🥁 The OffBeat #94: Lead Sheet | Leadership Digest
Something to read, something to think about, something else
This is The OffBeat where music meets leadership. I’m Allison Stadd—jazz drummer, marketing leader, and very tired/highly caffeinated mom of two—sharing weekly fresh takes on work, creativity, and connection, like how to hire like Duke Ellington. Think HBR, but with better taste in music.
Lead Sheet is The OffBeat’s biweekly roundup of links, quotes, and recs—like a musical lead sheet: just the essentials. You’ll find something to read, something to think about, and something else, all through the lens of leadership, culture, and balance.
Opening Note | A track that captures the vibe of this edition of The OffBeat:
The full OffBeat playlist
How to organize your digital workspace to spark ideas |
Could the right question bring magic to your meetings? | Guardian
Wisdom work comes after knowledge work | Every
How to raise performance without burning out your team |
The sunk cost fallacy of your career |
What if managing wasn’t miserable? |
What kind of meal are you trying to cook? | MYNDY
“It is impossible to live joyfully without your joy benefiting the world.” — Katherine Morgan Schafler, The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control
I love testing low-lift ways to make team meetings feel like something to look forward to, not dread.
Here are a few simple check-ins that build connection without putting anyone too on the spot:
Roller coaster check-in: Draw a line across a whiteboard that resembles a basic roller coaster with loops, drops, etc. Plot where you each are (representing the last month at work, or a current project), then discuss.
Share what kind of potato you are: Crinkle fries? Potato gratin? Explain what it says about you.
Mood color check-in: Display a simple palette (e.g. forest green, goldenrod, storm gray) and discuss which one you are today and why.
What’s in your rider? If you were on tour right now, what are the 2-3 oddly specific things you’d each demand in your green room?
If you’ve got other offbeat team warm-ups, send them my way.
Related reading:
Lots of leadership newsletters are boring. Not
’s, whose is, in his words, “the love child that was bred from Simon Sinek’s storytelling and John Oliver’s hilarity.” Some of my favorite pieces: leadership lessons from the ampersand (I love ampersands), the IKEA effect, Waffle House wisdom.For double the reading recs, including the three pillars of self-compassion and the book Ryan Holiday bought 1,000 copies of, plus 5 fascinating things to listen to / watch, keep reading.