In 1991, the first year of JB Music Therapy,  AUTISM was still spoken about as a rare, life long, institutionalized disorder.

Autistic disorder is rare, occurring in fewer than five children per ten thousand births, but with few exceptions, it leads to a life of marginal adjustment, often within an institution.” – Lovaas, 1987

By the late 90’s Autism was becoming more ‘popular’ being identified in 1 in 300 children.  It feels so recently that the stat again changed to 1 in 100 – and then shockingly in 2014 the U.S. government increased its autism estimate to 1 in 68 children. Fortunately in this short period of time teams of caring individuals and innovative thinkers have propelled the development of many useful resources for caregivers, professionals, families and the 1 percent of the world population who have been diagnosed with autism.  We still have more work to do.

My first encounter with children with autism, early in my career, was often quite perplexing.  Each child was being given the same diagnosis however the display of that diagnosis was so different I remember thinking,  ‘this must be something else – not autism – how can it be?’

I have worked with highly social children with autism, those strongly affected by their sensory environment using high pitched screams to convey their discomfort and displeasure, others who would quietly stare at a seemingly far off place, some who incessantly talked (often at a more advanced level than myself), and those who rarely if ever spoke a word.  How could all these children have the same diagnosis?

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, refers to a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences. We now know that there is not one autism but many types, caused by different combinations of genetic and environmental influences. – AutismSpeaks.org

It wasn’t until the word ‘spectrum’ began to be used that I began to understand the breadth and depth of autism – the way it would be exhibited and the array of resources required to care for every individual need.  However like all disorders, diagnosis, conditions, and illness….Music Therapy sessions continued to bypass many of the symptoms and reveal the child beyond the behaviours and the words – finding the very core of the child- the best bits and pieces that were only momentarily hidden.

As you have read time and time again, individuals of all ages and all abilities benefit from Music Therapy. At one time, Music Therapy was documented as a ‘technique’ used by many professions – but the complex nature of music coupled with the therapeutic relationship with a  Music Therapist required Music Therapy to become a specialized discipline – requiring its own standards of practice and code of ethics. As with all human service professions, research has revealed the reasons behind many of the clinical stories being experienced – some include:

• A 2004 study from the Journal of Music Therapy found that music in interventions used with children and teens with ASD can improve social behaviours, increase focus and attention, increase communication attempts (vocalizations, verbalizations, gestures, and vocabulary), reduce anxiety, and improve body awareness and coordination.
• A 2009 study by Kim, Wigram, & Gold found that children with autism showed more emotional expression and social engagement during music therapy sessions than in play sessions without music. These children also responded to the therapist’s requests more frequently during music therapy than in play sessions without music.
• In a 2012 study of 41 children with autism over a ten-month period, See found that weekly music therapy sessions seemed to improve overall behavior, with the most improvement seen in inattentive behaviors. 

To be clear, Music Therapy is more than the passing and sharing of instruments and singing new songs – the heart of the work is in the relationship between the Music Therapist and Client.  It is this relationship that maximizes the music and in particular fosters opportunities for confidence building and social interactions – and provides the individual with autism the opportunity to practice skills in a safe environment.

There is no question that music is an effective communication tool – for many the relationship created between Music Therapist, the Client, and Music, can be life-changing and for some….a lifeline. 

References:

Kim, J., Wigram, T., & Gold, C. (2009). Emotional, motivational and interpersonal responsiveness of children with autism in improvisational music therapy. Autism, 13(4), 389-409. PMID: 19535468

See, C. M. (2012) The Use of Music and Movement Therapy to Modify Behaviour of Children with Autism. Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum., 20 ( 4): 1103 – 1116

Whipple J. (2004). Music in intervention for children and adolescents with autism: a meta-analysis. Journal of Music Therapy. 41(2):90-106. PubMed PMID: 15307805.

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The terms social entrepreneur, social-purpose business, and corporate responsibility, were not terms that were used in 1991 when I started my small business that would eventually provide service to over 165 non-profit agencies. At the age of 21 I knew only two things: I had a passion to support people through difficult life transitions, and that people needed help to do just that. My first accountant said the market would never buy in to a new ‘for profit’ healthcare option. Well, over 25 years later (and with a new accountant), I have built a company that proves good work can still make money and make a difference.

Non-profits and governments throughout the world are finding it increasingly challenging to solve the needs of the people and the planet, and it has become harder than ever to do it alone. That is why many businesses, large and small, are getting more involved and becoming more socially aware of their impact. It is about considering your employees, community, and the environment when making business decisions, rather than being solely bound by profits. I believe all businesses can make a bigger difference by considering the following 10 tips:

1. Share the dream. At the heart of every business is the dream, the mission to be shared with the world. For the business focused on community impact the dream is not measured by the money it makes – but by the difference it makes.
2. Make incremental steps for best outcomes. The best way to boost motivation for you and your team is to take a meaningful step forward every day. Making progress with significance equates to greater work satisfaction for each team member. This progress principle suggests that managers have more influence than they may realize over the teams’ well-being, motivation, and productivity, maximizing the company’s impact.
3. Build in the spirit of equity. Equity is when everyone has the resources and tools they need to feel equal. The Dalai Lama uses the term ‘one-win-everything’ where everyone wins – you, me, the public, the environment and the global citizen. Social impact businesses and individuals increase their impact by increasing their equity lens.
4. Highlight your team’s strengths. No good has ever been proven to happen if focus is placed on people’s weaknesses, only increased anxiety and feelings of fear. People who feel they are using their strengths exhibit more positive emotion, greater vitality and self-esteem (Wood et al. 2011), fostering a more positive company culture and higher levels of satisfaction at work. The social entrepreneur is not just concerned for the needs of their clients but also the needs, including the mental health needs, of their entire team.
5. Scale for optimum impact. Scaling a business, especially a service-based business, can often be quite difficult. Entrepreneurs tend to think big, and at some point scaling will be a vital component to maximizing their desired impact. Staying focused on the mission with a clear vision will help successful growth, coupled with other key tips such as incremental steps and building on your team’s strengths.
6. Find the bliss point. The bliss point is that magic recipe for your company. Used more commonly in the formulation of food products, the bliss point is the amount of an ingredient, such as salt, sugar or fat, which optimizes deliciousness. The bliss point for your company can be explored by finding the perfect blend of people, planet and profit for maximum impact.
7. Build momentum. In my professional life I have been reminded frequently ‘if your company is not growing, it’s dying.’ From the social entrepreneur’s lens, building momentum can be far more important than growing profits (although these often follow along). It’s extremely easy to build downward momentum when tough times strike and you are headed downhill. Building momentum in the opposite direction can feel more difficult. However, the reward brings with it a sense of energy that fosters the larger contributions to something greater than yourself.
8. Invest in self-care for yourself and your team. For the social entrepreneur, the company IS the team and everyone that is served by it. Promoting wellness in you, in the company culture you live in, and in the entire team, brings vibrancy and longevity to the services you provide. At times the team may be cared for, but the leader has been forgotten. The social entrepreneur considers everyone on the team, and that includes the social entrepreneur themselves.
9. Lead with legacy in mind. The company is never just you. The business owner and the leadership team may not be around forever, but has still served and impacted the community, regardless of its size. Therefore having a legacy plan, some may call a succession plan, is an important part of the health of your organization. Good legacy leadership will ultimately be evidence of everything we have already discussed here.
10. Know you don’t have to have it all figured out to move forward. This has become a mantra of mine and has been particularly useful during moments I feel stuck, torn and unsure. I will always be faced with ethical dilemmas, conflicts, disagreements and difficult transitions – but it helps to know I don’t have to have it all figured out to move forward. When I imagine the face of one of our clients, or a team member who loves the work they are doing, I often know at least what direction to face and then I can trust the next foot forward.

These 10 tips may feel quite daunting and that is why in a series of upcoming posts we will explore each tip in deeper detail. I’ll outline some specific strategies you may want to consider for your business development – no matter if you are an emerging solopreneur or the leader of an established small business.

I know that adapting to this new wave of social impact may not be easy, yet if you were drawn to read this article I know you are up for the challenge. My goal is to help business leaders like you to be as successful as you can be, so you can turn around and make an even greater difference and impact in your community.

The post 10 Tips to Consider When Building a Business with Community Impact appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

One weekend when I was 8 years old I woke up to a piano being carried into my living room by two burly men. Within weeks of the piano being delivered a man by the name of Mr. Nicholwitz arrived. He was introduced to me as my piano teacher. Mr. Nicholwitz would arrive at my home every Saturday morning donning a suit and a fedora hat. He looked like he had stepped off a train in the 1940s. He would slowly walk up our front driveway carrying a large folder under his arm with unruly loose leaf pages sticking out. When he sat down he wouldn’t say a word he would just open his folder and almost look surprised at the seemingly random song that he pulled out.

“Oh YES,” he would say. “This is a good one. Play this one.”

Sometimes I would play through the entire piece, if I had played it before and sometimes I would play it and get stumped half way through. He would then say, “Oh that was really good for now – we will come back to that song next time…here try this one, ” as he seemed to again randomly select a song from his folder.

