Song Writing and Team Building

The Song Team

This was the best team building and leadership event we've ever had. Our team is still on fire! — Delta Airlines

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 jeff.jacob2@gmail.com

team building

Just Another Day in the Park – Setting a Team Intention for 2025

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TY Park that is.  A gem in Hollywood, Florida with an amazing lake, paths and so many stunning, beautiful, huge, old Southern Live Oak trees. You can’t even attribute a value to the shade they provide here in South Florida, where during our 8-9 months a year of summer like weather, the shadows they cast are so very, very welcome. 

In an effort to change the dynamic at my “day gig” we’ve released ourselves from the bondage of a weekly staff meeting, and replaced with a brief, weekly summary to the staff on Mondays, real-time, brief department meetings, AND a quarterly/seasonal ½ day staff retreat in a place of nature, beauty, awe or wonder. 

We bring some tasty nibbles and usually good coffee.  We start with an ice breaker for about the first hour.  This most recent gathering each staffer was asked to express 3 moments of success from their past.  Personal or professional, “big”, or “small” didn’t matter.   Significance, impact…were key.  This gave everyone a chance to reflect upon what those moments were, why they mattered, why they were successful etc.  And, to allow everyone at the picnic table to see how the humanity in each of their peers, and the uniqueness of each individual.  And how unexpected some of these moments to memories were.  When you talk about team-building, there are a million different things that can mean.  Here at THE Song Team, music, and songwriting are typically the means to an end.  But there are a ton of cool things you can do.  Axe throwing and a pitcher of beer? Great.  Building bikes for under-served youth? Amazing.  The list goes on and on.  But one thing that all team-building has in common is that we are supposed to come out the other side of whatever program…with at least a small “pool of light” shining on better understanding of one another, improved communication chops..with BIG emphasis on true or active listening.   This year, I am promising myself that I want to be the last in the room to speak as much as possible.  Maybe that will help me learn more, and be a better leader.

 Back at TY Park, I asked the team to look ahead 3 months to programs, events, initiatives, goals and ask questions, or express concerns wherever there is uncertainty about how certain things are set to unfold.  

  • What are the logistical hurdles
  • Where do we stand with marketing
  • Who plays what role
  • Which opportunities for success on which to focus
  • When/Timelines
  • What is our vision looking ahead

We work intimately with one another, typically within the same four walls…and that atmosphere can get stale emotionally, mentally, physically…which can create a dynamic of inertia and acceptance.  Even cynicism sometimes.  Therefore, it’s incredibly important to me that we get OUT of that space together once in awhile…

One thing I’ve learned since this time last year, is that certain team members really and truly value their personal time away from work, and therefore any “team-building” programs need to be during regular business hours.  So, I shut the office down for duration, or perhaps bring in a volunteer to answer phones.    But I get it.  While I’d love an occasional happy hour with the team after hours….that just doesn’t work for some of them.  And for me, it’s got to be all or nothing.  The entire team, or none of them. 

I wish you a productive, happy, healthy, focused and grateful 2025. 

Blessings, Jeff

Having a “Wicked” Good Time Together

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So, I’m thinking of taking my team to see the long-awaited movie release of “WICKED” as a musical team-bonding experience.  While this may be a bit counterintuitive on the surface since we can’t talk during the movie, I’m hoping that the combination of strong narratives of good vs evil, marginalization of certain populations, and how people can work through their differences together, might give us conversational jumping-off points.  

The major plot emphasis of how someone who is deemed “wicked” may have really began their personal journey trying to make change happen for the good, in a workplace or in their community is poignant, and very relatable for many.  

Additionally, we’re talking about the first movie perhaps ever?….where management at the large theater chains have issued “warnings” that group sing-alongs during the musical portions of the story are not permitted.  What is THAT about?  I’ll tell you what.  At THE Song Team, we’ve known for a long time (as do many of you) that music is a sublimely effective and powerful vehicle to communicate across barriers, build bridges, and learn how to find ones voice…tell a story. It unifies, inspires and reaches deep down into the soul where real and lasting change can occur.  It’s why musical team building is our thing.  Can you fathom why the theater chains would want to quell that type of sing along spirit? I mean, some of us used to interact with the screen at the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” screenings..  I’ve even read countless reviews of people leaving this movie having shed more than a few tears.   It is a powerful, transformative experience for many. I can’t wait to see it.

