As an organizational development consultant and blues musician (yeah, I know), I'm passionate about making a difference in the work life and results of my clients by exploring new and creative approaches to engaging and aligning work systems, facilitating the creation of work environments and processes that give individuals the opportunity to bring the most and best of themselves to their work, and help the organizations to be profitable while contributing to the well-being of the global community. What a mouthful of consultant speak! It's really about a quality experience for everyone involved from employees, to customers, to anyone impacted directly or indirectly by the business.

BPI Board Members enjoy themselves at the first annual BPI Board Meeting. From left to right: Lou Manzi, Teresa Roche, Susan Burnett, Joe Bonito, Richard O'Leary, and in the background, David Bodnick and Nathan Carlisle.

At the BPI board meeting last June in Chicago, I was the "minstrel-in-residence," bringing a musical dimension to the three and a half day proceedings, and reflecting the progress, learning, and feelings of the meeting, and engaging the board to express themselves in song. BPI president and CEO, Louis Carter (also a drummer), and head facilitator, Roland Sullivan, are believers in the power of music to support insight, add a creative and fun element, and engage the conversations in a creative and innovative way.

The goal was to give the board members a world class, cutting edge experience with the expertise of thought leaders in leadership, talent & succession, performance management, and global change. Not only was there the capability of the thought leaders, but also the wisdom and experience of the board, openly sharing with each other provided an exceptional experience for everyone there. My piece was augmenting and tying things together with music. We started the session with a song I had prepared to welcome everyone and help set the tone for the work: Bringin' It Home.

Welcome to the board of the BPI,
Gonna take some time together,
    Let the ideas fly,
Got some thought leaders here.
    To prime the pump,
Put our heads together in a quantum brain dump,
The goal is to take home all that you can,
Make a real difference with your master plan.

Chorus:
Bringin' it home,
    That best practice;
Bringin' it home,
    Strategy and tactics,
Bringin' it home,
     That's what it's all about
Makin' a difference and puttin' it out.

We wrapped up the first night with an ad lib song; each of the participants added a verse or two about what they got, their intention for our time together, or whatever was on their mind a summation and recap in song.

As the next day progressed, I saw the board come together and show an incredible depth in their input into the meeting and their relationships with each other. As the agenda got modified due to speaker changes, passion for a subject at hand, and going with the flow, the group adapted smoothly and flawlessly. As time went on I could see that a distinct and powerful identity was emerging for the group.

At the end of the second day we finished off with a musical summary again. I could see that the group was getting more familiar with the format, and the lyrics went into more depth, they had fun with it, and there was a party-celebration feel to the end of the day.

On the third day, there was some coming and going. One member had to leave, another just arrived. The board took time to appreciate the contributions of the person going in a heartfelt and personal way, and they welcomed the new arrival, helping him feel up-to-speed and part of what was going on right away. I felt this was an impressive demonstration of how quickly and how well they had come together as a team, people from nine or ten different companies, some of them business rivals.

At the end of the third day they had a chance to really show their musical chop they wrote songs using the Face The Music process. They paired up, and each pair wrote a song about the topic of their choice. There was a great feeling of collaboration and fun in the session as I went around with my guitar coaching the songwriting pairs. They were very adept at putting out ideas and putting them into lyrics, and we had a lot of fun rehearsing for performance time.

The stage was an alcove in our meeting suite, with the Chicago River, the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan as a backdrop. The performances were funny, lively, and everyone showed appreciation for the lyrics and showmanship.

Richard and Joe	Teresa & Susan
Linda & Lou	Col. George and Nilou

Be more strategic, you've got the nerve,
Don't be so reactive, get ahead of the curve,
You know what they say, "change or die"
Or we'll send you a pink slip and say bye bye bye.

— From Change or Die by Strategic HR

The performances set a tone of celebration and accomplishment for our last night together. Music is such a great medium for expressing satisfaction at accomplishment and appreciation.

This process has been great; we've made real friends,
We're looking forward to how it ends,
After the song we'll star in the movie,
But until then we're feelin real groovy.

— From Change or Die by Strategic HR

I had the strong feeling that with leaders like these, the board would not only make a difference in their organizations, but could make a global impact to help organizations align around truly serving people.