He would never make me replay the part I was struggling with. He encouraged me that I would do it better next time. After three years of piano lessons he had me sight-reading the songs that he loved –   from “The Entertainer” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” to Beethoven and Bach. When I played “a particularly good one,” he would lean back in his chair, close his eyes and smile slightly. His enjoyment of the music made me want to keep playing.

Although not a very orthodox way of learning the piano (and perhaps why  I am not an excellent piano player today….although I am a pretty good sight reader) Mr Nicholwitz did teach me three things that have I carried with me throughout my life.

1) There is a lot of great music out there. It is meant to be explored, enjoyed and shared. You don’t have to “do music” the way you think you are supposed to “do music” to have great outcomes – improvising, exploring, listening, dancing, and humming are all ways you can experience music and still achieve beneficial outcomes

2) Music is meant to add life to your life, and let’s face it during challenging times humans have benefited from music’s incredible capacity to help us escape into something more pleasant.

c) Science also teaches us that there are even greater reasons to learn music, regardless of your age or ability. A study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience on May 24, 2017 found that learning to play a sound on a musical instrument alters the brain waves in a way that improves a person’s listening and hearing skills over a short period of time. Basically this means that the brain can rewire itself and compensate for weaknesses, including injuries or diseases that may restrict a person’s capacity to perform certain tasks. “Music has been known to have beneficial effects on the brain, but there has been limited understanding into what about music makes a difference,” says Dr. Bernhard Ross, senior scientist at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute (RRI). “This is the first study demonstrating that learning the fine movement needed to reproduce a sound on an instrument changes the brain’s perception of sound in a way that is not seen when listening to music.”

Have I convinced you to try learning an instrument yet? . If you have thought about it recently, even for a moment, my last suggestion is for you to contact your local music studio and just sign up.  In Calgary we work with two great studios – RS Music Studios (also sells instruments) and Cornerstone Music Cafe (also has amazing food and coffee) – but any local studio is definitely a great place to start – just keep your ear out for a teacher, that through their approach, you feel supported and inspired.  Like my music experience with Mr. Nicholwitz you may learn life lessons that you never anticipated.

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The big dream is the cornerstone of any business, regardless of its size. When you step into the role of entrepreneur and business owner, you are essentially claiming your spot as a leader and trailblazer within your industry and community. This frames your position as one that will contribute to something greater than yourself.

But none of this can happen until the dream begins to materialize and be shared with those it will impact the most. Here are three steps for small business owners to consider when sharing their big dream:

1. Know the dream.

Defining the dream, as simple as that sounds, coupled with setting the culture/spirit/feeling of your company are the most critical factors when building a business. It sets the course and makes each next decision easier.

A business’s vision typically starts with one person – the CEO or owner. In those very first few days and weeks of starting my business in 1991, I didn’t have a vision written down – I didn’t know you were supposed to – but I sure felt one.

I envisioned every one of my future clients from two months old to 106 and how music therapy would impact their life. Feeling that dream would help me imprint the dream on others later on.

What dream do you feel you are a part of?

2. Imprint the dream on others.

At some point the dream must be shared with your clients, your team, networking partners, and even your personal connections. This is called imprinting the dream on others. For larger companies like WestJet this happens during the initial two-day orientation process, when they welcome new employees and share the WestJet vision. This creates a sense of employee ownership and communicates the opportunity for personal investment to build the employee’s sense of purpose for the greater cause.

Tyson Matheson, vice-president of people relations for WestJet states ,”The biggest thing is that employees want to have value in their work – they want to feel part of something bigger.” Dr. Michael Brenner and Steve Van Valin, of the consulting firm Culturology, talk about this process as “meaning amplification.” Individuals who feel more connected to the bigger vision demonstrate stronger connections to the clients and customers they serve.  This bonding together, just like it sounds, strengthens everyone involvement with the dream.

Do you feel you have sufficient buy in to your own dream? Does your team? Do your professional networks, vendors, family and friends?

3. Spread the dream.

For years I kept my business mission inside of me – just letting it out bits and pieces at a time. Keeping it so close lead to many anxious nights and hours of “whirring” (a combination of worry and spiraling). On top of that I was focused on trying to please everyone.

These two energy-sucking activities kept me from effectively spreading the dream because the dream was not clear to myself or others. The late Warren Bennis reminds us that “at the heart of every great group is a shared dream.” When I embraced that my group was my city and everyone in it, my business grew.

Today my dream is to take that one step further and to share our business model with others so they too can impact their community by spreading their dream.

Have you put limits on where you are sharing your dream?

Unfortunately, far too often, mission statements are witnessed as empty lip service to values that aren’t lived every day by the leaders of an organization. The impact of this can be felt most during an economic downturn where the company and its team are grappling about what to hold on to. Without a strong vision, the owner and team members may not have sufficient motivation to complete a project and to persevere when times get tough.

Research shows that for organizations to be successful, the team must feel you are all moving towards a meaningful goal, a fulfilling purpose, a reason to be doing what you are doing. This is becoming even more true with our millennial workforce.

Social purpose businesses, in particular, need to focus on more than the bottom line, they need to look up to the top line, the higher purpose and the people that your business is serving and advocating for. There is no better way engage into the importance of this than through the dream.

This blog series will continue to address more critical factors to ensure team engagement throughout all stages of your company’s growth.

For now, take time to review your mission and ask these questions of yourself and your team: Does your mission inspire you? Do you get a goose bump or two when you read it? Who are you fighting for?

The post 3 Vital Steps For Small Business Owners To Share Their Big Dream appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

The purpose of a business is to grow and pursue something greater than itself, pushing past obstacles, doing what is required, and mitigating as many of the bottlenecks as possible.

I believe the best way to build any business is to take a meaningful step forward every day. Some days many be a half step and other days a giant leap – but it is the meaning of the movement that makes a significant impact on the good work we do.

Here are three factors that will set you up for best outcomes:

1. Get Out of Your Own Way

“As you go to work on your business, you must think beyond what the day-to-day reality of your business calls you to do.” – Michael Gerber

The mindset of the entrepreneur is at the forefront of how your organization functions. According to Mathisen and Arnulf there are two types of mindsets that will define how an entrepreneur thinks: a) being open to new information and reflective or b) being a doer who is action focused.

Both mindsets can have benefits and costs, and . A person with the first mindset may take too long to act and miss an opportunity. The second person may be so busy doing that vital feedback is missed and customers are lost.

Getting out of your own way by moving beyond your default mindset is the first critical factor to help move your business forward. This may mean getting the mentors and supports you need, which will be different for each one of us. Some people may need to:

• Seek more family support.
• Heal troubled relationships that are holding you back.
• Reach out to new, more positive tribe mates.
• Join networking groups that feel good to attend.
• Hire someone with a specific skill set to fill in a gap (like I have done with Linda Dessau from Content Mastery Guide who is helping me get these blog posts out and on time).

2. Have Courage

Being in leadership means many moments of feeling and being vulnerable. The pressure to lead well, be open, and be trustworthy carries a tremendous amount of responsibility. Brene Brown addressed Inc.’s Leadership Forum in 2013, suggesting that even though people commonly equate vulnerability with weakness, in reality it means something else entirely: it means being courageous.

In addition to starting my MBA in 2013, I was also elected president of the Canadian Association for Music Therapy (CAMT). I was not expecting to reprise the same role I had held over 13 years prior (proving a bit of insanity on my part), however after being contacted by several senior CAMT members about the possibility of my return and listening to their needs and rationale for such an unprecedented move (a president coming back to the position for a second term many years later) I felt I had the support I needed to do so.

My role as the CAMT president allowed me to test my MBA learnings – promoting complete transparency and openness, and facing courage instead of fear.

Although I am still afraid to hurt other people’s feelings when I express my viewpoint (people pleaser syndrome), I do believe this is an important part of the leader’s role. It’s important to speak from your intuition, heart, and experience and then to be open and flexible to help the organization move towards its ultimate goal. Having courage will look different to everyone. Some people may need to:

• Revisit their mission and strategize more strongly around this higher purpose.
• Test more often. Not every idea or approach is going to work – but you won’t know unless you try it.
• Look in the mirror and say, “I am allowed to make mistakes.” As the CEO your intentions are clear: you want to succeed. Being allowed to make mistakes is a critical factor for building your courage.

3. Become a Flowmaker

Aside from the term “social-purpose business,” which sparked my immediate interest and percolated a sense of belonging, another word that has come to mean just as much to me is “flow.”

It’s not that I hadn’t heard this word before but only in the last year or so has it reached into my consciousness and resonated its place within my business.

“Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus , full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.” – Michael Csikszentmihalyi

Discovering this definition immediately transformed the core of my business belief system. It contained all that I held dear as a business owner, a social entrepreneur, a global citizen, and a music therapist — that to be successful and satisfied in work, one must:

• Be fully immersed.
• Have an energized focus.
• Feel fully engaged.
• Enjoy the process along the way.

When we resist forward motion we become a backwards business, one that begins to fizzle and may even eventually die. I believe that success stems from a steady pursuit of the greater goal – one meaningful step forward at a time. This blog series  aims to help you get there.

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I don’t believe anyone should go around and call themselves an expert, but I do believe people should feel that way when they are with you. Here are four skills to strengthen your expertise over time:

1. Know your industry

Since 1991 I have worked to position myself strongly in the Canadian music therapy community, sometimes on purpose, and sometimes due to opportunity. I feel that my experience as student, intern, emerging therapist, certified clinician, internship supervisor, business owner, and president of the national association gives me the perspective to understand and relate to many of the layers and people of my industry.