To that end, I’ve added “Defying Gravity” to my list of to-be-learned songs for my positivity sets, and musical group therapy sessions.. and I don’t think it was mean to be a folk-rock type of tune! But it’s message, and it’s melody are a powerful combination.  Putting songwriting and teambuilding together always seemed like a natural thing to do seeing as the process offers unlimited opportunities for introspection, sharing, collaboration.  Stephen Schartz composed both the lyrics and the music to “Wicked” among his many creations.  Those lyrics and notes combine to make an unparalleled impact on the listener.  It’s pure genius really.

Remember, as in the fables of Oz, don’t be afraid to look behind the curtain and ask some questions.   Seek, and be open to allies “for the good” showing up in unusual places or coming to you from unexpected directions.   If Glenda and Elphaba can become best friends, than even in these crazy…scary times maybe eventually we can all learn how to communicate with one another once again, and we can struggle to find some common truths in this “post-truth” age.  Music is the magic and the medicine.   Abracadabra…and bottom’s up.

VOYAGE Miami (Formerly Canvas Rebel) Does a Follow Up Interview with Song Team Founder, Jeff Jacob

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Today, we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Jacob.

Hi Jeff, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Wow, that’s a BIG ask. I guess there are two questions here. One, how did I get started as a creative? And two, how did I get started as a non-profit activist-leader? As to the first question, my love of music certainly started with listening to Dad and Mom’s vast record collection, coupled with listening to Dad sing and play piano in the living room as a kid.

He’d do old standards, show tunes, Everly Brothers, Sinatra, Belafonte. The Beatles. Started piano lessons early and participated in school musicals by 3rd grade. Wrote my first song in 10th grade, recorded a horrible demo for my first recording freshman year in college, and then just kept going. I wound up in Nashville many years later and stayed nearly 2 decades trying to “lose the day job, ” and be a full-time songwriter.

Released 6 albums and countless singles and began producing a bit for others. (I even wrote a few magazine pieces!) During my last few years in Nashville, I also volunteered a bit in Animal rescue and faith-based initiatives. I also started my team-building company THE Song Team, as referenced in that earlier interview we did together. This takes us to question #2. I moved to South Florida a decade ago to combine my passions of volunteering/service and team-building.

My first role in non-profit leadership (or tilting at windmills ) was as Director at Big Dog Ranch Rescue. The largest, private, no-kill dog rescue is east of the Mississippi. That was an amazing and humbling experience. Since then, I’ve launched my own non-profit, done a TEDx talk, and taken on Executive Director roles for organizations doing good community work in the fields of Faith-based, Animal Welfare, and Mental Health/Substance Use Disorder.

I still write and record fairly often, and music is every bit as essential to me these days, as when I was living in Nashville surrounded by it every moment. Perhaps more so, as it now takes more effort and focus to balance out a life that carves enough space and energy for writing, performing, recording etc.

Music is right there with air and water for me on the needs chart.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nope, is it ever? I think everyone goes through life trying to avoid the biggest pot-holes, but you can’t steer around all of them. Bumps, twists, and turns… we all face. Some more than others, of course. I had a good, solid upbringing compared to many, many people, so that was a huge blessing. But I’ve had so many false starts and made too many poor choices to count. Then at some point, you just realize you are where you are really supposed to be.

I’ve battled mental health issues and even checked myself in for treatment at one point to stabilize my foundational self… the inner… emotional/mental core. It really helped, as did finding a good therapist and making sure to always focus on that which maximizes joy, calm, and contentedness. I’ve had plenty of disappointments in my career and in life. However, many more blessings have been brought to light as a result. The windows are always there to look through, sometimes we need to manually pull the blinds up though.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As an Artist/Creative as you call it, I consider myself first and foremost a songwriter/activist these days I suppose. What I mean by that is unlike my days in Nashville, when my primary goal as a songwriter/musician was to write and record songs that might someday make me wealthy and known/successful… currently these days, the vast majority of the songs that I bring to fruition start to finish, writing, arranging, recording, producing, shooting video, promoting… well, these songs are typically purpose driven songs or messaging songs.

They are geared towards getting a message across, elevating a non-profit’s cause in the public eye, unifying a group of people… Maybe upon moving to Florida from Nashville, the crossroads I found myself at dictated that I shift focus on my “content creation,” meaning the actual circumstances and situations I arrived in down here drove the shift… but there was certainly a moment when the thought crystallized in my brain that this is now how I exert most of my desire and talent for writing and recording.

