oxytocin, so that's when you kind of like playing music 337 00:19:46,180 --> 00:19:49,180 together. You walk away and you're like, Man, this was so 338 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:54,760 much fun, but in the same token, if you were in a brainstorming 339 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:59,620 session using all the techniques, right? But so and so 340 00:19:59,620 --> 00:20:03,660 has an. Attitude with so and so, or Mary doesn't like Bob, or Bob 341 00:20:03,660 --> 00:20:07,140 doesn't like John. And there's some competition, there's some 342 00:20:07,140 --> 00:20:10,800 attitudes. Well, their brains are going to start producing 343 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:16,560 cortisol and testosterone, which basically, and it's something 344 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:20,360 that's called that Daniel Goleman in his book, night in 345 00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:26,060 1995 emotional intelligence called amygdala hijack. Now the 346 00:20:26,060 --> 00:20:30,800 amygdala basically manages our emotions, but when someone gets 347 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:34,460 amygdala hijacked because of fear and stress, the amygdala 348 00:20:34,460 --> 00:20:38,060 shuts down the frontal lobe and puts you in a fight or flight 349 00:20:38,060 --> 00:20:42,400 mode. So now you start feeling anxious. Your body literally 350 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:46,000 gets pumped with adrenaline. You know, your limbs are ready to 351 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,520 go. You're ready to move. You're ready. I'm ready to get out of 352 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,700 here. I'm ready to fight. I'm ready, you know, I'm tense, I'm 353 00:20:51,700 --> 00:20:54,160 feeling my muscles are hurting, I'm getting I'm getting a 354 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:57,520 headache, and that's what that's becomes, the emotion of the 355 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,780 meeting. So the question is, which one of those meetings 356 00:21:00,780 --> 00:21:05,100 would you want to be a part of? Right? Do I want a brainstorming 357 00:21:05,100 --> 00:21:08,400 meeting where you know oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin are 358 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,640 happening and everybody's happy and feeling great about life? Or 359 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:15,420 do I want to be in one where there's a lot of stressors 360 00:21:15,420 --> 00:21:18,780 because everyone's doing something that Judith Glazer in 361 00:21:18,780 --> 00:21:21,740 her book conversational intelligence would call on down 362 00:21:21,740 --> 00:21:26,360 regulating, which is criticizing judging being negative. Imagine 363 00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:28,940 playing music that way, where we're putting we're getting 364 00:21:28,940 --> 00:21:32,660 together, we're we're trying to play and groove and have fun, 365 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,440 but yet we have attitudes, and we're criticizing judging and 366 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:38,960 being competitive with each other not going to be a good 367 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,520 concert. So yeah, go ahead. Well, 368 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,520 Robert Plank: I'm just gonna say, like, just the way that you 369 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:47,980 explain some of this, it gets all these visuals in my head, 370 00:21:47,980 --> 00:21:50,920 and I just have the visual of how it's like, if you have, 371 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:54,460 like, the like, an orchestra, right? And you have the 372 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,640 conductors, like the brain, and everyone is a piece of an 373 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,780 organism, and everyone's important, but at the same time, 374 00:22:00,780 --> 00:22:04,020 everyone is kind of minuscule on the whole, large part. But if 375 00:22:04,020 --> 00:22:08,520 one person's really bad or toxic or just like, I don't like 376 00:22:08,820 --> 00:22:13,680 distractingly, like awful and quality, it can just be the only 377 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:15,960 thing you notice. It can really bring down everything. And so 378 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,560 I'm seeing the like, the relationship between there's the 379 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,580 abstract, there's the musical and then how it applies to, 380 00:22:22,580 --> 00:22:24,980 like, the whole business world. This is cool, 381 00:22:25,340 --> 00:22:27,560 Gerald Leonard: exactly, exactly, and it really plays a 382 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:31,220 major part. Because, you know, another thing that I learned in 383 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:37,160 putting this book together that