I’ve been called a subject matter expert (SME) and a trailblazer by some, and this level of specialization has provided me a multi-spectrum lens and therefore an opportunity to support my industry in a way that feels very meaningful. Here are some suggestions to deepen your relationship within your own industry:

• Stay up to date with the research. You can do this by subscribing to your favourite journals or magazines or setting up Google alerts for new studies.
• Engage in social media networks. This means not just reading but being an active participant on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn groups (you can find me at all these links) by asking questions and sharing information you have learned recently or over time, all the while helping you stay on top of the latest trends, research, and language within your unique industry.
• Join a board or committee and attend conferences, workshops and seminars within your industry. As you participate in these events, be aware of how your mindset may impact your desired outcomes.

2. Pursue lifelong learning

I don’t know about you but learning has become far more interesting and engaging as I get older. My life is enriched by the courses I choose to take, the places I visit, and the people I speak to and ask questions of. Take the time to fill any gaps in your expertise. Regular self-assessments can help identify these areas.

A note of caution: You may not know what you don’t know. Coined in 1999, the Dunning-Kruger Effect is a cognitive bias whereby people who are incompetent at something are unable to recognize their own incompetence. It can go even further – those same people who fail to recognize their incompetence may also feel confident about how well they are doing. To pursue the best learning for you and avoid the Dunning-Kruger Effect:

• Pay attention to and respond graciously to both solicited and unsolicited feedback. Remain open. Not all feedback will be on the mark but if you are hearing the same feedback from multiple sources it may be something to consider.
• Take a course that deals with the issues you are passionate about. Economics was perhaps the most critical course I took as a social entrepreneur (and I would like to study it more). Economics addresses how everything works together, and in our case for good – government, public, corporations, social needs, policy, regulation, government laws.
• Identify the bottlenecks in your company. If you are unable to solve them with system changes, you may need help with the topic. Innovation sometimes requires education.

3. Be good at your job

What makes you fall in love with a certain business? What makes it your favourite coffee shop, supermarket, gas station, airline, repair guy, or hair salon? What is it that keeps you going back? Chances are they are always there when you need them, it’s convenient, it’s the only place you can get the one service or product, and/or the quality is consistent. These are the same things you want to be recognized for as a subject matter expert.

Like any business, public perception and reputation matter a lot for the social-purpose business. It’s crucial that you consistently survey your clients to ensure you are meeting their expectations. As a small business owner, I have to be good at several roles: CEO, manager, clinician for multiple client populations (mental health, palliative care, visual impairment, hard of hearing), author, marketing/branding, networker, public speaker and I am sure a few more hats I can’t think of right now. Strategies for excelling at your many job(s) may include:

• Work hard and act professionally. No matter what your job is, it’s important to be serious and focused on what you do, and act professionally in all situations. Professionals are courteous, friendly, ethical and tactful.
• Express a positive attitude and cultivate relationships. Relationships are the crux of any company’s culture and success.
• Think on your feet, problem solve, and fail faster. Be part of the solution. Problem solvers are a valuable commodity in every workplace.

4. Keep creating

Creating is where you produce content that secures your expert status. This blog series is helping me reach my ultimate aim of publishing my second book and sharing my Good Work keynote as often as possible. If you’re really serious about being recognized as an expert, try your hand at writing an article or a book. Use these tips to keep creating:

• Use music or your favourite art form to motivate and inspire you throughout the week. Have an idea book near you at all time, where you can jot down things you want to write about later – on your blog or on social media. Little moments of creativity can go a long way.
• Get outside, walk, meditate, pray, have a bath, or go wherever you go to find your inspiration. Ease your mind and let the imagination flow.
• Brainstorm with colleagues or hold your own private Dragon’s Den/Shark Tank. Spark your creativity by discussing your mission and strategies with others.

According to Undercover Recruiter, “an expert is someone that knows their stuff more than other people in their field.” But what I feel is even more important is that YOU can’t call yourself an expert. It is up to your clients and professional colleagues to determine if and when you are, and it is their unsolicited feedback that will confirm your expert status.

So where do we go from here? As we continue this blog series we’ll now shift our focus away from the CEO/owner and to the team as a whole. A social-purpose business is never just one expert, but a team of leaders who are qualified in their jobs, feeling satisfied in their work, and all striving towards the same mission – but this isn’t always easy to achieve.

The post 4 Skills That Will Strengthen Your Position as an Industry Expert appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

Purposefully scaling a social purpose business may be one of the most difficult things a business owner ever does. Challenges I have personally faced along the way while growing JB Music Therapy (JBMT) have been:

• Being the first on the scene to offer an unknown new service;
• Having limited access to cash or capital (if any at all);
• Having no access to grants due to being a for-purpose for-profit business model;
• Long waits for new clients (budget approval);
• Being a for-profit model serving almost entirely non-profits;
• Economic downturns; and of course
• Accessing and competing for the right and best resources and talent to help me scale.

Perhaps you identify with some or all of these.

Unlike many businesses, a small service-based, human-to-human company like ours does not require a lot of startup funds. However a “dollar made, a dollar spent” approach can be difficult when you want or need to scale. There is a fine balance between building your clientele and having the resources to serve them.

If you have ample passion but limited financial resources like we did, here are the three factors that helped our company be able to scale:

1. Set a firm foundation

It always comes down to the foundation of your business: the vision, the purpose, the direction, the beacon that serves as the reason why you do what you do. This depth of vision is what grounds your company.

I used to say it is never a people problem, it is only a systems problem. Today I say it is never a systems problem, it is always a grounding problem. This puts the onus on how well the mission is felt by every stakeholder participating in the company.

Here are a couple of grounding visions that may inspire your own:

The Elephant Sanctuary – A natural-habitat refuge where sick, old and needy elephants can once again walk the earth in peace.

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream – To make, distribute and sell the finest quality all natural ice cream and euphoric concoctions with a continued commitment to incorporating wholesome, natural ingredients and promoting business practices that respect the earth and the environment.

It is often just before, during, or just after a scale when you may need to adjust the systems that support the mission. It is important that the team work together to regularly review the systems and ensure they are set up for the next leg of the journey.

2. Create buzz

Creating buzz does not require an expensive outlay to have long-lasting results. Find out where your customers are hanging out, and then go hang out at those events. Perhaps even present there, write guest columns, and use social media to share your good work and vision.

Creating buzz for music therapy in the early 1990s happened more quickly than I expected – and this was pre-computer, in a conservative town. I believe success happened in part due to the timing of public interest (the populations I wanted to serve were craving services that would reach their desired outcomes), and the fact that only a handful of people, in a city of 700,000, had ever experienced music therapy before.

Being first on the scene has its advantages, but what sustained our growth has been relentless marketing and recruiting of new clients. Face-to-face meetings quickly lead to market growth. JBMT would hire one new staff person each year for its first 20 years, to keep up with its primary marketing tool of word of mouth (WOM) referrals.

Recent research suggests 84% of consumers say they either completely or somewhat trust recommendations from family, colleagues, and friends about products and services – making these recommendations the highest ranked source for trustworthiness.  Author Andy Sernovitz breaks WOM into four easy reminders to help all companies create buzz: (1) be interesting, (2) make it easy, (3) make people happy, and (4) earn trust and respect. Although it just sounds too easy to be true, my experience suggests it is indeed true.

For us, buzz that started over 25 years ago is still being felt today, and is only increasing in its resonance. Sticking it out through the tough times has also helped with our WOM marketing and ultimately our community impact. It is during the tough times that I feel the business owner and leaders in the company should be out there even more – networking, writing, contributing, and constantly sharing the core message.

3. Build an inspired internal community that spills over into the community

As a Buchanan I was always drawn to the model of building a clan culture. Clan leaders usually focus on encouraging cohesion, teamwork, and courses of action that depend on the interests of the group.

Being a music therapist and entrepreneur has definitely been a great joy in my life. But creating jobs has been the gift that has allowed our important service to reach more people. I’m at the point now where I may not know every client that we serve in the same way I once did, but I know we have a caring team spilling out into the streets to serve those clients and fulfill our mission.

Author and speaker Brian Tracy reminds us that 95% of a company’s success resides in the ability to select the right people in the first place — but we may not always get it right every time. As we know, leading any team becomes more complex when the team members are of varying experiential backgrounds, age gaps, and cultures.  Dr. Jacqueline Peters, in her most recent book, highlights the five building blocks for high performance relationships that help better support your team by creating a common purpose, building camaraderie, building safety, reducing relationship accidents, and repairing conflict in order to generate a greater sense of happiness and fulfillment.

If your message is important, and I know that it is, this blog series hopes to continue to support you and your team to get your message out to everyone who needs it. When it comes to growing your community impact, scaling is certainly one way to do this effectively. How ready are you to take the next growth leap and scale your business for optimum community impact?

The post Scaling a Social Purpose Business appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

Many people, young and old, are living with a wide array of physical and emotional needs: decline in motor functioning, social isolation, depression, anxiety, confusion, lack of focus, stress and physical pain….a Music Therapist can help.  

