Rewrite Your Inner Playlist with Susan Drumm and discover how music and mindset can break old patterns and elevate your leadership.
Summary
If you are ready to rewrite your inner playlist, here is the truth: if you are running an inner track of “I am not enough,” life will keep handing you proof that you are not enough. Until you change the track, nothing changes.
In this episode of Reflect Forward, I sit down with Susan Drumm, CEO advisor, speaker, and author, to explore how our unconscious patterns drive our leadership and lives and how we can disrupt them using something as simple and profound as music.
Meet Susan Drumm
Susan is the bestselling author of The Leaders Playlist and founder of Meritage Leadership. She has spent more than twenty years helping leaders identify the emotional patterns holding them back and replacing them with more empowering ones. She combines neuroscience, the Enneagram, and music to help leaders create new neural pathways and transition into more conscious leadership.
Why Patterns Run the Show
Susan explains that our patterns are not just habits. They are deeply grooved neural highways formed over time, often beginning in childhood. These patterns once protected us, but now they can keep us stuck, repeating the same behaviors even when we know they no longer serve us.
The Enneagram becomes a powerful tool here because it focuses on why we do what we do. When leaders understand their underlying motivation, they stop reading everyone else through their own filter and start leading with clarity, empathy, and purpose.
I share openly about my Type Three pattern of wanting to keep everyone comfortable and how this showed up in my marriage, my divorce, and my leadership. Awareness truly is the first act of liberation.
Music as a Leadership Transformation Tool
Susan’s core method centers on the idea that music accelerates neuroplasticity, making it easier to break old emotional loops and build new ones.
The process is simple and powerful:
1. Name your old playlist (e.g., “I am unworthy”).
2. Choose a pattern interrupt song that captures that old story.
3. Create a new playlist based on an “I am” statement you want to embody.
4. Practice being in that emotional state through movement and repetition.
She shares a story of a high-achieving leader whose identity was completely tied to work. Through playlist work, he reclaimed his sense of freedom and took a six-week vacation for the first time. His company performed better without him micromanaging.
Why This Matters for Leaders
This conversation is for anyone who feels stuck in familiar loops, triggered by the same dynamics, or ready to take full ownership of their inner world.
When you change your internal playlist, you change your leadership. You change your relationships. You change your life.
Key Takeaways
• Your inner playlist shapes your external reality.
• Patterns are neural pathways—once protective, now restrictive.
• The Enneagram helps you understand motivation, not just behavior.
• Music accelerates real emotional and leadership transformation.
• Owning your triggers is an act of power, not blame.
Mic Drop Moments
1. “If you are running a playlist of ‘I am not enough,’ life will keep giving you evidence of that.”
2. “You built the cage—and you are holding the key.”
3. “You are not your title or success. You are your joy, impact, and freedom.
Connect with Kerry
Visit my website, kerrysiggins.com, to explore my book, The Ownership Mindset, and get more leadership resources. Let’s connect on LinkedIn, Instagram, or TikTok!
Find Reflect Forward on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kerrysiggins-reflectforward
Find out more about my book here: https://kerrysiggins.com/the-ownership-mindset/
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-siggins/
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Rewrite Your Inner Playlist with Susan Drumm and discover how music and mindset can break old patterns and elevate your leadership.
Summary
If you are ready to rewrite your inner playlist, here is the truth: if you are running an inner track of “I am not enough,” life will keep handing you proof that you are not enough. Until you change the track, nothing changes.
In this episode of Reflect Forward, I sit down with Susan Drumm, CEO advisor, speaker, and author, to explore how our unconscious patterns drive our leadership and lives and how we can disrupt them using something as simple and profound as music.
Meet Susan Drumm
Susan is the bestselling author of The Leaders Playlist and founder of Meritage Leadership. She has spent more than twenty years helping leaders identify the emotional patterns holding them back and replacing them with more empowering ones. She combines neuroscience, the Enneagram, and music to help leaders create new neural pathways and transition into more conscious leadership.