that's amazing, and it's amazing 384 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:40,720 because it's something that I feel like music was given to me 385 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,020 as a gift once I really understood, you know, how music 386 00:22:44,020 --> 00:22:47,200 impacts your life, but, but it's also something that other people 387 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,500 can experience, even if they're not musicians. And it'll be 388 00:22:50,500 --> 00:22:53,980 interesting how, when I tell you how you can experience it, and 389 00:22:53,980 --> 00:22:58,180 it is what's called whole brain integration when you're playing, 390 00:22:58,180 --> 00:23:00,660 when you're playing a music instrument, you know, if you're 391 00:23:00,660 --> 00:23:03,540 reading music, that's the left brain, but when you're feeling 392 00:23:03,540 --> 00:23:06,060 that music, that's the right brain. And in the middle of our 393 00:23:06,060 --> 00:23:08,520 brains, we have what's called a corpus callosum, which is like a 394 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,800 bunch of nerves that kind of connect everything together, 395 00:23:10,860 --> 00:23:15,720 right? So basically what happens is your brain begins to vibrate 396 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:19,800 and there's crosstalk, so the right and left hemisphere are 397 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:23,060 talking to each other, which creates whole brain integration. 398 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,540 So musicians, whether you're a professional musician or an 399 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:30,620 amateur musician, rank very high on the scale of whole brain 400 00:23:30,620 --> 00:23:35,420 integration. Now, if I'm not a musician, well, how do I do 401 00:23:35,420 --> 00:23:40,240 that? Guess what? Meditation, literally. You know, if I have I 402 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,900 have the call map on my phone, and I spend 10 minutes a day 403 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,680 just calming myself and going through a guided meditation, and 404 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:52,300 I make that a regular practice, my brain will begin to start 405 00:23:52,300 --> 00:23:55,720 going through the process of doing full brain integration. 406 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:00,100 And so even if I'm not a musician, I can still develop 407 00:24:00,100 --> 00:24:04,500 some of those, you know, benefits of that musicians 408 00:24:04,500 --> 00:24:08,160 receive, even though I'm not a musician, if I do some of the 409 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:11,400 techniques and things that I talk about my book, that you can 410 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:16,620 learn, that that a non musician can also implement in their in 411 00:24:16,860 --> 00:24:17,400 their life, 412 00:24:18,300 --> 00:24:20,720 Robert Plank: and when you're mentioning about these, like the 413 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:24,140 hemispheres of the brain and like the middle piece. What is 414 00:24:24,140 --> 00:24:28,040 coming to mind here is like that a lot of the activities, at 415 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:32,180 least, where I feel like really fulfilled, it's when there's, 416 00:24:32,180 --> 00:24:35,240 like, the art piece and the science piece. Like, I mean, 417 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:37,460 like, we've mentioned a few times you're like programming or 418 00:24:37,460 --> 00:24:39,740 coding like, there's times when, like, you're trying to figure 419 00:24:39,740 --> 00:24:43,420 out how to like structure, I don't like an object, or how to 420 00:24:43,420 --> 00:24:46,480 structure the data, and it's kind of like, your brain kind of 421 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,180 go like, kind of fills up the art piece and the science piece, 422 00:24:49,180 --> 00:24:51,580 right? You're like, well, let me think about like, these hard 423 00:24:51,580 --> 00:24:54,760 calculations, and does this math at it. But also, can I use my 424 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:58,480 imagination and imagine, you know, different size blocks, or 425 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:02,100 imagine a shape to get a. Problem solved and or, like an 426 00:25:02,100 --> 00:25:04,800 email, like, even, if you think about something like, even, 427 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,500 like, you know, like drafting or computer aided design, right? 