Steve Rucinski

I have two daughters ages 17 and 14 and both are very musically talented. I am witnessing them participate in high school marching band this fall. (In fact they are at a competition as I write this) They have worked at least 8-20 hours per week on marching band since the second week of June this year right after school lets out. They perform every Friday (football games) and Saturday (competitions) for 12 straight weeks.

These Kids Love Playing Music

So, they love marching band, they play in symphony band the rest of the year and love it too. They take lessons every week as well and my oldest just signed up for the Medina community band. Obviously music is important to them. Did I also mention they are A students, exhibit good personal traits like tenacity, perseverance, discipline, absorbing critical feedback, teamwork, communication and leadership.

I think having music in their lives has been critical as they have grown to this point of pre-adulthood. Of course my wife and I have always encouraged them to try new things since they were little. I have been working to understand how did all this get started, what was the key thing that enabled this musically led life journey to evolve so nicely over the last 10+ years? I think I figured it out.

It All Started With A Used Piano

About 10 years ago we bought a used piano from a couple at church whose kids were grown and they wanted to give the piano a good home. Next thing that happens is my oldest asks to take piano lessons, she likes it and is good at it. Then comes school band starting in 5th grade, she takes up percussion and keeps up the piano, ultimately doing multiple recitals. Then the youngest comes along, starts school band and starts taking piano lessons as well, she too is talented and learns to play complete books of Beatles tunes.

I am so sure that the piano was the spark and genesis of this wonderful journey and result and have seen and know other kids who are outstanding musicians (and great students and young adults) that I am contemplating launching some movement or project whose sole purpose is To Put A Piano In Every Kids Home.

Am I Crazy

You know there are thousands if not millions of used piano’s sitting idle all across this country and that there are parents and kids in challenging circumstances, what if they could get a piano in their midst, maybe just maybe it might spark something in that home for the kids and the parents.

This is a new project idea that came to me just this week, I had to write about it as this post will help me overcome the resistance that will work to keep this from moving forward. The idea is not very advanced yet but I had to output some thoughts. If you have any to add shoot me a comment or an email to the address listed under the Contact Navigation button above.

Over the last 21 months I worked at a Software Development company. As I came to know the company and the world of software development I fell in love with all things software, from mobile to desktop to cloud, I loved it. I loved the business opportunities it opened up for new-concept and innovative solutions.

Even better was the opportunity over time to take a stronger and stronger leadership role within the company almost to the point of being named CEO and acquiring ownership. (Almost being the key word, but that is another story) During this journey I slowly became the company, all my conversations, all my online presence, all of me became about the company and not at all about Steve. All of my family, friends and contacts started identifying me as that company in that role and they were happy for me.

My Mistake: I stopped blogging on MY blogs, I stopped tweeting on MY twitter account,  I stopped using MY Facebook page, I even turned MY LinkedIn profile into a commercial for the company. I supplanted MY identity, MY persona to the companies.

So you are probably thinking so what?

I have now left the company. I have to now take the time to recover the STEVE brand among my family, friends, business contacts and personal networks. In fact I have to recover the brand within me. This is even more important as I pursue new career opportunities and make connections with old and new contacts, how do I help them know ME again.

Fortunately this is not a new process for me. Everything I do I put all of my heart and passion into it which means when a change occurs that makes me go toward something new I have to drop back and reorient myself to my brand in order to move forward.

My Lesson: Never ever stop maintaining your own brand. I so committed to the company that I forget myself and how important maintaining my personal brand was to my future.

One Caveat: I think if I was the sole or majority owner of a company my mistake may not have been as critical. Nevermind, personal brands are so visible now with such online transparency even if you own the whole company maintaining your own brand separate from your companies is vital.

I have always been one of those people who had dreams for my life, I used to dream I was a Blue Angel pilot, a professional baseball player, a world famous architect, a renowned public speaker and on and on.

I think each of us should have dreams, especially young people, in fact when they do I find their dreams inspire my own. Late last school year I attended the last concert of the year of Medina High School’s five different bands, two jazz and three symphonic bands. They are all awesome and always blow me away with their talent.

During this concert all of the seniors in the bands were recognized for their achievement and one of the things each shared was what they were going to focus on in college or a profession, in other words their dreams. Here is a small sample:

• Run my own business
• Get my law degree
• Become a Pediatric Nurse
• Become a Middle School Teacher
• Become a Worship Arts Pastor
• Become a Physical Therapist
• Design and Write a Magazine
• Become a Commercial Pilot
• Become a Band Director
• Become a NY Police Officer
• Pursue a career as a Novelist
• Manage a Hotel in Fiji
• Become a US Congressman
• Work for the FBI or CIA

It is so cool that these great kids have dreams. I have always believed that you move toward what you think about, a dream is a good place to start. Of course these days it is so sad because so many of us have no dream and many kids don’t believe they are even entitled to have one.

My dream is to help others have a dream…

What is yours?