“The more strictly and mercilessly you judge yourself, the more just and kind you will be in the judgment of others.” - Confucius as quoted by Leo Tolstoy in “A Calendar of Wisdom”Yesterday, I wrote about not being too hard on yourself. But does Confucius make a reversal on my ideas? Tolstoy goes on to quote the Talmud following the Confucius quote:“Do not glorify in blaming and despising other people. A kind person should hide the shame of others, even those who have harmed him.” - The TalmudPerhaps the ancients are saying this:Don’t shame others - be kind;Give yourself and others grace - we’re only human; andLove, in the form of kindness, is about bringing people up - being their biggest fan.

Facts from a life in entertainment:You’re always going to be your harshest critic. The people you are serving want you to succeed. Instead of beating yourself up, be thankful that you got to do something for someone that cares about you and your success. Grant yourself grace and love your fans.

… they wake up and go to work. I know they do it because I hear the birds… early. Perhaps the birds are chirping to themselves, “just a few more moments, I’m tired.” But I don’t think so. But not just birds and bees, flowers do too. In the morning, the dandelions open up.But not just the flowers, stars do it - every morning the sun rises. Birds, bees, flowers, and stars all - without fail - rise every morning to do the work they’re supposed to do - their natural responsibility.Get up, make the bed, and make the change only you can make happen.

Besides “your playing sounded ridiculously intentional” the next best compliment you can give a musician is to invite them back - to play again. Coming back to play is the ultimate win because it means you get play again.What if we looked at our failures that way? Instead of beating ourselves up over a mishap at work, we could say to ourselves, “hey, I get to come back tomorrow and play again.”Perhaps the goal is not to win the most games, but it’s to get the more opportunities to make the most of the moments we are given. Perhaps the greatest reward we might get in this life is that each morning our eyes open, our lungs breathe, and we get invited back - to do it again - and this time - to do it better.Welcome to Monday!

Lacking the motivation to do the thing you need to do - like read a book? Read just one page.Practice just one line.Write just one post.Think just one thought.Take just one more step.Say no to just one more thing.Say yes to just one more minute with you and your thoughts.

It will all eventually end. That call you don’t want to have, the work you are thinking to avoid, the event you said “yes” to going to but you would rather not. Take a breath. Keep your word and show up.Whatever it is that you’ll need to endure will eventually come to an end. Instead of thinking about what we would rather not do, what if we thought more about what we might look forward to? What if the thing we have to endure could lead to a benefit? An opportunity to grow? What if it might be fun? How many possibilities might that open for us? Everything ends and gives birth to something new.Look forward to the something new!

What if the best gift you can give another person is your time. Seneca writes that time once loaned can never be repaid. Perhaps the second best gift would be presence - “I’m giving you my time and my presence.” My mom just gave me a gift. A collection of Art Tatum (on vinyl) owned by my grandfather. Now, I get to spend time with Art, my grandpa, and my mom every time I listen to the records. A simple gift is a gift indeed.Thanks, Mom.

The first management advice I ever received came from a manager I deeply respect, John.“Build a team of people who can do what you can’t.”I have never forgotten that advice, and it’s never let me done.Thank you for the wisdom, John.

Understanding history is trying to deeply know what the stakes were like for the people most impacted by an event, what was their life like, and how were decisions made. I feel that way when I look at a piece of music - understanding the composer’s life, the times the piece was written in, who it was for, what it was for, and how someone might have come to decide to write what they wrote. I feel that way about leadership - understanding the sensitivities of the teams I lead, what was at stake for them when they decided to take this job, or how they historically made decisions. History is more than books and long lectures. It’s culture. It’s embedding yourself deeply in the statement, “people like them did things like this.” Past is prologue.

The discipline I work in is known as Customer Success. What is that?It’s not customer support, and it’s not customer service. Customer Success is all about proactively pursuing value with customers. Here’s a simple way to think of it.Let’s assume you paid for this blog (you won’t!), but assume you did. As a customer success manager, I would proactively reach out to you to determine what posts you found most valuable, what you want to see more of, and what the posts helped you do. I would share your stories for others to see and be inspired by. What we need is People SuccessImagine how many things might be improved with a People Success team?EducationYour boss.Grocery shoppingFacebook! (I got off there for a reason)A concert (musicians - do you know what your audiences believe is the most valuable part of your show? If you don’t, I recommend starting now.)Gym memberships.The dentist’s office!Government services.Here’s how it might look like at the doctor’s office:You are welcomed. You are told that you are expected and that your wait will likely be 10 minutes, but in that time, they prepared a relaxing music playlist you could enjoy and had some tea for you. Then, minutes later, they let you know that the wait will be longer and they’ll give you the option to stay or reschedule at no cost to you and only at a time that’s convenient for you with no wait guaranteed. Excellent customer success would be the doctor’s office calling you 1 hour in advance of your departure time and letting you know that you’ll be waiting >15 minutes and giving you the option to reschedule. Customer Success is putting people first, thinking about what it means for them to be enrolled in what you have to offer, and then relentlessly finding ways to deliver value for those you seek to serve. It would be great if we stopped seeing that level of service and deep empathy as a way to create a commercial end, and instead, see it as a way to build a better and more helpful culture. But we have to start somewhere.Take care of the people in your lives. Relentlessly help them find and realize value.