A hit songwriter and a global tech executive use the universal language of music to turn rooms full of people into teams that listen, trust and deliver.
Leading with Music is the work I do on stage and in the room with Mark House, my mentor and partner at empoweringLEADERS. For the story of how Mark and I work together, see Empowering Leaders.
Mark's executive track, from the Space Shuttle to the internet
Featured speakers in San Diego and Paris
Craig's hit single, featured in The Waterboy
Mark's coaching time with leaders at every level
Songs get past titles, time zones and small talk. In minutes, strangers become teammates and teammates start really listening to each other.
All rated it 5 out of 5… so 5!!!
Probably the best moderated offsite I have attended
My favorite session in over a year.
What fun. Excellent science and application and openness. Thank you for being human stuff.
This session was amazing! They could have been keynote speakers.
In person or virtual, for a ballroom of hundreds or a table of eight.
A 60-minute, in-person presentation that blends crowd work, research, stories and practical tools, with the whole room singing.
A series of one to four workshops that use music, research and executive tools to build a stronger team. Entertain, educate, engage and empower.
Working sessions and ongoing coaching for leadership teams, led by ICF-certified coaches with real executive miles. A place for leaders to keep improving.
Music is a complete tool for growing stronger teams and culture. We bring the research, the case studies and the practical tools, and help you build music into meetings, onboarding and communication so it lasts beyond one event.
Music is a powerful, universal and executive language. If you love music, you're one of us. Let's work together.
A few minutes of Mark and Craig on stage: the music, the crowd and the leadership lesson in between.
Mark and Craig met in 2011 in James Madison University's MBA program. Mark was teaching, Craig was a student, and they bonded over music and leadership. Today they bring both to the same stage.
Mark's first career was spent proving things in orbit. He helped produce the first experiment to directly measure cosmic radiation's effect on semiconductor memory, then built the lab of advanced technologies that won NASA's computing systems for the Space Station. From there came supercomputing at IBM, leadership roles at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and VeriSign, where his teams worked across nine time zones.
That led him into the harder work of people. One of roughly 2,300 Master Certified Coaches worldwide, he has developed 1,000+ leaders and hundreds of teams, teaches in the MBA programs at Darden, Duke and JMU, and writes the daily Leading with Music blog. He played bass in a bluegrass gospel group for 15 years and owns way too many guitars.
Craig's first career was spent onstage. As a founding member and frontman of the band Everything, he co-wrote “Hooch,” the hit single featured in Adam Sandler's The Waterboy, and logged more than 10,000 hours in front of audiences ranging from one person to 80,000. He went on to write songs for EMI Music Publishing, and his music now streams in 100+ countries, with media clients including Disney, ESPN, ABC, Sony, the NFL, CBS and Warner Bros.
Through Aim Upward, Craig coaches executives and teams, with a particular focus on leaders in music, media and the creative industries. He brings a songwriter's ear for the hook: the one line a team will actually remember. He lives on the Outer Banks, where the stage is smaller but the audience is just as honest.
Leaders and teams across technology, finance, government, education and entertainment, from Mark's executive career at IBM and VeriSign to Craig's music and media clients.
Fannie Mae · Freddie Mac · Sands Capital · Geisinger · UDig · Warner Music · Red Light Management · Department of Defense · Department of Health & Human Services · Pew Charitable Trusts · National Association of Educators · UVA Darden · Virginia Commonwealth University · James Madison University · NC State Parks · NC Department of Forestry
Organizations Mark and Craig have worked with through Leading with Music, their coaching practices and their earlier executive and music careers.
Tell us about your team, your event and the room. We'll bring the setlist.