Call a Music Therapist if you or your loved one wants/needs to:

• decrease stress and/or anxiety
• strengthen speech/language/breath control
• develop focus and productivity skills
• participate in an inclusive social environment
• improve capacity for learning and attention
• boost confidence and feelings of self-worth

Music Therapists work with some of society’s most vulnerable including youth at risk, individuals with brain injury, those with mental health issues, learning challenges, and those in palliative care, long-term care and dementia care. They also work with professionals, educators and corporations to ensure the stressed public can access this unique service as needed.

Ideally, every healthcare facility, employee assistance program, and learning centre would have a certified Music Therapist accessible to work with every person who seeks change – regardless of age.

When selecting a Music Therapist look for someone who:

– is certified

Countries throughout the world have national certification programs for Music Therapists who have graduated with the prescribed educational requirements including supervised clinical work.

– participates in on-going education

A degree, and even a license, may not guarantee the effectiveness of a Music Therapist. It is important you ensure that they go beyond their certification. The therapist you consider should demonstrate their participation in ongoing education. This indicates that the therapist has initiative and a passion for their profession. It will also help you identify where their interests lie. Is their continuing education related to the goals you have for yourself?

– has good rapport with you

Even the most perfect, experienced therapist on paper may not be the right fit for you unless you can identify with them and their personality. Your relationship with the therapist is essential to the process, so it is important to find someone with whom you feel connected and with whom you feel safe. The areas you work on will depend on whether you are hoping to be: challenged, validated, inspired, or transformed. A good therapist is going to take time to get to know you and what your goals are throughout your course of treatment.

Professional Associations to find a Music Therapist:

Canada – www.musictherapy.ca

United States – www.musictherapy.org

World Federation – www.wfmt.info

Here are some of the specialty services we provide at JB Music Therapy (please note that all Music Therapy companies will be unique in what specific services they provide): …… you may want to also check out What is Music Therapy

• • Group Therapy – groups range in needs from groups of seniors with dementia and their spouses, to children, youth, teens and adults with disabilities
  • Individual Therapy  – these are particularly applicable to those looking for intensive therapy.  Examples may be those suffering from depression and other mental health issues, individuals on the quest for vocal recovery after stroke, people who have acquired a brain injury, children with autism.
  • Bedside Service – palliative care, seniors, children who are critically ill, hospice care.
  • Corporate Employee Assistance Programs  – stress reduction at the workplace, wellness, team-building, productivity enhancement.
  • Community Presentations for the general public on using music with greater intention and purposeful strategy.

The post 3 Considerations before Hiring a Music Therapist appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

When I first met Colleen she presented as a highly confident, well-put together, strong female who happened to be in a wheelchair due to a serious motor vehicle accident 15 years prior. Since her accident she had worked as a consultant to help our city become more accessible. She was often heard to say: “Until you live in a wheelchair you don’t know what accessibility really means.”

What accessibility means to Colleen, and what it should mean to all of us, is that if an individual wants to go somewhere or do something, they should have access to that place or thing. How successful they are once they take their seat at that table will vary from person to person, but the seat should be accessible to them regardless. It was disheartening to learn about all the places that Colleen could not attend in the early 90s – restaurants, theatres, or even a five-kilometre walk around her own neighbourhood. None of this were easy and much of it was impossible.

Dr. Cynthia Bruce is a researcher focused on equity issues in inclusive education in both public and post-secondary settings. Her passion intrigued me to learn more about the term ‘equity’ and how it differentiates from ‘equality.’ Here is what I learned:

Equity and equality are two strategies used in an effort to produce fairness.

Equality is treating everyone the same.

Equity is providing everyone what they need to be successful.

A small, social purpose, service-based business has a unique vantage point from which to excel at providing equitable service. Such businesses are often lean and customized for their clients. Although this model can be more expensive, the outcomes of community impact can be reached without sacrificing customers who have difficulty with access.

As a human being, as well as a business owner, here are a few ways I am working to strengthen my equity lens an incorporate it into my business and daily life:

1. Discover what your customer feels they need to be successful, and how your service or product can help.

At the heart of an equitable relationship is a quest for personalized understanding. As you delve deeply into understanding your customer, remember to learn about their strengths, desired goals, what holds meaning to them, and who has influence in their lives. The more that you know about what a client needs to feel successful, the better you will be able to serve them.

2. Become a ‘warm demander.’

Author and teacher Lisa Delpit describes ‘warm demanders’ as leaders who “expect a great deal of their students, convince them of their own brilliance, and help them to reach their potential in a disciplined and structured environment.” As business owners and employers, what we focus on is important if we wish to provide an ecosystem that strengthens our employees and satisfies our customers. Being warm demanders means you believe in those you have the pleasure to work with and for, and you take a stand for what you know they can accomplish.

3. Stay flexible.

The success of any business is that it does what it says it will do. All businesses are different when reaching this goal, but at our company we know that one-size sessions do not fit all. We are passionate about personalization and because of this we remain flexible in how we provide our services. Product-based businesses will have other ways they can remain flexible to boost their equity. It may come down to focus groups and innovations to ensure their product is accessible to everyone who desires it.

4. Don’t be culture-blind.

In her book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, Zaretta Hammond says “culture, it turns out, is the way every brain makes sense of the world.” It is important that business owners identify with everything that defines their customer, including their culture. Becoming culturally responsive starts with showing genuine care that recognizes the unique gifts and talents of every person who works with you. This internal empathy and consideration for others will then spill out into the community and in all areas of customer service.

5. See being equitable as a competitive advantage.

Meticulon, an IT consulting firm, highlights their competitive advantage as having consultants with autism. Because of their ‘autism advantage,’ they are able to provide unprecedented software testing and quality assurance services. Meticulon wants to become known not just for their exceptional consulting services, but as proponents of social change who strip away societal barriers and create opportunities that lead to better service. They strive to educate the public to not see their consultants as having disabilities, but different abilities.

Of course this is just the beginning of the conversation of adding the spirit of equity into any business model. The next step will be to review and perhaps innovate your products and services to ensure the customers who desire and need your services/products can access them whenever they want or need them. This blog post series aims to help all social purpose businesses to continue strengthening their blended values — profit, planet, and of course their people.

The post 5 Ways to Build the Spirit of Equity Into Your Small Business appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

Want to keep your customers coming back from more? Find their bliss. A term used more commonly in the formulation of food products, ‘blisspoint’ is the amount and blend of certain ingredients, such as salt, sugar and fat, which optimizes deliciousness. This blog post will focus on the three ingredients we blend to create JB Music Therapy’s blisspoint — personalization, professionalism and proficiency. It is when this equilibrium is right that we see our greatest community impact and growth.

Personalization

A dramatic example of personalization came from Coca-Cola when they replaced their famous logo with your name. Their investment to personalization increased their sales revenue by 2% within two months. Sometimes personalization can be as easy as this — altering the physical characteristics of your brand or service but sometimes, at JBMT, it means assessing and implementing a unique treatment plan for every one of our clients.

Our company serves a large and growing field of service, including a variety of healthcare and education segments. Each segment uses different terminology and has different needs. For example, one group may focus on music therapy’s ability to rehabilitate speech after stroke, while another looks at how it can boost mood from depression. Service specialization is one strategy we use to target the specific customer needs that are important to them.

Personalization can be expensive, but the results can make customers feel special, unique, and that they matter, regardless of what size business you own.

What does personalization look like for your business?

Professionalism

Google the word ‘professionalism‘ and there are lot of comments on what makes it so: dressing suitably for work, showing up on time, doing a good job, being dependable, having advanced degrees, owning an office, continuing ongoing education and learning, and being ethical, just to name a few. Yet the heart of professionalism is not something we do or put on, but is what we present and carry with us at all times. To me this means:

• a spirit of service,
• a heart for your mission,
• a general interest, curiosity and care for your customers and the global community, and
• a commitment to always pursue whatever it takes to ensure that you and your business, along with its products and services, strive to exceed expectations.

The spirit of professionalism requires those working as professionals to be worthy of trust, to put clients first, and to maintain the highest of ethical standards when working with others. Interestingly, the evidence of these traits may look a lot like dressing suitably for work, showing up on time, and doing a good job.

How could you improve your spirit of professionalism?

Proficiency

As a trailblazing social purpose business it is critical that we are not resting on the laurels of professionalism, but that our services and products exceed the expectations of every customer, every time we serve them. The times I have spent good money on a service or product that lacked proficiency has been a frustrating waste of my resources.

To be proficient means to acquire the training, degrees, and certifications that serve as the foundation of your specialized knowledge and to make a deep, personal commitment to continue developing and improving your skills.

Unfortunately, we are not capable of measuring our own proficiency. Modern research on implicit bias tells us that we lack the objectivity to do so. However, what we can do is consistently pursue proficiency, which requires constant feedback and life-long learning.

Not every profession has the same educational requirements; what matters is that you have worked in a serious, thoughtful, and sustained way to master the specialized knowledge needed to serve your customers to the best of your ability. True professionals are humble – if a project or job falls outside their scope of expertise they’re not afraid to admit this.

What is your strategy for improving the proficiency of yourself as the business, and of you and your team?

Every social purpose business must focus first on their customer. The aim of this blog series is to help you find the blisspoint of satisfying their needs.

