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/