For a higher power… a higher purpose. The desire to put more into that end of my creative pool probably began when I was still in Nashville, where over a period of years, I was blessed to utilize my songwriting and facilitating skills to work on both a “Songwriters for Soldiers” project, which was tremendously rewarding… transformational actually. Also, during that time, I was a “Staff Songwriter” for The Songs of Love Foundation for 3 years. Both of these experiences did MORE than a little shape the direction of where my songwriting was headed.

These days, when I’m not wearing my hat as a Non-Profit Executive Director (I love my day job at Temple Beth El of Hollywood), I’m writing or recording, gigging sometimes solo, and sometimes with our Temple Worship band, JewGrass Revival. Or, I’m on the road with my little side hustle, THE Song Team, these programs where my hit songwriter buddies use our songwriting and facilitation chops to create meaningful experiences in Corporate meetings and conferences.

These experiences entail working through collaborative songwriting on teamwork, organizational storytelling, creative problem-solving, innovation… and, frankly, leadership. What am I most proud of… that’s a tough one, but I’d say the songs I wrote with and for Soldiers battling PTSD, or the songs I created for children battling terminal illnesses and their families…. the feedback I sometimes got communicating back to me what a difference those experiences made to these folks… I guess I’m pretty proud of that impact.

Aside from leading Temple Beth El of Hollywood with the help of an amazing team that I absolutely love, I get up to Nashville frequently for teambuilding and other musical gigs, work still with Face the Music Foundation as a Musical Group Facilitator at the local Boys & Girls Clubs, sit on the board of The South Florida Folk & Acoustic Music Festival… you know, stay engaged. (not busy… engaged in life, right!).

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check?
I use a mindfulness app called Insight Timer most days which I find really helpful during those times when I seem to have forgotten how to just breathe and walk in gratitude. Recently, I’ve read a few books by Rabbi Moshe Gersht, which have been nothing short of mind-shifting.

One is called “It’s All the Same to Me,” and the one I’m reading still is called “The 3 Intentions.” I can’t refer back to them enough. Also, I recently re-read “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann… so beautiful, and I just received a gift of the book, “The Greatest Salesman in the World,” by Og Mandino, which I can’t wait to dig into.

Pricing:

  • South Florida Customized interactive/Musical keynotes $2500
  • South Florida House Concerts Solo – $500
  • National Customized Musical Team-building programs – pricing upon discussion

Please find the original article/citing here.

Songwriting and Team Building at Home 615 Recording Studios in Nashville

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Here is a testimonial from our most recent client. We had a successful teambuilding program held in Nashville, Tennessee.

A CANVASREBEL FEATURE

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Meet Jeff Jacob

We recently connected with Jeff Jacob and have shared our conversation below.

Jeff, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

As a songwriter, by the time I reached my mid-thirties I had realized (at least sub-consciously) that more and more of my writing moving forward, needed to be purpose-driven. This wasn’t a decision, rather it was a pulling…a tugging of the spiritual and creative energies. Looking in the rearview now, I can see the shift and actually follow the path! From 2005 through 2008, having lived in Nashville for several years already trying to “make it” as a commercial songwriter I began working part-time as a “Staff Songwriter” for The Songs of Love Foundation based in NYC. Our task in this role was to write fully personalized, customized for seriously ill children and their families. TSOLF teamed up with healthcare providers around the country to provide song profile sheets to families in crisis. These sheets included space for favorite hobbies, pets, friends, dreams, etc of the children facing illness. As songwriters we’d turn these profiles into songs produced “radio ready” within 25 days of assignment. To this day, I still have a few of the letters parents wrote me in thanks for their personalized song. When a parent expresses that they play this song on the way to little _____’s chemo each time, to get ready….it does far more than choke one up as the writer. A few years later I was working as a songwriter and volunteer marketing director for a local non-profit when we produced and implemented a program called “Songwriters for Soldiers.” Collaborating with war vets (and their families) battling PTSD along with their families and therapists, each veteran was assigned a hit, Nashville Songwriter to work on telling their own stories through song. This was done over the course of a weekend in the woods west of Nashville. One of the most impactful weekends of my life, are words I’d use to describe that experience and the follow up benefit concert and album that resulted from this project. Down the line I’d lead “Face the Music Foundation” as we grew our therapeutic songwriting and music programs beyond Florida into Nashville and Austin, and I can trace the path back through earlier projects. Today, the songwriting and recording I still do when not leading a non-profit through transitional phases is nearly all intentional and tied to a cause. This includes 2 songs and music videos we are currently producing as advocacy and awareness tools for organizations that work in the fields of Mental Health, SUDS, and homelessness.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Somewhere along the way the phrase “connecting the dots” became a moniker of mine. I didn’t invent it for certain, but it truly resonated with how I’ve lived my life for the most part. Earlier on, I can’t pretend I was intentionally seeking the connective tissue that existed between different aspects of how I was occupying myself. But certainly by my mid-30’s, that habit of drawing the lines between the chapters became more purposeful. Almost strategic at times. (at least from the outside looking in.)