The post Find Your Company’s Blisspoint appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

For most small businesses the concept of creating momentum through marketing is crucial. For the social purpose business it is vital.

It can take a tremendous amount of force (education and time) to get products and services moving but once moving, they tend to keep moving with less and less force – they achieve momentum.

Exposure is the first step to people learning about your services and then translating their good feelings about you into purchases. The best exposure develops over time and builds in momentum. There are three considerations that support this endeavour – thinking long, going wide, and getting narrow.

Think long

In preparing your marketing strategy, regardless of size it is critical to start with the big picture. The long game. The ultimate mission. Your marketing must express passion and relentless intensity.

On the television show Survivor, it is suggested that those who outwit, outplay and outlast will win. Because a social purpose business is focused on the triple bottom line (profit, people and planet), we’re not necessarily concerned with outwitting or outplaying, but we must be committed to outlasting. Longevity is a part of momentum and requires staying focused on the client and their current and changing needs.

Big picture thinking expresses itself as macro-leadership – the way the head of the company targets the big issues rather than the small ones. Time and effort spent on macro-management enables leaders to be as clear, decisive and disciplined at the ‘big picture’ level. Here are some of the questions the big picture CEO must ask while structuring their marketing strategy:

• Why does our organization exist and what is its purpose?
• What do we offer our customers and why is it of value to them?
• What metrics will we judge our organization by, to know we are successful or going the right direction?
• How are our behaviours, actions and personalities being expressed internally and to our customers and partners, and are they congruent?

Conrad Hilton says, “success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” By answering the above questions and taking incremental, actionable steps, momentum will begin.

This focus will build momentum and help you to not only think long, but ensure your company lives long.

Go wide

You’ll get the best exposure when you deliver your message to your market from many different angles. Using only one form of communication is not as effective as casting wide, especially for the small business. Some vehicles to consider include:

• an interesting and informative website with great search term recognition and easy ways for customers to connect with you such as a bold “contact me.
• social media interactions across all channels where your audience congregates. Give and take, listening, and communicating back and forth generate the greatest buzz online.
• email and video marketing – these direct communications to customers and prospective clients inform them of all of your internal news.
• magazine articles, book chapters, and of course blog posts are some of the best business cards you can present to your future customers.
• networking where your customers hang out, such as conferences, annual general meetings, and online groups.
• presentations to decision makers and to those who will benefit directly from your services and products.
• day-to-day operations because marketing internally can be just as important as marketing externally and may be the key to your company’s momentum.

This wide net will eliminate the feeling of ‘selling’ and replace with a feeling of communicating with, understanding, and getting to know your customers. As Wayne Gretzky says, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” In marketing it is important to keep testing the best route to being where your clients are so they can take time to get to know you better.

Momentum will build as we gain wider exposure.

Stay narrow

Jim Burns, president of Avitage Consulting suggests that investing in momentum marketing requires “a customer centric content strategy… a one size fits all mentality for content will not work.”

Although we are marketing wide, internally we are staying as narrow as possible. Having a narrow niche or specialty will help you prospect effectively and build momentum as you create a brand you want to be known for.

As someone who relentlessly tests, I have done so with our services. The feedback I consistently get is to just keep doing what we are doing (music therapy). “You do this the very best and the city needs you to focus on it.”

Niching = focusing on what you do well

You could follow the best social purpose business practices but if your product or service doesn’t appeal to your market, your business won’t gain traction. A successful social purpose business combines the cause with the needs of your target consumer, and offers the products that resonate with those needs and wants. Warby Parker is a shining example. They attract busy, cash-strapped millennials with quick, easy and affordable eyewear options, and then impact their customer with their social good mission.

As I have indicated in previous blog posts, JB Music Therapy is a service niche. It was formed to fill a gap that was not available to the public. Although we have a broad range of customers from infants to seniors, our niche is our service. When we‘ve branch out into other products and services beyond music therapy, we witnessed a decrease in our customer growth and profits.

As Dolly Parton says so eloquently, “you gotta keep trying to find your niche and trying to fit into whatever slot that’s left for you or to make one of your own.”

Do what you do well, all the time, and you can’t help but build momentum.

Through the social entrepreneur’s lens, building momentum can be far more important than growing profits (although these often follow along). When tough times strike and you are headed downhill, momentum comes easy; building upward momentum can feel far more difficult. However, the reward brings with it a sense of energy that fosters larger contributions to something greater than yourself.

How do you know if you have achieved marketing momentum? When you meet with someone you want to serve and they have already hired you.

By thinking about the big picture, casting a wide marketing net, and effectively articulating the story of your mission to your core niche, you’ll set your social purpose business up for success, all while building momentum.

Next week in this blog series we are talking about self-care in business and how that is going to help with your own momentum.

The post Marketing for Momentum – Think Long, Go Wide and Be Narrow appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

“People more than things have to be restored, renewed and revived” – Audrey Hepburn

For many people who are working towards social change, whether as a nonprofit organization, a social enterprise, or a for-profit social purpose business, the idea of self-care evokes mixed feelings, including guilt and selfishness. Also, the term ‘self-care’ itself has become trendy, and social change agents prefer to set the trends rather follow them.

Self-care looks different to each person and every business. For me, going back to school to complete my MBA was a demonstration of self-care. After years of trying to figure out this business stuff on my own, school helped me fill the gaps that had been growing over time. My learning fixed problems and created ease, allowing me to feel more confident, strong and well.

Promega is a company dedicated to research that helps to diagnose and treat diseases. For them, self-care is not just for the individual but for the group. They support their team’s wellness with on-the-job “third spaces” where employees can take solitude breaks and meditate in natural light. The health benefits go beyond the individual and have resulted in improved productivity levels for the company.

When small business owners practice self-care like any other day-to-day operation, we can expect these beneficial outcomes:

1. More memory and brain growth

Spending as little as 10 minutes to sit in your car and visualize peaceful scenery or listen to music that soothes you has been shown to thicken grey matter in your brain resulting in better memory. Blending solitude with movement, such as a walk in nature, causes brain growth.

2. Self-awareness 
At Vipassana silent retreats, participants are instructed to refrain from interacting or making eye contact, or activities such as reading or writing. One hundred scientists went on such a retreat for research and noted that shutting off the faculty of speech heightened their awareness in other areas.

3. Focus, intention and action

Quieting the mind allows the imagination and positive emotions to build a subconscious intention and stimulate our goals. As Psychologist Kelly McGonigal explains, “When you approach the practice of figuring this stuff out in that way, you start to get images and memories and ideas that are different than if you tried to answer those questions intellectually.”

4. Inspirational moments

I recently went on a 48-hour retreat as that was all the time I had to spare. It included nature watching and daily writing. I found that after 10 minutes of staring at the treed mountain hills as the sun danced upon them I could turn to writing with renewed inspiration, not even realizing I had acquired a new idea until it flowed from my fingers. Professor Jonathan Schooler from UC Santa Barbara says, “Daydreaming and boredom seem to be a source for incubation and creative discovery in the brain.”

5. More ease, less stress

Physical revitalization through good food, exercise, sleep, and medical care can create feelings of upliftment and safety. Emotional revitalization through counselling, coaching, a visit with friends or family, keeping a journal, daily meditation, or prayer can create feelings of inspiration, calmness, and groundedness. Adding the smallest acts of revitalization (so as to create no added pressure) can help create more ease, and less stress.

6. Margin

Let’s face it – life is one huge spectrum from complete brokenness to outright joy and there is no guarantee where you will land from day to day. Having margin for the days when you need it is important and can be achieved by incorporating self-care on the days you feel able to.

A few years back I drove for three hours to see an exhibit of Lady Diana’s dresses. It seemed frivolous and fun. After paying the astronomical admittance fees, I entered the exhibit and immediately felt a shift from lightheartedness to something deeper and more sacred.

It didn’t feel quite right to talk too loud or socialize with the friends I was with. We walked from one outfit to another, reading about what Diana had been doing and how she was feeling when she wore it. As we entered the last room I felt an unexpected jolt. This room was like no other. It held the flowers, now all dried, that were left outside of Buckingham palace in memoriam. I started to feel my own tears sting my eyes.

Moving to the final installation, I saw a collection of letters displayed behind glass. Several were written by hand, and a final letter that was typed and addressed to over 100 charities and foundations. You could read the tears on the page as she wrote how she would no longer be able to directly support their cause as the stress of doing so much had lead to significant health problems. Diana wrote softly about how she had to scale back her work and her passion, for her own mental health. It isn’t that she didn’t love her work, it just became too much.

How are you feeling? What do you need?

For the social entrepreneur, self-care is not an “emergency response plan,” ready to be activated when stress becomes overwhelming and keeping you from your purpose. Instead, healthy self-care is an intentional way of living where our values, attitudes, and actions are integrated into our day-to-day moments. It may mean stepping back at times, something difficult for many of us to do, but also vital if we wish to fulfill our mission.

We are nearing the end of our blog series with just two more to go, but as this post suggests, please take some moments to settle yourself over these next few days. Soon we will revisit measuring our work and creating a legacy mindset so others will benefit from our good work for many years to come.

The post Experience These 6 Outcomes When You Find Time for Self-Care appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

My husband and I have a favourite coffee shop 20 minutes outside of our city. When the owner of the coffee shop is on the bar we always know our coffee is going to be extra special that day.

