#137 -Unlocking Peak Leadership: Susan Drumm’s Music-Infused Approach to Transformation

In this enlightening episode of the Peak Performance Perspectives Podcast, host Mark Talukdar sits down with Susan Drumm, an acclaimed CEO advisor, leadership coach, and the visionary author of The Leader’s Playlist. With an extraordinary career spanning law, consulting, and the performing arts, Susan brings a revolutionary approach to leadership, blending neuroscience, emotional intelligence, and music to inspire transformative growth. Discover how Susan’s multifaceted background—from Harvard Law to London’s Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts—shaped her unique methodology. She dives deep into the neuroscience behind behavior, illustrating how our childhood patterns subconsciously dictate our leadership styles. Whether you're an entrepreneur, executive, or someone striving for personal growth, this episode unravels the hidden patterns holding you back and teaches you how to rewrite them. Key Takeaways: The Power of Patterns: Susan explains how to identify and disrupt automatic behaviors that no longer serve us. Learn how self-awareness and presence can unlock your peak potential. Music and Leadership: Explore the groundbreaking connection between music and neural plasticity. Susan shares how personalized playlists can help leaders break old habits and build new, empowering mindsets. Childhood Wounds and Leadership Style: Understand how unresolved childhood experiences shape professional relationships and decisions—and how to transform these patterns into strengths. Emotional Intelligence in Leadership: Why EQ is the ultimate skill in a world increasingly influenced by AI and automation. Susan also shares moving real-life examples, like how a CMO used a custom playlist to overcome feelings of exclusion and transform her leadership style. With actionable insights and practical tools, this episode is a must-listen for anyone ready to elevate their leadership and personal growth. 🎧 Listen to discover: How neuroscience and music amplify leadership transformation. What “finer distinctions of mindset” mean for decision-making. The importance of balancing emotional intelligence with strategic thinking. Why the path to authentic leadership begins with self-compassion. Don’t miss Susan’s free 5-minute leadership style quiz at susandrum.com to uncover your unique superpowers and liabilities. For more examples of transformational leadership journeys, grab a copy of The Leader’s Playlist! Offer: Susan would like to include an offer for your audience of 20% off using the coupon code 20OFFEA for our course: Enneagram Applied that offers an online journey through four self-paced sessions, paired with a unique Enneagram Leadership Style Assessment and a comprehensive 20+ page report to deepen their leadership insights. Please include this information in your show notes and/or social media posting. Link: https://susandrumm.kartra.com/page/Join-EnneagramApplied Meet our Guest: Susan Drumm, J.D., MCC CEO, Meritage Leadership Development Susan Drumm is a CEO Advisor, Speaker, USA Today Bestselling Author and Leadership Coach focused on helping leaders and their teams to develop the capacity and mindsets to lead in today’s disruptive environment. She has personally coached billionaire CEOs, high profile political figures, prominent Fortune 100 executive teams and incredible entrepreneurs that set out to disrupt the marketplace. Susan draws on many disciplines in her approach. She has graduate degrees from Harvard Law School, Carnegie Mellon University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Susan obtained the highest level of coaching certification as Master Certified Coach (MCC) through the International Coaching Federation. Susan also holds certifications in HeartMath™, Integrative Enneagram (Level 2), EQ Learning in Action, Havening Techniques®, The Leadership Circle and is a Certified Forum Facilitator for YPO (Young President’s Organization). She is the two-time #1 bestselling author of The Leader’s Playlist: unleash the power of music and neuroscience to transform your leadership and your life. In the book, Susan unveils a groundbreaking process that outlines how our childhood wounds show up in our ability to lead others and how music can heal those wounds. Susan’s YouTube channel and podcast, The Enlightened Executive, is ranked in the top 2% of podcasts globally. In the show, she spotlights ground-breaking techniques and strategies to help executives and entrepreneurs get the edge in personal and leadership effectiveness. Guests include founders of these programs and the executives who have experienced them — and dig into what they are, what they offer, and whether they actually work to help you evolve personally and professionally. Susan’s clients include C-suite executives from financial services, private equity, tech, healthcare, professional services, media, consumer products, consulting and law. She has worked with organizations such as KPMG, Oracle, Viacom, Microsoft, Conde Nast, L’Oreal, A&E Networks, USS Steel and Cisco. Prior to founding Meritage Leadership Development, Susan was a Senior Consultant for The Boston Consulting Group, Director of Marketing and Master Black Belt for NBC/GE and Associate Partner at The Trium Group in leadership development consulting. Susan is a member of EO (Entrepreneur’s Organization), serves clients globally and lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is passionate about travel, hiking, Pilates and healthy living and her puppy Jasmine, a toy Australian Shepherd. Connect with Her: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drummleadership/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-drumm Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/drummsusan/ Instagram handle: @drummleadership - http://Instagram.com/drummleadership/ Twitter: @drummleadership - http://www.twitter.com/drummleadership Meritage Leadership YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-5IOGbD-Gn_wFloqKhOrZA/about The Enlightened Executive YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfsV6cjbZPBXHLPVrqGjWHw?sub_confirmation=1