A Working Playlist

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Prove yourself

You are the move you make

Take your chances, win or loser

See yourself

You are the steps you take

You and you and that’s the only way

It doesn’t take a genius to know that the iconic rock band Yes didn’t quite have the world of corporate work in mind for these lines in the hit song “Owner of a Lonely Heart.” But work is so intertwined with all we do that you don’t have to be a DJ to enjoy some curious links between the songs that move us and our own will to be inspired by, or make sense out of, our work lives.

You see, if you can just ignore the song’s title—and intended meaning—you’ll be amazed how many tunes will speak to you this way. There I was, for example, headphones on firmly, dancing and crooning to “Lonely Heart” (fair warning: a sight you will not want to see) before a big presentation. You and you and that’s the only way.

Of course, you can just as easily go dark—very dark. Who among us hasn’t had a terrible boss who couldn’t make up his or her mind and tormented everyone in the process? That’s where “Barely Breathing” by Duncan Sheik—fifth on my playlist—becomes a cathartic moment.

I believed in your confusion

You were so completely torn

Well it must have been that yesterday

Was the day that I was born

But the one that really hits me comes from Sara Bareilles. It couldn’t possibly have been on her mind, but a Korn Ferry–Rockefeller Foundation study gained national attention for interviewing and analyzing the traits of all 57 women who ran Fortune 1000 and other big firms. Among the findings: Surrounded by a world of men running the show, only 12 percent of them said they always knew they wanted to be a CEO. More than half gave no thought to the job until someone explicitly told them they had it in them.

Now please skip to “If I Dare” and turn it up really loud. None of this works without the wonderful gift of music ringing in your head.

If I dare to ask it, then I dare it to be true

If I dare to risk it, then I know that I’m willing to

If I dare to want this, to want more than I have

Then I dare to believe I’ll have it in the end

See what I mean?