But the day will come when the founder needs to transition out of the business ——-WHAT?!? Screeching halt! For me and many founders out there, this is not an easy thing to contemplate: the day when it is time to move on to the next great thing, or to retire, or simply because we know the act of leaving is the best decision for the company we believe in.

Whether it’s our business, our children, or a nonprofit we started, “founders’ syndrome” seems to present as thoughts such as: I don’t trust anyone else to do this; it was my vision from the beginning and I still see where we need to go; and, sadly, I don’t want to be sent out to pasture.

Given the importance of the founder’s vision to the vitality of the organization, the thought of leaving seems to pull at the very heart of the business itself. For the company that has done all it could to strengthen their team and systems, sometimes even that cannot be enough. Even large companies struggle in this area, unable to fully keep their identity and the confidence of their customers — think Apple.

As I begin to think about all that is entailed in my own succession plan I feel a bit queasy and overwhelmed, even though I am still fifteen to twenty years out. When you have poured your sweat, tears, money, time and love into building success for more than twenty-five years, another twenty doesn’t seem like it will be enough. Yet there comes a time when we all must think about the future, plan for our replacement, and ultimately move aside for the good of the company. In preparing this blog post I asked myself the question:

When you think of leaving, what do you want to leave ahead?

For you see it’s not about what we leave behind, but what we are leaving ahead, to those who will continue to care for what we have cared about so much. For me there are only three things I really could wish for everyone to carry forward (in addition to our awesome mission, systems, and culture, of course) and they are ideas from the past, hope for the future, and optimism through anything that shows up.

Ideas from the past

All founders understand that the original business plan is really a living document that will be changed, tested, investigated, and strengthened over time. The cumulative advantage arises from the first idea being moulded into shape over time. Sometimes when we feel stuck for new ideas a review of the past can help.

Jackie Kennedy took this to heart when she updated the White House furnishings – not to spend money or to make it more beautiful as was the popular opinion in the media, but to reveal ideas of the past by exposing this history through artifacts that had been hidden away (at this point there were very few artifacts around the White House that reflected the efforts of the people earlier than the 1940s). Since her husband was interested in and strongly affected by history, Jackie felt this would be of great inspiration to him and everyone who visited.

If the thought that new ideas may come from the history of the business seems strange to you, it may be easier to think of it more like a revitalization. As Jackie asserted, “it would be sacrilege merely to redecorate it. It must be restored.”

Hope for the future

Hope is the belief that things could be better and that you can make them better. This is an important message to leave behind with your leadership team. Dr. Shane J. Lopez, author of Making Hope Happen: Create the Future You Want for Yourself and Others, says hope is a critical belief if a company is to prosper.

Lopez goes on to discuss the stats of hope in the workplace and that it accounts for 14% of total productivity. Therefore the company’s goals and the strategies that accompany them must be meaningful and convey the hopeful nature of the mission – the feeling that there is always more hope to be had.

According to Lopez, “When we’re excited about ‘what’s next,’ we invest more in our daily life, and we can see beyond current challenges.”

Optimism through anything that shows up

Did you know that optimistic people work harder? In fact, research studies have proven that pessimism severely hinders a person’s ability to take actions to improve their life and work.

When we bestow optimism and point out moments that are more good than stressful, our business will become increasingly more successful in fulfilling its mission and increasing its profits. Leaving ahead an optimistic mindset can encourage happiness and lead the company into conveying vibrancy, both real and perceived, for many years to come.

It is so hard to let go and to talk about a world without us in it, isn’t it? No matter the age of the leader or stage of the organization, succession planning is much easier when the founder is involved. So even if you are just starting your business and embarking on your vision as a big picture thinker, this part of the plan is important to envision too.

Next week’s post will be a good reminder as we wrap up this series that covered the most critical steps in owning a social purpose business.

The post Legacy: What Will You Leave Ahead When You Leave Your Business? appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

The theory of constraints formulated by Eliyahu Goldratt suggests that every business system, regardless of the industry, has at least one limiting factor affecting optimal performance. His book, The Goal, goes on to inspire leaders towards simple solutions to perceived complex problems. Equally important, Dr. Goldratt reveals the devastating impact that an organization’s psychology can have on the process of improvement.

There have been many times I have felt stuck in my business, at times almost paralyzed. Getting unstuck requires different solutions for different situations. In my final blog post of this series, I’ve compiled a list of three tips to help business owners get from feeling stuck to moving freely to their next step.

1. Lean into the bottleneck

Seth Godin says this best, “You lean into a problem, especially a long-term or difficult one, by sitting with it, revelling in it, embracing it and breathing it in.”

As a business owner we can identify external problems, glitches and weaknesses through customer surveys, focus groups, or personal interviews. Through these we carefully assess our customer’s perception regarding our reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and overall care. Internal bottlenecks can be found by walking through your procedures using flowcharts, storyboards, and team brainstorming sessions.

Once the bottleneck is revealed we can often feel overwhelmed and unsure of how to fix it. By leaning into the problem, breathing it in, you will eventually no longer feel paralyzed by it, but see it for what it really is – something that can and will be fixed.

2. Re-focus on your mission

In 2012, Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS, realized that he “felt lost because TOMS had become more focused on process than on purpose.” Mycoskie went on to describe these feelings as “concentrating so hard on the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of scaling up that we’d forgotten our overarching mission, which is to use business to improve lives.”

Due to this realization, Mycoskie took a six-month sabbatical and used the physical and psychological separation to do some soul-searching and to re-connect with his mission. He found it, and came back with confidence and direction.

I have found that taking more frequent sabbaticals throughout the year, something very new to me, has been quite helpful in helping me stay connected to our mission. Doing this often means thinking back to my earliest beginnings and first few clients. I can imagine those moments so strongly that they truly feel like yesterday, rather than 25 years ago, and these images immediately remind me of my company’s purpose of why we do what we do.

3. Remove money from the ultimate equation

In a social purpose business, money is never the goal, nor is it the problem – it is only one of the tools to be used and measured.

At JB Music Therapy we relate a lot to the owner of Impakt, Paul Klein, who has structured his measuring stick quite similarly to ours: only do work with purpose and have the courage to walk away from opportunities that compromise that purpose; work with people (employees and clients) you authentically like and respect; compensate people fairly; and have fun.

In addition to the above, we also measure our company’s impact by the results our clients experience and the number of people we serve based on need, and regardless of age or ability. Like Klein, we have found that “profitability is qualitative” and always aligns with and accompanies the other measures.

You don’t have to have it all figured out to move forward.

As Goldratt teaches us, once the problems are identified, and a simple solution is in place, it’s essential to allow enough time to fully evaluate whether the new implemented solutions are working before moving on to dealing with another service constraint.

The evaluation period will vary. If a review determines the solution isn’t sufficient, and the problem is still negatively affecting overall service performance, it is critical to go back and brainstorm an alternative solution with your team. If the solution is effective and has solved the problem, begin the process once again with another service constraint.

As a leader it is not what you think, but how you feel, that will impact what you choose to do next, and how others will respond through that process. Doing good work is about learning to be a ‘feelings-biased’ business owner – one who values people more than profit but recognizes that both are needed to make a difference. Joe McFarland calls this all “impact.”

I commit that my business and life will be based on how they impact those around me. I will do whatever it takes to produce my best work at all times, to pursue joy and meaning, and not to get too stuck for too long.

Now that I have finished this blog series about building community impact I feel I am ready to finish my book on the same topic. I will continue to publish regular blog posts about this to hold your interest until the book is published in 2018.

All the best,

The post Feel Stuck in your Small Biz? Here are 3 Tips to Help You Move Forward appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

People have long known that music can trigger powerful recollections, but now brain-scan studies show us what is really happening, and why when we use the right music we can actually help keep our memories in good working order.

Petr Janata, a cognitive neuroscientist at University of California, describes what music does. He says that when a piece of familiar music matches an experience in our lives, a mental movie starts playing in our head. Memories flood back to us, often in great detail. Even things that someone has long been unable to recall are still there, waiting to be woken. Information thought long inaccessible can still be revived.

This information is important to the music therapist because it confirms that under the right conditions, music can help the client remember important events and people through the music they associate with that event or person. Identifying the music that triggers memories can be useful in helping to recall memories and keep those memories sharp.

Here are four pieces of science that can guide the music therapist in developing a treatment plan to support their client’s desired goals and growth related to memory:

1. Memory is short.

Unless interested in a topic, most adults have an attention span of 20 minutes. Researchers estimate that the adult attention span has decreased by about 12 minutes in the past decade.

Since all generations have different attention span lengths, a client’s age will determine the pace of each session, as will any neurologic impairment.

It is important that the music therapist breaks the session down into several interventions (techniques, exercises, activities) using a variety of elements (tempo, tone, space) in order to maintain highest levels of engagement for the full 30- to 90-minute session. Repetition also plays a critical place in music therapy. Repeating a song, key word, or short phrase all aid memory development and recall.

2. Most significant memories are created between 15 and 25 years old.

60% of all memories are made between 15 and 25 years old. The “reminiscence bump” is the tendency for older adults to remember events that occurred during their adolescent and young adult years.

