Susan Drumm, an accomplished CEO Advisor, Leadership Coach, and USA Today Best Selling Author of The Leaders Playlist, is at the forefront of guiding leaders and their teams in developing the capacity and mindsets necessary to navigate today’s disruptive business landscape. At the helm of Meritage Leadership, her firm, Susan Drumm leads a team of seasoned coaches and consultants dedicated to working with senior leaders and executive teams. She also hosts “The Enlightened Executive,” a podcast and YouTube channel where she engages founders and CEOs in discussions about the latest and most innovative programs, assessments, apps, and techniques for enhancing personal and leadership effectiveness. MysticMag finds out more.
Meritage Leadership emphasizes that leadership is the cornerstone of success for any business. Could you share your perspective on why leadership plays such a crucial role in today’s disruptive business environment?
When you ask people about a leader they admire, you often get silence, as it seems people struggle to find a current leader they truly respect. In a world facing unprecedented and accelerating change, it’s crucial for individuals to step up as leaders. Change is happening rapidly, and if leaders don’t evolve their perspectives and adapt to the changing landscape, they risk falling behind. I firmly believe that every leader must invest in their personal growth and development to keep up with our ever-changing environment. We can’t afford to do less, considering the speed of change we’re experiencing.
Meritage offers a range of leadership consulting services tailored for different organizational levels. Can you provide some examples of how these programs have helped senior leaders, talented teams, and rising stars within organizations achieve their goals and improve their leadership capacities?
Traditionally, when I’m asked to come in and work with an organization, it often begins with the C-Suite level. I emphasize the importance of starting with the CEO and the senior leadership team. We examine the mindsets and behaviors that either drive growth or act as a brake on the organization’s progress. We then extend this approach from the C-Suite down to the SVP, VP, and director levels.
One valuable tool we use, the Enneagram, helps us assess leadership styles. This is crucial because it reveals what motivates each person and where their focus of attention tends to be directed towards. However, it also uncovers their blind spots. This insight empowers individuals but also helps them recognize the limitations they may have. It’s about becoming more open to different perspectives and working together effectively.
For instance, in one team I worked with, there was a predominant type 7 personality (the enthusiastic visionary). They excelled at brainstorming and generating new ideas but overlooked the importance of a type 6 team member (the troubleshooter). The type 6 was essential in pointing out potential pitfalls and offering valuable insights into what could go wrong. The team initially ignored her, which resulted in costly mistakes. Through our work, they learned to appreciate the unique strengths each member brought and how to communicate and collaborate more effectively, leading to better decision-making and reducing conflicts.
As the CEO and Chief Empowerment Officer of Meritage Leadership, you’ve coached a diverse range of leaders, from billionaire CEOs to entrepreneurs. What are some common leadership challenges you’ve observed, and how does your firm address these challenges?
In my book, “The Leader’s Playlist: How to Unleash the Power of Music and Neuroscience to Transform Your Leadership and Your Life,” I tackle common leadership challenges from a unique perspective. I’ve observed that leaders often struggle with issues like delegation, trust in their teams, and providing a clear vision. Surprisingly, these challenges are deeply rooted in their childhood experiences. Leadership styles are heavily influenced by how individuals learned to survive and succeed in their formative years.
I emphasize the idea that we continue to replay recurring patterns based on an old playlist running in the background. This is where music comes into play. Music is a powerful tool that enhances neuroplasticity in the brain, speeding up the formation of new neural pathways. Music engages various brain regions, transcends language, and operates on a vibrational level. Emotions have their unique vibrations, with love and gratitude at the higher end and fear, shame, and anger at the lower end. These emotional states are linked to recurring patterns in leadership.
In the book, I provide nine examples of these old playlists that leaders often carry and explain how music can interrupt these patterns. By using music with the right emotional vibration, leaders can shift to a new, desired state. I also share my personal journey of discovering the transformative power of music in this context, and a step-by-step process to shift a negative pattern any leader might be experiencing.
You mentioned that Meritage Leadership uses a cadre of seasoned coaches and consultants. Could you tell us more about the approach your team takes when working with senior leaders and executive teams to empower them in today’s dynamic business landscape?
When working with organizations, I typically prefer a cohort-based approach over one-on-one coaching. While individual coaching is valuable, the goal is often to drive organizational change. Therefore, we engage various levels of leadership, from the C-Suite down to specific teams like marketing, finance, and operations. Each of the leaders on these teams receives its own coach, allowing them to work on individual growth while also coming together as a cohort or a team to discuss progress and address leadership challenges collectively. This group dynamic, in addition to one-on-one coaching, is what I’ve found to be most effective in bringing about meaningful organizational change.
In your podcast, “The Enlightened Executive,” you explore various programs, assessments, apps, and techniques in personal and leadership effectiveness. What are some recent insights or trends you’ve uncovered that are particularly relevant for leaders looking to enhance their leadership capabilities?
Resilience is indeed a critical theme, especially in a world where burnout and rapid change have become common. As we deal with an ever-accelerating pace of change, it’s essential to develop strategies for refilling our metaphorical tanks daily. Building resilience is about equipping ourselves to cope with the complexity and challenges that come our way.
An approach I advocate for are the techniques developed by HeartMath, a method that focuses on creating heart-brain coherence. This practice involves powerful breathing techniques and biofeedback to help us manage our reactions and maintain a state of inner calm, making us more resilient in the face of stressors. Music, too, can play a role in achieving a high state of coherence, making us less prone to getting triggered by everyday stressors.
When it comes to triggers, it’s crucial to recognize that many of our reactions have deep roots in childhood patterns. By understanding this, we can approach triggers with less judgment and greater empathy. We begin to see that the person who’s triggering us is often just reminding us of something from our past. Desensitizing ourselves to these triggers involves acknowledging their origins and working on reframing our responses, ultimately fostering greater resilience in the face of life’s challenges.
If you would like to find out more about Susan Drumm, visit https://meritageleadership.com/ and https://susandrumm.com/