428 00:25:07,500 --> 00:25:10,920 Same kind of idea where it's like you're using the logic 429 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,820 part, but also the kind of more emotional, abstract, and I mean, 430 00:25:14,820 --> 00:25:18,720 it relates back to the, you know, performing music, or 431 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,200 listening to music, you know, like you're here, like the 432 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:26,000 beats, or the what, what it is that the the literally is, but 433 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,420 then also, like, just what, what the more abstract is. I mean, 434 00:25:29,420 --> 00:25:31,520 it's cool stuff to think about. And even, like, with the 435 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,900 meditation, like, I don't do it as often as I as I should, as I 436 00:25:35,900 --> 00:25:39,020 need to, but sometimes, if I'm like, kind of needing to solve a 437 00:25:39,020 --> 00:25:42,280 problem, stressed out, I do the meditation and my brain, like, 438 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,520 I'll kind of go into like, playing with, like, adding and 439 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,580 subtracting and doing, like, math calculations to my head so 440 00:25:48,580 --> 00:25:52,000 they weren't going into the emotional, abstract, but, like, 441 00:25:52,060 --> 00:25:54,940 but yeah, hearing the way you're explaining all this, it's like, 442 00:25:55,060 --> 00:25:58,240 when there's the art and the science combined, those are The 443 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:03,120 most, like, fun, magical, like, just enjoyable activities, just 444 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:04,920 in anything Exactly, 445 00:26:04,980 --> 00:26:07,620 Gerald Leonard: exactly. And it really works well together. And 446 00:26:07,620 --> 00:26:10,740 it's amazing just, you know, the gift that we have between our 447 00:26:10,740 --> 00:26:14,160 ears that if we, if we just understood a little bit more 448 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:19,080 about how it works, then we can make work actually work, from 449 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,340 the standpoint of, how do I, you know, what's the best way to 450 00:26:22,340 --> 00:26:26,000 work and be productive without being stressed out, or, How do I 451 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,080 manage stress throughout my day? Again, doesn't mean that 452 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:32,660 musicians aren't stressed. Obviously, they're performing, 453 00:26:32,660 --> 00:26:34,700 they're doing a lot of things. And, you know, I don't know if 454 00:26:34,700 --> 00:26:38,780 you saw but I also did a TEDx since last time we talked, and I 455 00:26:38,780 --> 00:26:43,180 did one in 2018 and it was called the title of it was, what 456 00:26:43,180 --> 00:26:46,060 if practice is the performance? And it was all about the 457 00:26:46,060 --> 00:26:51,760 neuroscience of practicing and music. And it really got into 458 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:55,600 the whole concept of, how do we use our brains to practice, and 459 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,480 how do we use our brains for music? But even in that one, one 460 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:01,560 of the things that came out of it for me was the realization 461 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:08,460 that musicians spend 95% of their time preparing and 462 00:27:08,460 --> 00:27:12,240 practicing, even world class professional musicians who are 463 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,280 playing, let's say they're playing four or five times a 464 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,820 night at a major concert or orchestra, musicians who may, 465 00:27:17,820 --> 00:27:22,820 who may perform, let's say four or five times a week, when you 466 00:27:22,820 --> 00:27:25,220 add up the amount of time they're on stage, actually in a 467 00:27:25,220 --> 00:27:28,340 concert, playing, and the amount of time they're actually 468 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,940 rehearsing with the orchestra or rehearsing by themselves 469 00:27:32,060 --> 00:27:40,280 preparing, it's about a 95 to five ratio, maybe 92 to 8% or 470 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,180 something, But it's, it's a very small amount of time that you're 471 00:27:43,180 --> 00:27:46,720 actually on stage. So here's the premise, or the point of that 472 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:52,300 is, if I got all of my joy and excitement from being on stage, 473 00:27:52,300 --> 00:27:56,560 then I'm going to be miserable the rest of the time because I'm 474 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,320 not on the on stage, I'm going to be preparing to get on stage. 475 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:03,000 I got to practice. I gotta work on my craft so but if I take the 476 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:06,780 mentality that everything is a performance, even when I'm 477 00:28:06,780 --> 00:28:11,280 practicing and performing and I'm enjoying the process, then 478 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,640 if the performance doesn't go as well as I wanted it to, okay, 479 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,940 well, I'll do better next time. I'll practice up some more, but 480 00:28:17,940 --> 00:28:21,260 I'm gonna enjoy the journey now, and life becomes a lot more 481 00:28:21,260 --> 00:28:24,620 relaxing and fun. Because I've kind of put it in perspective 482 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:28,940 Robert Plank: that that's really cool to think about that like 483 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:31,640 that, like the the journey is the destination kind of thing. 