A recent study had participants who had suffered severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) listening to number-one songs from this prime time of their life to see what memories were evoked. Compared with using a standardized interview known as the Autobiographical Memory Interview, playing number-one hits was more effective in eliciting memories.

The music therapist uses this concept during assessment and treatment but also considers that additional research indicates that people have ‘mini reminiscence bumps’ for the music their parents listened to, and even for their grandparents’ music 

3. It is impossible to erase bad memories.

Sometimes I truly wish we could relieve our clients from their traumatic memories. There has been some advancement with the use of drugs; studies suggest that beta-blocker drugs interfere with the recollection of memories, especially, strong emotional memories related to trauma.

The music therapist is highly sensitive to the fact that music can open doors to communication, but that for some it can also cause emotional and even physical pain. Music therapists must therefore be very careful to not reignite the traumatic events people are hoping to forget. The goal is often to focus on positive memories, using music to strengthen a person’s emotional and physical state.

4. Damage to the brain can change memory capacity.

The brain’s hippocampus plays a significant role in transforming short-term memories into long-term ones. Unfortunately this area of the brain does decline with time and by the age of 80, 20% of its nerve connections may be lost. If one side of the hippocampus is damaged, it won’t affect memory at all. However, damages to both sides will stop the storage of any new memories.

Eating well, exercising, and listening to music that challenges your brain are all known to help grow your hippocampus. One of the reasons the link between music and memory is so powerful is that it activates such large areas of the brain. A recent brain imaging study found that music activated the auditory, motor and limbic (emotional) regions.

Music therapists are sensitive to where our clients are at – how they are feeling and what their current needs are in the moment, with the goal of helping them reach their goals. This monthly blog series – ‘Maximize Your Music’ – will feature the many goals and dreams our clients present to us.

The post 4 Reasons Lost Memories Can Live Again With Music Therapy appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

My mom stood at the foot of the driveway alongside my younger sister, with her cheeks glistening waving goodbye as I drove away. I had just graduated from university, completed the required internship, and with all the wisdom that comes with being almost 21, felt ready to start my own business away from the support system and all the friends I knew.

I always had an intrinsic sense that I was following some sort of carved out path and if I just trusted the process everything would be just fine. I backed out of that driveway feeling happy and excited for what was in front of me.

It was 1991 and I’d already had a brief taste of living on my own. I’d had some form of work employment since I was 12, after school, evenings and in the summer months. I learned to value other people’s systems working retail, hospitality service, and in the role as an administrative assistant. I was excited to use what I had learned from others to make something of myself.

I didn’t know what a recession was, but in 1991 many people were talking about the current economic tides. I didn’t focus too much on that. If Facebook had existed back then, you would have seen photos of me smiling in front of my car, posts about my new job at the mall, and an overall look of enthusiasm about starting my career in a new, beautiful city. Like Facebook today, you likely wouldn’t have seen the growing trepidation I was feeling, but I kept trusting the path and moved forward anyways.

Since then, I’ve been told that business owners who use a lot of mental powers to make their next decision have less success transforming their ideas into a business than those who automatically just move forward and trust their feelings. Perhaps that was what ran in my favour. I’ve always felt that thinking too hard about something leads to more barriers than open doors.

Perhaps when a decision presents itself you have felt this way yourself?  You begin to think it through, and then your mind begins to cycle over all the possibilities of what could go wrong until you feel paralyzed to take another step. This is when a mindset shift is required and feelings before action are needed to make the next step feel possible.  The feeling ‘to try’ regardless of the outcome.  As Michael Jordan, NBA Hall of Famer expressed, “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game’s winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that’s why I succeed.”

As we are learning, changing our mindset is the only way we can clear the path to the work we love.  Carol Dweck suggests that just learning more about the power of our mindset can cause major shifts in how view ourselves and our lives. Knowing the distinction between a growth (moving forward) and fixed (feeling paralyzed) mindset gives greater opportunity to build your business more successfully.

In the end, it is not what leaders think that fosters success – it is how leaders feel that will impact what they do next, and how others respond to them. Our entrepreneurial mindset, that do-gooder, get’er done attitude, is often what will get us through even the most difficult times and generate the energy we need to move forward on our path.

At the age of 21 and starting my business I knew only two things: I had a passion to support people through difficult life transitions, and that people needed help to do just that. My first accountant said the market would never buy in to a new ‘for profit’ healthcare option. Well, over 25 years later (and with a new accountant), I have learned that when you focus on things that are bigger than you more is possible…and if all else fails there is someone waiting for you at the foot of the driveway (thanks mom).

My goal is to help small business leaders like you feel good about what you are doing  so you can turn around and make an even greater impact in your community.  There is no one path – every journey that will make a difference will look different. In this monthly Good Work series we will go deeper into the stories and insights that fostered the growth of JB Music Therapy Inc.

The post Clear the Path to Meaningful Work appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

The benefits of using music at work are numerous but they are different for everyone. For the employer, music can help boost efficiency, expedite projects, and promote greater enthusiasm among employees. For the staff member, it can spark creativity or help push through a barrier in a project. However, some people may not feel more productive, creative, or inspired when listening to music – instead, they may feel distracted, stalled, or annoyed. This is the primary reason to invest time and resources to find the best music strategies for your workplace.

A consulting music therapist can get to the root of the needs of your organization, school or agency quickly and determine the best music for your unique setting. A music therapist will:

1. Assess your organization’s auditory diet

A music therapist will conduct an auditory environmental analysis comprised of team and management feedback; assessment of the auditory space (how music is being used already, and what sounds permeate the space); the feelings about music and sounds; the company’s view on the use of headphones; what quality of headphones are being used; and, perhaps most importantly, the team’s productivity goals.

The music therapist will then propose ideas and solutions with the ultimate aim to relieve auditory stressors, increase positive sounds and music that promote better feelings for creativity and performance, and increase team connections when music is used.

When we see something we don’t like we can close our eyes but our ears are much more difficult to cover. When I work with teams we discuss all the different sounds in the environment – the good, the bad and the unmentionables – and then highlight the ones that can be controlled and make suggestions for what can be added.

Like all diets it is not always about giving something up – LOSING something – a good diet includes ADDING in good stuff – music that will benefit our health and well-being.

2. Generate team connections and improve company culture

The music industry has proof that you should listen to music while you work. In a survey commissioned by the UK licensing organizations PPL and PRS for Music, 77 percent of surveyed businesses say playing music in the workplace increases staff morale and improves the atmosphere. The results seemed to be greater productivity.

However, a summary of recent research from Taiwan shows while some background music can increase worker satisfaction and productivity, music with lyrics could have significant negative effects on concentration and attention. The study concluded that music without lyrics is preferable, as lyrics are likely to reduce worker attention and performance.

A music therapist’s position is to develop a personalized plan that works best for each individual and group. Our connection to music is intensely personal. Over the past several years the role of music preferences has strongly been linked to three important psychological functions. When we respond positively to the music we are listening to we are more likely to improve our performance on certain tasks, our imagination is peaked, and our emotional state is altered.

Review your long list of potential music choices, including artists and genres, and work as a team to identify the benign music (“oh, that’s okay”). Setting guidelines of when music is played can be the most important part of the entire process, especially for those who work best in silence. There are many options but the most important part is that everyone agrees.

Here are some suggestions for when to use music:

• for the duration of everyone’s set lunch time e.g., 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., to add a social component to lunch
• the last hour of each day to pick up the mood and to signal the end of a successful day, thus promoting a boost in enthusiasm and a feeling of relaxation prior to going home
• to celebrate various occasions, e.g., for one hour of someone’s birthday, allow the birthday person or their co-workers to choose a playlist representing the birthday person
• throughout the day at a low volume, with increased volume during brainstorming sessions
• through individual headphones only, allowing people to choose the music that makes them feel most vibrant at work
• during a presentation or when you want to capture a specific mood or give a big launch to a new product or idea

3. Ignite your team’s creativity

A 2010 study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found employees with moderate sleep problems cost their companies about $2,500 in lost productivity a year. This study has also shown that listening to soft, slow (about 60 BPM) music like jazz or classical can improve the quality and duration of sleep, as well as improve functioning and creativity the next day.

Music is well known to stimulate both hemispheres of the brain simultaneously (actually no other activity seems to do this better than music). Ronald A. Berk of Johns Hopkins University suggests music is effective in isolating the side of the brain you wish to develop. To improve the function of your left hemisphere, Berk recommends that you listen to unfamiliar, fast, up-tempo music in major keys. When we are working to stimulate and challenge the mind, new music that the brain needs to digest can be effective.

To work the right side of the brain (when you are reading, studying, reflecting or engaging in creative pursuits), Berk suggests you want the exact opposite – slow music in minor keys. This produces alpha waves that relax the brain, which can be useful to help your new experiences or learning pass into long-term memory.

Music therapists are sensitive to where people are at – how they are feeling and what their current needs are in the moment, with the goal of helping them reach their goals. This monthly blog series, ‘Maximize Your Music,’ will feature the many goals and dreams our clients present to us.

The post 3 Ways a Consulting Music Therapist can Boost Workplace Productivity appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

I can’t imagine a more impossible business model than the one I created; a for-profit, for-purpose business that serves clients living a non-profit life. However, to this day I don’t know what other options I had to get the service I was passionate about to the people who needed it most.

