020 - Stephen Kohler of Audira Labs at UIC
Prior to graduating from the MENG Program at UIC, and also as I was wrapping up my contract gig as a graduate hourly in supervisory training and development in student employment, I was asked to book a training workshop to be hosted in-person for all supervisors, including front-line, administrative assistants, department managers, campus-wide service areas, faculty, and student managers. For my role, I ran 3 trainings via Zoom for supervisors of students; however, being in person, I wanted to make this one special. As music is a big part of my life, I instantly thought of my friends, Audira Labs, who I have always felt were brilliant in that, Stephen Kohler, author of “The Leadership Anthem,” did corporate workshops on Leadership Development for Resiliency & Connection. Audira said yes, thankfully, and on July 30, 2025, UIC hosted “Leadership Essentials” with Stephen Kohler.
Stephen Kohler’s “The Leadership Anthem” at UIC on July 30th, 2025
Those invited were given a little Workshop Summary:
In this experiential leadership development workshop, Stephen Kohler, Founder & CEO of Audira Labs, guides participants in amplifying their leadership skills through the powerful lens of music. Drawing from his new book, “The Leadership Anthem”, Stephen introduces The Ensemble Method, a dynamic framework that helps leaders connect, communicate, and inspire with greater impact.
We had also instructed them that these were some of what might be gained from the event and what they could expect to learn:
Redefine leadership through purpose and influence
Deepen listening skills to foster empathy and effective communication
Strengthen creativity and strategic vision by thinking like a composer
Embrace servant leadership through the art of conducting
Maximize their leadership “dynamic range” by fine-tuning pitch, tempo, and volume, like a performer
Mentor, coach, and give feedback with the insight of a producer
Uplift others by leading as a fan
Stephen Kohler, walking through the room and speaking about how musicians use their listening skills to foster empathy and effective communication.
I attend a lot of these workshops, in areas such as health & wellness, leadership skills, technology & communications, and even investing seminars. One thing that seems to be common in many of these is that the presenter has a presentation that is clicked through, and if we are lucky, there is time for some questions and interaction with the crowd at the end of the event. What was strikingly different here in this workshop was that Stephen had a knack, like a musician, ironically, to move around the crowd, engaging them, and getting right to the “Heart of the Matter’ like India Arie in her brilliant song, where much was shared by the supervisors to a crowded room. Rather than just being focused on what he was presenting, Stephen was completely present, listening to what was said, acknowledging that it was heard and understood, which is something that all supervisors and leaders should be doing naturally. From there, he provided insight that was often attained together with the person sharing, making them feel very much a part of the process, which I personally loved. When one is working, I find the best results in learning come when a supervisor listens to our observations regarding what we are trying to solve and shows us what can be done, rather than just telling us one way of solving the problem.
One of my favorite parts of the workshop was related to how everyone had a shaker on the table in front of them. Asked to pick them up and shake them to make sounds, it was awesome to see many UIC supervisors pick up their new instruments and begin to shake them, making percussive sounds, sometimes in sync, and even in sporadic or different rhythmic patterns, to understand, these sounds or vibrations form the cadence or rhythm in how we communicate our messages. It was cool to see the light bulbs go off during the entire workshop as participants had little eye-opening moments, where they realized that what we do as musicians to lead audiences also applies to how they lead in their roles. Overall, I would say this was a ‘rock solid set by Stephen,” and all the participants “rocked!”
Some Links:
Audira Labs: https://audiralabs.com
UIC Student Employment: https://studentemployment.uic.edu
“The Leadership Anthem” by Stephen Kohler: Buy on Amazon
“The Leadership Anthem” by Stephen Kohler