484 00:28:31,700 --> 00:28:36,020 And if you're, if you're always, like, living in the the past or 485 00:28:36,020 --> 00:28:39,200 living in the future, or living for that 5% you know, living for 486 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,880 the the next big TEDx talk or the next concert, then you'll be 487 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,180 miserable a huge percentage of the time. And so they're like, 488 00:28:46,180 --> 00:28:48,640 there's like that half of it, and then also when I'm getting 489 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,420 human, but there's also the part of like, always kind of be at 490 00:28:52,420 --> 00:28:55,720 the top of your game, because there'll be those, those tiny 491 00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:59,680 points in life when it really, really counts, and you can only 492 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,460 be at your best, if you were at your best, those times when it 493 00:29:02,460 --> 00:29:04,920 didn't count. And even just hearing that, I mean that that 494 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,980 puts a lot into perspective. Because, like, we all do things 495 00:29:07,980 --> 00:29:10,920 where, like, this was a mistake, or this was a waste, or I did 496 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,980 that for free, but if it, if you kind of look at the big picture, 497 00:29:13,980 --> 00:29:16,740 it's, it's way more reassuring that way, exactly, 498 00:29:16,740 --> 00:29:19,320 Gerald Leonard: exactly. And here's something else that that 499 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:24,140 came out of that talk, and I do talk about it in the talk, 500 00:29:24,980 --> 00:29:28,160 because six weeks before I gave that talk, and I'm not sure if 501 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,620 anybody's had this. I'm sure there are people that are 502 00:29:30,620 --> 00:29:33,380 listening that that have had this. But if you've ever had 503 00:29:33,380 --> 00:29:37,760 something called vertigo. Now, Vertigo is a situation where, 504 00:29:38,660 --> 00:29:42,940 you know one it could happen because you have a either fluid 505 00:29:42,940 --> 00:29:45,760 in your ear, or you have something with the hairs in your 506 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,700 ear, fine part of your ear to get out of whack, and you lose 507 00:29:48,700 --> 00:29:51,340 control, and you lose your vestibular system, and you get 508 00:29:51,340 --> 00:29:55,900 dizzy, and the room spins on you. Well, six weeks before I 509 00:29:55,900 --> 00:29:59,920 delivered that talk, I experienced vertigo, but. 510 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,900 Vertigo that I experienced was it must have been a virus or 511 00:30:03,900 --> 00:30:08,220 something, but it impacted my right inner ear nerve. I was 512 00:30:08,220 --> 00:30:11,280 rushed to the hospital. I was in the hospital for a day and a 513 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:14,580 half, and it literally what wiped out what's called the 514 00:30:14,580 --> 00:30:19,920 vestibular system, which means I lost at, you know, two years 515 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,940 ago, let's say, two and a half years ago I lost the ability to 516 00:30:22,940 --> 00:30:28,220 walk. I'm 58 so that means at 56 I lost the ability to walk. I 517 00:30:28,220 --> 00:30:32,120 had to learn how to walk all over again. But, and so for one 518 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:35,600 week, I'm sitting in bed. I'm laying in bed, rather felt like 519 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:40,120 I had a concussion. You know, I get up the room spinning, or I'm 520 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,780 lightheaded. I can't look at my laptop. I'm a consultant. I have 521 00:30:43,780 --> 00:30:46,780 my own company. How am I going to work? And I'm thinking, I'm 522 00:30:46,780 --> 00:30:49,240 praying about it, and I'm thinking, and I start thinking 523 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,060 about my talk in the neuroscience and one of the 524 00:30:52,060 --> 00:30:57,340 things I referenced in my talk was that when there's brain 525 00:30:57,340 --> 00:31:02,460 damage, if you're a musician and you practice, it activates the 526 00:31:02,460 --> 00:31:05,400 brain in such a way that the brain starts working and 527 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:09,900 rewiring itself. So as soon as I could get up, literally, as soon 528 00:31:09,900 --> 00:31:13,260 as I could get up, and I ended up, I came home with a red 529 00:31:13,260 --> 00:31:15,960 Walker. I still