Why Patterns Run the Show
Susan explains that our patterns are not just habits. They are deeply grooved neural highways formed over time, often beginning in childhood. These patterns once protected us, but now they can keep us stuck, repeating the same behaviors even when we know they no longer serve us.
The Enneagram becomes a powerful tool here because it focuses on why we do what we do. When leaders understand their underlying motivation, they stop reading everyone else through their own filter and start leading with clarity, empathy, and purpose.
I share openly about my Type Three pattern of wanting to keep everyone comfortable and how this showed up in my marriage, my divorce, and my leadership. Awareness truly is the first act of liberation.
Music as a Leadership Transformation Tool
Susan’s core method centers on the idea that music accelerates neuroplasticity, making it easier to break old emotional loops and build new ones.
The process is simple and powerful:
1. Name your old playlist (e.g., “I am unworthy”).
2. Choose a pattern interrupt song that captures that old story.
3. Create a new playlist based on an “I am” statement you want to embody.
4. Practice being in that emotional state through movement and repetition.
She shares a story of a high-achieving leader whose identity was completely tied to work. Through playlist work, he reclaimed his sense of freedom and took a six-week vacation for the first time. His company performed better without him micromanaging.
Why This Matters for Leaders
This conversation is for anyone who feels stuck in familiar loops, triggered by the same dynamics, or ready to take full ownership of their inner world.
When you change your internal playlist, you change your leadership. You change your relationships. You change your life.
Key Takeaways
• Your inner playlist shapes your external reality.
• Patterns are neural pathways—once protective, now restrictive.
• The Enneagram helps you understand motivation, not just behavior.
• Music accelerates real emotional and leadership transformation.
• Owning your triggers is an act of power, not blame.
Mic Drop Moments
1. “If you are running a playlist of ‘I am not enough,’ life will keep giving you evidence of that.”
2. “You built the cage—and you are holding the key.”
3. “You are not your title or success. You are your joy, impact, and freedom.
Connect with Kerry
Visit my website, kerrysiggins.com, to explore my book, The Ownership Mindset, and get more leadership resources. Let’s connect on LinkedIn, Instagram, or TikTok!
Find Reflect Forward on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kerrysiggins-reflectforward
Find out more about my book here: https://kerrysiggins.com/the-ownership-mindset/
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-siggins/
Why Great Leaders Choose Love Over Fear w/ Ryan Heil
Reflect Forward
31 minutes 7 seconds
3 months ago
Why Great Leaders Choose Love Over Fear w/ Ryan Heil
Choose love over fear. It’s more than a feel-good mantra. It’s a radical leadership choice that can transform teams, ignite innovation, and turn crisis into opportunity. Washington Speakers Bureau President Ryan Heil has built his career proving that love, not fear, is the real competitive advantage in business and life.
In this episode of Reflect Forward: Advice for Leaders, I sit down with Ryan to unpack how this philosophy has shaped his journey from professional baseball to earning a PhD in organizational culture, co-authoring Choose Love Not Fear with his father, and leading a major turnaround at one of the most influential organizations in the speaking industry.
We explore why choosing love over fear creates stronger teams, deeper trust, and cultures that can adapt to disruption—plus how Ryan and his team navigated the pandemic’s devastating impact on the speaking industry to emerge stronger than ever.
Key Takeaways:
• Love is a leadership strategy – Choosing love over fear builds trust, engagement, and sustainable performance.
• Fear-based leadership fails in the long run – It may get short-term compliance, but it erodes creativity, passion, and loyalty.
• Creative abrasion fuels innovation – Healthy conflict, when guided with respect, produces better ideas and stronger solutions.
• Culture change starts one belief at a time – Turnarounds require relentless clarity on values, vision, and “why.”
• Relationships are the real currency – They outlast trends, technologies, and even market disruptions.
• Crisis is a catalyst for reinvention – Use uncertainty to question old assumptions and build better ways forward.
• Your team may not always love you back – But consistent, steady leadership earns respect and trust over time.
Mic Drop Moments:
• “It’s easy to lead with fear. But fear makes us dumber. Love unleashes human potential.”
• “We don’t have speaker contracts—we have handshakes. Integrity is the glue that holds our relationships together.”
