Back to the Beginning
Nearly three years ago, Jewel and I launched Tune In To Leadership to explore the intimate relationship between the art of jazz, other creative endeavors, and collaborative leadership. We intended for this blog to be a public extension of our private business, the Jazz Leadership Project. It’s been that and much more.
I love how Jewel has developed her own voice and style as a writer, a wonderful example of the practice in jazz we call Your Sound. I’m so proud of her! Our cadence is to publish a post by me on Mondays and by Jewel on most Fridays.
When Covid came, everything changed: we were striving for evergreen articles, perpetually relevant because of the insights and perspectives we brought to bear. With Covid, to be relevant one had to create content that in some way concerned the pandemic. We felt a responsibility to our readers, so we interviewed experts and shared thought pieces that we hoped could help us all better navigate the uncertainty and fear. And, in retrospect, I realize that Jewel and I began opening up more about our lives and loves as well as the things that frustrate and give us pause.
I share here our very first post to recall our espoused intentions and to see how close we’ve come to fulfilling them. We appreciate you reading (and in some cases, sharing with others) our thoughts and writing. And we’d be happy to hear how we’ve been of value to you.
INTRODUCTION TO COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP
Purpose
The purpose of the Tune In To Leadership blog, powered by the JAZZ LEADERSHIP PROJECT℠, is to share our perspectives on leadership as a process of self-development and collaboration. Collaborative Leadership is crucial today, especially because people all over the globe face wicked problems.
Collaborative leadership is fundamentally democratic over authoritarian. Collaborative leadership honors individual potential and excellence and realizes that collective contributions power change and innovation. Jazz is a quintessential form of democratic excellence we view as both musical practice and cultural lifestyle.
Through this blog, we will demonstrate that jazz as collaborative leadership expands cultural awareness and choice, and allows us to achieve goals in life — whether through business, civic affairs, family and interpersonal relationships.
Our blog posts will also be public meditations on mastery in leadership . . . and why striving for such mastery is urgent.
Mastery and Leadership
Mastery and leadership begin with “I,” with self-leadership and self-mastery. Next are the Us and We of shared leadership and group mastery: high-performance teams in flowing flexibility, swingin’. Mastery and leadership are of course far from easy, especially in today’s complex and inter-connected world. That’s why we’ll also confront obstacles, hurdles, potholes, and dragons of chaos, with the steadfast intent of overcoming them, heroically.
We embrace the hero’s journey not as a tale of rugged individualism, going for self solely, selfishly and exclusively, but rather as an archetype of the course of human lives, with challenges, temptations, decisions, desires, as well as risks, disappointments, and rewards along the journey.
A Hero’s Journey
This mythic pattern of consciousness transcends region, race, gender, ethnicity, and nationality. Why? Humans everywhere have biological, psychological and spiritual drives to grow, learn, and develop. Developmental arcs in narratives include scenes and scenarios and casts of characters. We aren’t only potential heroes of our own story but archetypes in the lives of others. In The Writer’s Journey, Christopher Vogler identifies archetypes we’ve not only encountered but have embodied ourselves: allies and guardians, mentor and trickster, herald and shapeshifter, higher self and shadow.
Though we’ll refer to the hero’s journey, jazz music is the primary metaphor and model for our odyssey together. Jazz performance by great musicians integrates what leadership and personal mastery expert Robin Sharma calls mindset, heartset, and soulset with skills honed deep in the shed. Jazz solves problems by enacting elegant creativity despite the blues. Jazz demonstrates ways to confront challenges and complexity with improvisational grace. Jazz models collaborative leadership grounded in deep listening, shared values, high purpose, collective intelligence, and anti-fragile flow.
Join us every Monday and Friday to explore how and why collaborative leadership sparks creative growth and inspires what we call the ENSEMBLE MINDSET℠.
Tune In To Leadership will be so insightful and helpful that it’ll read like a Jazz Party, a rollicking, shape-shifting ride full of wisdom for life, play, relationships, and work. Dance with us!
Greg Thomas & Jewel Kinch-Thomas Founders, JAZZ LEADERSHIP PROJECT℠