have it. I was in storage, but I had this 530 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:21,200 little red Walker. And I go to my office, I grabbed my base, 531 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:27,500 which I grabbed one of my bases here, and I'm sitting there, and 532 00:31:27,500 --> 00:31:30,380 I start practicing. And I practice for like an hour. It's 533 00:31:30,380 --> 00:31:33,860 like, good I can still play. And I use a walk and get back to my 534 00:31:33,860 --> 00:31:38,720 bed, and I lay down. The next day, I get up. I didn't need the 535 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:43,120 walker as much. So I started thinking about what I've been 536 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:47,020 studying and what was happening, and I really just started being 537 00:31:47,020 --> 00:31:50,260 aggressive about playing music and enjoying life. And then 538 00:31:50,260 --> 00:31:53,680 slowly, by the time, within three weeks, by the time I had 539 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:57,100 my first ear nose and throat doctor appointment, I literally 540 00:31:57,100 --> 00:32:02,880 walked in unassisted. Now I was still gated and I was still 541 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:06,840 going through some challenges, but I was in a place now where 542 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,560 music had literally restored my ability to walk, had 543 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:14,820 reprogrammed me to be able to walk again. And so when you see 544 00:32:14,820 --> 00:32:17,880 me now, and I'm sharing this with a lot of joy and 545 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,680 excitement, is because I've actually when I gave that talk I 546 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:25,880 was six weeks out of having the point being at the point where I 547 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:28,700 had lost the ability to walk, and I was able to walk on that 548 00:32:28,700 --> 00:32:31,400 stage and deliver that talk, and it's probably one of the most 549 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:34,400 sincere talks I ever gave, because I was still right in the 550 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:38,300 middle of it. But that's the power of music, and that's the 551 00:32:38,300 --> 00:32:43,120 power of these principles, is that, you know, it's real. It 552 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:46,600 has, it impacts you, and it can, it can influence your company. 553 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,600 It can influence your team. It can influence you personally. 554 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:52,900 And that's what it's done for me. And this was one way of 555 00:32:52,900 --> 00:32:54,160 sharing those concepts 556 00:32:54,820 --> 00:32:56,260 Robert Plank: and those, there's, like, so much cool 557 00:32:56,260 --> 00:32:58,180 stuff about what you just mentioned there, because 558 00:32:58,180 --> 00:33:02,760 there's, I mean, the kind of the under or the the shadow story. I 559 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,160 don't know if that's how you call it, but kind of the the 560 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:08,580 unspoken part of that was you had this big catastrophic 561 00:33:08,580 --> 00:33:11,400 failure right before something really important, and you kind 562 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,040 of, you kind of made it work. You adjusted it. And not only 563 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:18,300 did you, like, compensate for it, but you used it to make it 564 00:33:18,300 --> 00:33:22,160 better than if that kind of bad life event did, did not happen. 565 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:24,980 So, like, there's that part of it, but then there's also like 566 00:33:24,980 --> 00:33:28,400 that, like you mentioned, like, the like, kind of the UN 567 00:33:28,580 --> 00:33:32,120 unexplained, like, healing power of music, so to speak, of where 568 00:33:32,180 --> 00:33:35,000 it kind of, like, gets your brain alive and and keeps you 569 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:37,940 going, keeps you active, in the same way that, you know they say 570 00:33:37,940 --> 00:33:40,600 if you're if you're really old, like, do crossword puzzles, just 571 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:42,820 to kind of keep the brain active. But then I'm sure there 572 00:33:42,820 --> 00:33:46,540 was also part of, like, your like, you mentioned happiness in 573 00:33:46,540 --> 00:33:49,060 there, and like, just kind of feeling like, okay, like, there, 574 00:33:49,060 --> 00:33:52,240 there are, there are good things in life still yet to come. And 575 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:55,000 that's even more motivation to kind of, you know, not just sit 576 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:58,240 in the bed all day and kind of rehabilitate. So, like, this is 577 00:33:58,240 --> 00:33:59,080 