I first got into public/corporate speaking as a “hobby” or avocation back around 2011. I had been managing the offices of a successful Motivational Speaker as well as helping run and grow his notorious, beautiful recording studio in the hills just south of Nashville. Franklin, TN to be specific. Combining my passions of songwriting, collaboration and speaking or facilitating programs had been germinating for a bit, when I was preparing to book my boss as the primary Keynote Speaker for a conference at The University of Indiana. The meeting planner and I had become friendly during the months leading up to this point, and once we’d agreed on a deal she shared with me that she was now looking to book/fill her “under-sessions”, or “breakouts.” I told her that my program “Write-A-Song-Build-A-Team” was new and still evolving but that I’d love to offer it at the conference. With no website, and no promo video either, our relationship and the description of this newly formed program got the gig!

With her help we brought in a two-camera shoot from the University AV department and our first promo video was shot and then edited. That became the centerpiece to launching a website, and turning a hobby into something more substantial. The program has certainly evolved over the years (and continues to do so whenever a client asks us if we can tweak this, or add a wrinkle to that.)

It was also around 2012 or 13 when I started volunteering in the non-profit space, in particular animal rescue and faith-based sectors far more avidly. Those two pieces of my “life-pie” combined to move me out of Nashville around 2014 to take the reins as Director of Operations for “Big Dog Ranch Rescue” in Wellington, Florida. This is the largest, cage-free no kill dog rescue east of the Mississippi. They hired me due to the combination of my team-building experience and my animal rescue volunteer experience primarily. In other words, my ability to connect the dots really assisted in landing this first professional role in non-profit management. I suppose that’s one of the things of which I’m most proud.

These days, no matter which non-profit I’m assisting as Executive Director, I’m always still leading my programs with team-mates who are hit songwriters at The Song Team. Whether it’s leading these programs in a recording studio for a think tank of 20 cross-industry CEO’s, or facilitating a customized, Songwriting, Keynote Experience for 1000 people at a company or industry conference…these programs are always a blast for the attendees and for us as facilitators. The fact that I was asked to turn this program into a TEDX talk, also really tickled my funny bone. That was an exceptionally rewarding experience.

Still writing songs, still recording ocassionally when the fancy strikes and when there is an opportunity to use the music to advance a cause for which I’m passionate. That’s me…a dot-connecting, non-profit leading, songwriting, collaboration and community type guy. Plus, gotta have a dog nearby. Part of the deal 🙂

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

These days my creative efforts are nearly always driven by a mission or purpose. For example, with some musical friends I’m currently in the studio working on 2 songs and corresponding videos. Each song is aligned with a non-profit charged with tackling crucial social issues. The first one is a newly formed non-profit that primarily works to combat the epidemic of suicide. It’s such a needed service (s) they are providing, and the issue is still so misunderstood by many. The video we’re creating is half-music video, and half infomercial to be used to advocate for the non-profit, while spreading general awareness of the cause and resources available to help those in need. That song is called “Holdin’ Onto Hope”, and the non-profit is “Deerfield Beach Community Cares.” The 2nd song is called “The Love Wins Revival” and deals primarily with homelessness as a societal ill. We have not yet aligned with a non-profit for this part of the project, but it’s in the works, and we’ll have been in the studio already working on the song by the time this piece goes to press. 🙂 Very excited about this project. We received funding from a supporter for the first two numbers here, and we hope to turn it into a bigger, longer term intersection of music and non-profits that we’ll call “Songs on Purpose.”

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

“Begging for Change” by Robert Egger, the Steve Jobs Biography by Walter Isaacson, and “Do the Kind Thing” by Daniel Lubetzky have all been very informative books on my journey. Also, “Evolve or Die” by Robin Crow.

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This original article can be found here.