How music can improve leadership and team culture

Executive overview

Most leaders overlook music as a leadership tool, defaulting to silence or passive background sound. Used intentionally, music creates resonance — emotional alignment between a leader and those they serve. The difference is between elevator music (passive) and a conductor raising a baton (deliberate).

Three practical invitations: start meetings with music or mindfulness, build team playlists collaboratively, and use music to set the tone for a message or theme.

What resonance means for leaders

• Resonance is the felt connection between a leader and those they serve — like a conductor and an orchestra.
• Great leaders resonate by listening, granting agency, and sensing the emotional frequency of their teams.
• Historical examples: Lincoln visiting troops, FDR's fireside chats, Reagan's communication style — all built on resonance.
• Groove is the physical, collective expression of resonance — when people move together in response to shared sound.
• Leaders who don't listen or feel what's happening around them cannot sustain resonance.

Three levels of music in the workplace

• Passive: elevator or department store music — sets a mood but demands no attention.
• Collective: ballgame singalongs, conference entrances — intentionally creates community.
• Intentional leadership use: giving the audience agency to shape the playlist rather than imposing it.

Music as mindful action

• Music affects dopamine and cortisol levels — it is physiologically active, not just atmospheric.
• Mindful action means selecting music deliberately for a specific outcome, not letting it run in the background.
• The "mindful spark" question: how do you get people to think intentionally about sound the way they already think about music in their personal lives?
• Silence after a musical cue deepens its effect — it creates space for reflection and re-centering.

Chef Jessica Manzanotti: cooking vs. performing

• Manzanotti uses music to orchestrate every movement in her kitchen — cutting, sauteing, plating — as a choreographed dance.
• High-stress kitchens benefit from music that calms and focuses rather than pumps energy higher.
• The distinction is between cooking (perfunctory, task-only) and performing (deliberate, sensory, nurturing).
• Leaders face the same choice: execute tasks mechanically or orchestrate an environment that nurtures people.

Starting meetings with music or mindfulness

• Opening a meeting with guided meditation and background music centers the group and reduces distraction.
• Breathing with Bach: a facilitator plays Bach while participants conduct with a chopstick — creates collective groove and calm.
• Even a five-second chime at the end of a break can re-center a room and leave a lasting impression.
• The cue works because it becomes a familiar signal — the brain anticipates what follows and quiets.

Building team playlists collaboratively

• Asking team members what music matters to them is an act of resonance — listening before broadcasting.
• A shared playlist creates a feedback loop of the familiar that builds community and belonging.
• Inviting members to share a song and explain its meaning is a fast, low-risk way to learn about each other.
• Stretch beyond the familiar: exposing a team to each other's musical worlds builds cultural respect.
• 70% of people globally listen to music daily — it is a near-universal lever for engagement.

Using music to reinforce a message or theme

• Energizing, focusing, and unwinding music serve different leadership moments — match the music to the need.
• Music carries meaning instantly: humming eight notes of Amazing Grace produces recognition across cultures and generations.
• Leaders can use a recognizable song to signal a theme, create alignment, or show respect (Lincoln playing Dixie at Appomattox).
• The 40,000-year history of music means tone and rhythm reach people before words do.
• Giving team members the role of song selector distributes voice and ownership of the culture.

How musical taste evolves — and why that matters

• Musical preferences shift through life; what resonates at 15 is not what resonates at 45.
• The thread that persists is not the genre but the emotional and social function music serves.
• Leaders should stay curious about what their people are listening to now, not what they listened to before.
• Collaborative playlists that include multiple people's choices reflect this natural evolution.