all cool stuff, 578 00:33:59,380 --> 00:34:01,740 Gerald Leonard: exactly, exactly, and it makes you it 579 00:34:01,740 --> 00:34:05,160 made me extremely grateful for the gift that I had been given, 580 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:07,800 and to realize that, you know, I don't want to squander it. I 581 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:11,700 want to use it. I want to I want to share it and but do it from 582 00:34:11,700 --> 00:34:14,940 the standpoint of just gratitude, because, you know, I 583 00:34:14,940 --> 00:34:19,320 realized that it was, you know, it was given to me that, you 584 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:24,080 know, and provided me at a time where, when I lost that ability, 585 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,900 it actually helped me restore that, you know, the ability to 586 00:34:26,900 --> 00:34:29,540 walk again, which was, you know, again, it was a journey to go 587 00:34:29,540 --> 00:34:32,420 through that process, and it wasn't easy, but, you know, 588 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:35,540 without having that ability, it might have taken me two years to 589 00:34:35,540 --> 00:34:36,920 get back to the point where I could 590 00:34:38,540 --> 00:34:41,380 Robert Plank: walk well. So there are so many benefits in in 591 00:34:41,380 --> 00:34:44,380 our everyday life, in our health, and also in the 592 00:34:44,380 --> 00:34:49,180 workplace. And this is workplace dash jazz.com. This book is 593 00:34:49,180 --> 00:34:52,840 called workplace jazz, how to improvise as we're wrapping up 594 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:55,720 winding down. Gerald, do you have any, like, final parting 595 00:34:55,720 --> 00:34:58,120 words of advice, or anything that you can think of that 596 00:34:58,180 --> 00:35:01,020 maybe, like, kind of the best, like last. 1020, years of your 597 00:35:01,020 --> 00:35:03,360 life, something that's like, really stuck with you, any like, 598 00:35:03,420 --> 00:35:07,980 big in scope, parting words for us that help us kind of get get 599 00:35:07,980 --> 00:35:10,200 through life and to get motivated and inspired things 600 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:11,400 like that. Any ideas, 601 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:15,060 Gerald Leonard: sure. So basically, here's two things. 602 00:35:15,420 --> 00:35:21,800 One, get on the bandwagon of being a lifelong learner. You 603 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:25,880 know, become a lifelong learner, and become a just in time 604 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,940 learner. Think about what we just have been going through 605 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:33,200 with the pandemic, you know, the tech. Remember when if a lot of 606 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:36,140 people stayed home and got on the Internet things that, you 607 00:35:36,140 --> 00:35:39,440 know, things kind of started coming to a crawl and, you know, 608 00:35:39,500 --> 00:35:42,640 things didn't work too well. Now everybody's home. I mean, 609 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:45,280 literally, the whole world is at home. And what's happening to 610 00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:48,220 the internet and technology? It's getting better. It's 611 00:35:48,220 --> 00:35:53,860 streaming faster. So in the last year, you know, large technology 612 00:35:53,860 --> 00:35:56,860 businesses have implemented solutions and back end 613 00:35:56,860 --> 00:35:59,860 infrastructure that they were planning on doing five years 614 00:35:59,860 --> 00:36:03,480 out, and now all those new technologies are now here. 615 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:05,820 That's why we're able to do this without it buffering and all the 616 00:36:05,820 --> 00:36:08,700 other things that happen with with with Zoom and all these 617 00:36:08,700 --> 00:36:12,540 other technologies. So if we're not in a place where we're 618 00:36:12,540 --> 00:36:15,660 constantly learning within a short period of time, we're 619 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:19,080 going to be out of date. We're going to be we're going to, you 620 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:22,580 know, lose, you know, our station in life, if you will, 621 00:36:22,700 --> 00:36:27,380 because technology and things are happening so fast now, and 622 00:36:27,380 --> 00:36:29,960 one way to not get overwhelmed with it is just to have the 623 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:32,600 mindset. I'm going to learn something new every day, even if 624 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,600 it's a small thing. I'm going to read something new every day. 625 00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:38,360 I'm gonna listen to a podcast. If I'm gonna think outside the 626 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:41,080 box, I'm gonna get in somebody else's head, you know, by 627 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:44,500 