A conversation of abundance, “The Art of Possibility”

A conversation of abundance,
“The Art of Possibility”

I want to share a story with you. When I was i fourth grade we had to chose a classical instrument that we wanted to play for the next many years at my school. I was thinking about the cello, but somehow I wound up with the clarinet, my parents and class teacher considering "what was good for me" and practical matters such as the transportation to school. The idea was to match each student with an instrument that would somehow match or signify the inherent character of each child. To this day I would still favour the cello and I never really got to love the clarinet, beautiful as it may be. So I did play the clarinet for a while without much passion and consequently never got very good at it. I'm sure I would have gotten further, had the right pedagogic circumstances been there – but they weren't so as I changed schools I quit and found my way to the bass which I still play whenever I find the time.

I was just tipped by a friend on this short recording of a recent talk by the famous conductor Benjamin Zander. He is not only a master of music but a master of leadership and talent management. In this talk he invites a young student, 15 year old Nikolaj, to the stage to play the cello and he coaches him through improving his attitude towards practicing and releasing his potential in the most positive way that I can imagine.

Of course the ambition of the talk is not to coach young Nikolaj but rather to inspire the audience in the room as well as us – the viewers. And so it did. I found it amusing, intelligent and inspiring. What a great way to teach leaders how to inpire and be visionaries, understanding life as a conversation of abundance and possibility rather than a competitive, difficult one. I hope it will inspire you too – finding "The Art of Possibility". Enjoy.