The Vinyl Moment

This morning, I started my day with a cup of black coffee and a vinyl spin. I always appreciate the reflective warmth of time alone with coffee and the crackle of the needle on an album. I decided to start the day with Nick Drake’s “Five Leaves Left.” His 1968 debut is going through a renaissance of source with a recently released multi-disc archival reissue. “The Making of ‘Five Leaves Left'” was recently nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Historical Album.” “Five Leaves Left” is timeless and intimate with the delicate stylings of Nick Drake’s voice and solid layers of his acoustic guitar fingerpicking. Some of the tracks resonate with the lush sensitivity of orchestral accompaniment. Unfortunately, the quiet beauty of this music was largely unheard in Nick Drake’s lifetime. The album did not chart in the artist’s United Kingdom homeland or the United States. It is estimated that “Five Leaves Left” my have sold 5,000 copies initially. A few UK critics admired the album and praised its songwriting, but Nick Drake’s debut did not serve as the basis for any triumphant herald.

There is something sacred about starting the day with Nick Drake on vinyl. The gentle crackle of the needle gives way to his quiet voice, fragile yet eternal. In his lifetime, few listened. His albums never charted. His songs drifted into silence before they could find an audience. Yet decades later, his music has become a timeless canon that reaches hearts he never lived to know. I think about that often as a leader. We may never fully know the reach of our work or the appreciation we long to feel. We hear the critiques, the surveys, the noise of what is wrong. But somewhere, in the midst of that silence, our sound still carries. It reaches someone. It matters.

The Unheard Artist

Nick Drake’s musical career continued on that same trajectory as his debut. He released two more albums in his lifetime. None of them charted and received little radio airplay. Nick Drake also struggled with promoting his work due to his lack of confidence with live performance. The record company believed in his artistry but struggled with how to market and promote him. Nick Drake also struggled with depression. Tragically, Nick Drake died at 26 unaware of how profoundly his music would resonate decades later.

There’s something in the story of Nick Drake that mirrors leadership. The work we do as leaders is sometimes unseen, unacknowledged, and often uncelebrated.

The Leader’s Quiet Stage

As a school leader over the years, I have had my share of complaints, negative survey outcomes, and feedback that can sting. It’s easy to for others to fixate on what’s wrong or missing from your leadership. In those moments, it can alienating like no one can hear the song you are trying to play. Even though these moments are fleeting, sometimes they can fester. I can definitely acknowledge the emotional cost that those moments can ignite spaces of self doubt, loneliness, and Imposter Syndrome. We have to tune into the belief that leadership, like art, is an act of faith that the sound will reach someone even if you never know it.

A Therapeutic Takeaway for Reflection

In a recent conversation with my therapist, he encouraged me to sit still and reflect upon the impact that I had made over the years as a school leader. It was a timely reminder that I took to heart as we bemoaning the negative moments and allowing them permission to define my core and impact as a leader. Sometimes, it’s not loud applause but quiet ripples that matter the most. Those quiet ripples like a teacher’s growth, a student’s success or a colleague’s encouragement that resonate in ways that we never know. We just have to know that when we lean into the gifts of others that we are making an impact. We have to believe in ourselves even on the days when we think no one believes in us.

An Unlikely Impact in a Volkswagen Commercial

Nick Drake’s songs eventually reached millions nearly 25 years after his untimely death. The resonance of his beautifully wrought music from his small corpus of three albums took time, but it happened. In 1999, a commerical promoting the Volkswagen Cabrio used the title track from Nick Drake’s final album, “Pink Moon.” A massive revival of Nick Drake followed and the small cult following that had kindled the flames of Nick Drake’s work felt validated by this movement. I remember seeing said commerical and almost falling off my couch. I had lovingly kept, “Way to Blue,” a compact disc complilation of Nick Drake’s music as one of my most cherished albums. I was in a small club of devoted followers who were drawn to the ache of Drake’s music-the bittersweet, poetic lyrics, the complex guitar tunings, and the moving production. Now, Nick Drake was catapaulted into legendary musical infinity. His voice now timeless and boundless for future generations to discover and cherish.

In leadership, sometmes our influence often plays out long after the moment. The sound of encouragement, belief, and kindness endures even if we never hear it echoed back. When we do hear that echo land back to us, it is important that we treasure that moment and know that our presence mattered to someone else. We should take stock of that moment of impact on someone else and be grateful that our presence mattered to someone else and proved to be a salve for that person.

I think of the leaders and teachers who saw something in me that I did not see in myself and I am grateful. As best as I can, I try to let that past leaders and teachers that their seemingly small act of seeing me and believing in my worth changed my world. Even though Nick Drake passed away when I was a mere child of four years and an ocean away, his music made my days less lonely when I was questioning my own journey. Now, I unabashedly give thanks for the music and legacy of Nick Drake.

Keep Playing

Even when appreciation feels absent, keep playing your song. Leadership is not a performance for applause or validation. Sometimes, it’s a quiet composition for connection. The work we do may not always be noticed, but it still matters. Somewhere, in a classroom, a meeting, or a passing moment, a note of what you’ve created is resonating. The sound may be soft, but it carries. Keep playing, even when the room feels silent. Trust that your melody will reach someone who needs it, even if you never hear the echo. The sound prevails.

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Here’s the famous 1999 Volkswagen commercial featuring Nick Drake’s “Pink Moon.”