reading a book or taking a class, but just getting into 628 00:36:44,500 --> 00:36:46,900 that mindset of learning something new every day, then 629 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:50,260 you're going to find yourself growing and getting used to it 630 00:36:50,260 --> 00:36:53,140 and being comfortable being uncomfortable. But you're also 631 00:36:53,140 --> 00:36:55,300 going to be on top of all the things that are going on that 632 00:36:55,300 --> 00:36:57,280 you that you're doing, that we're dealing with in this life, 633 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:00,780 and you know, the things like the pandemic, it becomes, well, 634 00:37:00,900 --> 00:37:03,420 it's another obstacle, but we can now. We have the tools to 635 00:37:03,420 --> 00:37:03,960 deal with it. 636 00:37:05,220 --> 00:37:07,800 Robert Plank: Necessity is the mother of invention, right? 637 00:37:08,220 --> 00:37:11,340 We're like some things. Maybe in five years we'll figure out 5g 638 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:14,280 or video streaming, but then suddenly there's emergency and 639 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:18,420 then, and then we had to make it work, make it happen. And that's 640 00:37:18,420 --> 00:37:20,780 really good advice there, because it's like, it prevents 641 00:37:20,780 --> 00:37:22,700 you from being overwhelmed. Because, like, I don't know 642 00:37:22,700 --> 00:37:26,540 about you, but I feel, I feel so lame when you hear that Bill 643 00:37:26,540 --> 00:37:31,160 Gates reads like 50 books every weekend, and then Warren Buffett 644 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:34,460 reads like even more. And you feel so behind the times. But 645 00:37:34,460 --> 00:37:37,100 like you said there, if you, if you're always learning, then it 646 00:37:37,100 --> 00:37:40,360 seems like it, like keeps the muscle strong, and then you and 647 00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:44,320 you maybe pick up a few things, but it's not so much that, like, 648 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:46,840 takes up your whole day. And then if some it seems like, if 649 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:50,380 something is important to you, maybe it'll be familiar. Or you 650 00:37:50,380 --> 00:37:53,440 can kind of go further down that rabbit hole, but it's like, I 651 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:56,920 like, kind of the the duality of that, like, oh, always be doing 652 00:37:56,920 --> 00:38:00,040 it. Make it a consistent habit. But it does not have to be a 653 00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:03,240 fire hose. You don't have to read hundreds of books. You just 654 00:38:03,240 --> 00:38:05,820 read a little bit every day. And like, the habit is more 655 00:38:05,820 --> 00:38:10,260 important than the end result. So this is, this is all really 656 00:38:10,260 --> 00:38:15,420 great to think about workplace bash, jazz.com, and anything to 657 00:38:15,420 --> 00:38:18,540 know about dropping in on that website, or just go there, see 658 00:38:18,540 --> 00:38:20,120 what there is. Well, on 659 00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:22,040 Gerald Leonard: that website you have, there's a lot of 660 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:25,460 endorsements. There's a, you know, there's a lot of media 661 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:29,180 from doing interviews and everything. There's also a music 662 00:38:29,180 --> 00:38:34,400 page. In the last year, I've done three singles, and so I 663 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:37,460 partnered with a Grammy nominated producer who worked 664 00:38:37,460 --> 00:38:40,360 with Grover Washington Junior and plays with Gerald Beasley, 665 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:43,180 and has done a lot of some amazing things, and now he's 666 00:38:43,180 --> 00:38:46,240 become my business coach, our music coach, as well as my 667 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:50,740 producer. And so we put out three singles, and there's a 668 00:38:50,740 --> 00:38:54,280 podcast on there. So I'm just enjoying life and having a great 669 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:54,760 time right now. 670 00:38:55,420 --> 00:38:57,760 Robert Plank: And you went there in podcast land, if you want to 671 00:38:57,820 --> 00:39:01,800 enjoy life and get just a new way of thinking with this 672 00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:07,500 musical side of things, go to workplace jazz.com and we will 673 00:39:07,500 --> 00:39:14,340 see you there. Want to be a guest on marketer of the day? Or 674 00:39:14,340 --> 00:39:17,880 can you recommend an author, speaker, coach or entrepreneur 675 00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:21,860 with a great success story and awesome insights? Go to marketer 676 00:39:21,860 --> 00:39:26,720 of the day.com/ask and tell us who you'd like to have on the 677 00:39:26,720 --> 00:39:28,880 show that's marketer of the day.com/ask.