• “Success is temporary. So is failure. The real skill is knowing how to pivot fast.”
• “AI can recommend a speaker, but it can’t tell you who will stay after the keynote to shake every hand.”
• “Love your team even when they don’t love you back. That’s leadership.”
Connect with Ryan:
• Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanmheil/
• Learn more about Washington Speakers Bureau: https://www.wsb.com/
• Get the book Choose Love Not Fear: https://www.amazon.com/Choose-Love-Not-Fear-Engagement/dp/1734105135
Connect with Kerry
Don’t forget to subscribe to Reflect Forward on your favorite podcast platform or YouTube. Visit my website, kerrysiggins.com, to explore my book, The Ownership Mindset, and get more leadership resources. Let’s connect on LinkedIn, Instagram, or TikTok!
Find Reflect Forward on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kerrysiggins-reflectforward
Find out more about my book here: https://kerrysiggins.com/the-ownership-mindset/
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-siggins/
Reflect Forward
Rewrite Your Inner Playlist with Susan Drumm and discover how music and mindset can break old patterns and elevate your leadership.
Summary
If you are ready to rewrite your inner playlist, here is the truth: if you are running an inner track of “I am not enough,” life will keep handing you proof that you are not enough. Until you change the track, nothing changes.
In this episode of Reflect Forward, I sit down with Susan Drumm, CEO advisor, speaker, and author, to explore how our unconscious patterns drive our leadership and lives and how we can disrupt them using something as simple and profound as music.
Meet Susan Drumm
Susan is the bestselling author of The Leaders Playlist and founder of Meritage Leadership. She has spent more than twenty years helping leaders identify the emotional patterns holding them back and replacing them with more empowering ones. She combines neuroscience, the Enneagram, and music to help leaders create new neural pathways and transition into more conscious leadership.
Why Patterns Run the Show
Susan explains that our patterns are not just habits. They are deeply grooved neural highways formed over time, often beginning in childhood. These patterns once protected us, but now they can keep us stuck, repeating the same behaviors even when we know they no longer serve us.
The Enneagram becomes a powerful tool here because it focuses on why we do what we do. When leaders understand their underlying motivation, they stop reading everyone else through their own filter and start leading with clarity, empathy, and purpose.
I share openly about my Type Three pattern of wanting to keep everyone comfortable and how this showed up in my marriage, my divorce, and my leadership. Awareness truly is the first act of liberation.
Music as a Leadership Transformation Tool
Susan’s core method centers on the idea that music accelerates neuroplasticity, making it easier to break old emotional loops and build new ones.
The process is simple and powerful:
1. Name your old playlist (e.g., “I am unworthy”).
2. Choose a pattern interrupt song that captures that old story.
3. Create a new playlist based on an “I am” statement you want to embody.
4. Practice being in that emotional state through movement and repetition.
She shares a story of a high-achieving leader whose identity was completely tied to work. Through playlist work, he reclaimed his sense of freedom and took a six-week vacation for the first time. His company performed better without him micromanaging.
Why This Matters for Leaders
This conversation is for anyone who feels stuck in familiar loops, triggered by the same dynamics, or ready to take full ownership of their inner world.
When you change your internal playlist, you change your leadership. You change your relationships. You change your life.
Key Takeaways
• Your inner playlist shapes your external reality.
• Patterns are neural pathways—once protective, now restrictive.
• The Enneagram helps you understand motivation, not just behavior.
• Music accelerates real emotional and leadership transformation.
• Owning your triggers is an act of power, not blame.
Mic Drop Moments
1. “If you are running a playlist of ‘I am not enough,’ life will keep giving you evidence of that.”
2. “You built the cage—and you are holding the key.”
3. “You are not your title or success. You are your joy, impact, and freedom.
Connect with Kerry
Visit my website, kerrysiggins.com, to explore my book, The Ownership Mindset, and get more leadership resources. Let’s connect on LinkedIn, Instagram, or TikTok!
Find Reflect Forward on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kerrysiggins-reflectforward
Find out more about my book here: https://kerrysiggins.com/the-ownership-mindset/
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-siggins/