The most successful businesses pay their staff and make a profit. We do, too, but our profit margins are often significantly smaller and some years we may break even. For years this was conflicting to me as I didn’t feel we were successful by the traditional standards of growing a business. I heard many comments such as, “If you are not making enough of a profit, then your business is just a hobby,” or, “Oh isn’t that a sweet job.”

What I learned over the years is that we had a different measuring stick for our business. Instead of staying focused on the bottom line, we base our decisions on our topline: our core mission to improve the lives of the people we serve. People who were struggling through many situations of life including difficult transitions, loss of limbs, sudden neurologic impairment, or depression after a death in the family. Facing these needs it never seemed right to focus on the money. I felt there had to be another measuring stick.

That is why when I first learned of the term ‘social entrepreneurship,’ I felt a kismet reaction. A social entrepreneur can be described as society’s change agent – a pioneer in innovations that benefit humanity.

Unlike the initial scoffs I heard from some people around me, the term didn’t sound weak to me; it sounded like a massive endeavour with huge potential to help my business move through some of the problems I had been facing, match my natural business mindset, and help me achieve the lofty objectives I had set out to reach.

As a social entrepreneur, my accountability lies beyond myself. I have known many people who believe that if we look after ourselves then all will be well. However, this is not necessarily so. Great success can come from approaching the world with a mindset that values the needs of others. As Barack Obama puts it, “we must heed the ‘call to sacrifice’ and uphold our ‘core ethical and moral obligation’ to ‘look out for one another’ and to ‘be unified in service to a greater good.’”

I feel the two most common practices all businesses can learn from a social entrepreneur are:

1. Focus mostly on what you do well and provide the resources your team needs to feel successful in your company’s pursuits.

“ Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses.” -Marilyn vos Savant

One clear way to gain a competitive edge is to become great or exceptional in your field and this is particularly true for the social entrepreneurship who must be competitive to survive and fulfill their goals. In his 2008 book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the concept that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert in any field. With only a limited amount of lifetime it makes sense to focus on developing one’s natural talents and abilities rather than wasting time developing areas where we have little natural ability. The social entrepreneur takes this a step further and is mindful of the needs of their team and the clients they serve. The strengths of these key stakeholders is how the company views its competitive advantage. Although profit may not be the primary driver for the social entrepreneur, the mission certainly is. Providing context to why a project or goal is important, and how it supports the mission of the business, is critical to creating accountability and obtaining results. “When team members understand why their role is meaningful, they are more likely to feel personal ownership,” says Jacob Hagberg of Orange Fox.

2. Focus on relationships, not transactions. Many businesses will say this is important, however, it is difficult to find one that truly models it. In a company like ours, where our clients range in age from 2 months to 104 with a variety of diagnoses and considerations and an array of goals they hope to achieve, it is impossible to see them as a transaction. Yes, they pay for every hour of service we provide, and yes that money goes towards our growth, but it is their goals that are paramount. The relationship we have with a client often lasts years and organically leads to many more transactions – this is not something we need to focus on.

My goal is to help small business leaders like you feel good about what you are doing so you can turn around and make an even greater impact in your community. There is no single philosophy to running a business. If the lens of social entrepreneurship resonates with you, stay tuned to this Good Work series as we go deeper into the stories and insights that fostered the growth of JB Music Therapy, Inc.and what has philosophically and strategically helped our growth.

The post The Two Most Important Things Social Entrepreneurs Remind All Businesses appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

Christmas music is everywhere and it seems to be starting earlier and earlier each year. Memories of ‘Christmas Past’ flood back during the first bars of “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree.” For some a happiness chord is struck, joy is released, and a new found lightness settles in for the month.

For others, Christmas music brings on very different feelings. Some people hear Christmas music and feel immediately agitated and annoyed, some more seriously than others. They may reach for the wine bottle or crank up their favourite rock album. Tension sets in, and contentedness is replaced by a deep ache of grief and loss.

Music’s capacity to trigger memories is one of the core tenants of music therapy. It drives a lot of the music therapist’s treatment design. When used with the right intention, frequency and intensity, music has the power to take individuals from feeling totally lost, to feeling comforted and less alone, and so much more.

Here are 5 ways music can help you through the Christmas season:

1. Introduce new music into your personal soundtrack. With today’s technology and on-demand music services, Christmas is a great time to access brand new music in order to massage your auditory cortex and your imagination. Music stimulates creativity by increasing blood and oxygen flow to the brain – transforming a sleepy brain into a stimulated brain. We often feel happiest when we embrace our creativity and music can help us get there.

2. Listen to seasonal music with no lyrics and perhaps a new rhythm. If you are a non-preferred-Christmas-listener (NPCL) but your mom is coming over to bake her best shortbread, try instrumental Christmas music with a unique beat (e.g., reggae). Music has the capacity to change our emotional state. Changing a negative or resistant emotional state is at the root of getting into a positive, productive state. This can be particularly helpful during cookie baking season.

3. Listen to music that soothes you and that can help you de-stress during this high stress season. The right music relaxes the mind and lowers cortisol levels. When used intentionally, there is ample evidence to suggest music can make a difference in lowering anxiety and reducing your stress. Some research suggests that 20 minutes of listening to music that soothes you equals 10 mg of valium.

4. Use music to feel connected to those you cannot be with in person. Music is a powerful anchor and roots people into the moment, helping their memory to maintain important data for later, and helping them feel more connected to those they care about, even when separated by death or distance. Music can boost memories while allowing our brain to access its reserves and remember important events and information. 

5. Socialize to your favourite music of the season – whatever that may be. Music inspires us and creates a clear passage to health. Take time for live music (making or watching), singing together, and enjoying one another’s company through music. Focus on creating new, more positive memories for future years to come. (Next month we will discuss how music improves social bonds, to prepare you for the Christmas social season.)

When to get help

For those who are struggling to face the season; feeling overwhelmed; or sinking  deeper and deeper in a state of sadness, anxiety, hopelessness, worry or guilt, it is really important that you talk to someone, such as a counsellor, therapist, nurse or doctor. This life is tough to get through alone. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

The post The Problem with Christmas Music and 5 Ways to Fix It appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.

There is no doubt that music plays a role in our wellbeing. But researchers now suggest that music also plays a significant role in strengthening social bonds. In a 2013 review of the research on music, music psychologist Stefan Koelsch described several ways music impacts our ability to connect with one another—by affecting systems involved in empathy, trust, and cooperation.

Although music can certainly be played and listened to alone, when used within a music therapy context it can also help improve feelings of social bonding.

A landmark survey from the 1980s showed that lack of social connectedness predicts vulnerability to disease and death, above more well-known risk factors such as smoking, blood pressure, and physical activity. Yet, several years later, it seems that opportunities for societal social bonding are shrinking not growing.

Here are some ways music and music therapy can strengthen social bonds and hopefully get us back on track:

1. Music increases contact, coordination, and cooperation with others

According to researchers, when we try to synch with others musically we tend to feel more connected and uplifted towards those people. Coordinating movement, such as beating a drum, shaking percussion instruments, or even just tapping our toes with another person releases endorphins in the brain that trigger warm and positive feelings. Music therapy sessions require no training or prerequisites. Activities are structured to allow all participants to experience these critical moments of connection.

2. Music gives us an oxytocin boost

Researchers have also found that listening to music releases oxytocin – but not just any music. It seems it is your preferred music that soothes you the most. In one study, patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery were asked to listen to researcher-selected ‘soothing’ music for 30 minutes one day after surgery. When tested later, those who’d listened to music had higher levels of oxytocin compared to those who were assigned to bed-rest alone. Music therapists are constantly assessing and responding to their clients’ most subtle of indicators, taking time to find the best music to fit the client’s criteria and needs. If a client has difficulty choosing, or is non-verbal, the therapist uses a variety of strategies to guide them towards the right music for their desired outcome.

3. Music strengthens our “theory of mind” and empathy

Time and time again music has been shown to activate many areas of the brain, including the areas that help us understand what others are thinking and feeling, and to predict how they might behave. This is a social skill scientists call “theory of mind,” linked to empathy. This is a proficiency music therapists have strengthened through their education and practice. For the client, increased empathy towards others is another by-product of individual or group sessions where creating music together — weaving lyrics, tone, tempo and dynamics — forms opportunities for natural relationships.

4. Music increases cultural cohesion

Group music making can certainly enhance feelings of connection and social creativity, both of which are important for ensuring workplace resilience and cultural sensitively. However, music can be a “double-edged sword” due to its emotional power that can trigger a less desirable outcome – strengthening prejudice, highlighting contradictory world views, and squashing creativity. The music therapist is sensitive to each of these possible negative outcomes and uses techniques to foster the ultimate goal – group cohesion regardless of age, ability, affluence or cultural background, leading to feelings of increased connection.

Spending time with a music therapist can provide many of the things we crave as humans – challenges, validation, recognition, and an opportunity to express freely. We all know that it feels good to feel connected to other people – I hope that is how you feel when you read through our blog posts. Although music therapy isn’t the only answer it is definitely one pathway to feeling more connected to self and others.

The post 4 Ways Music Therapy Can Improve Social Bonds appeared first on Jennifer Buchanan.