On Thursday evening I attended the 138th Annual Dinner for the Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce & Industry. This event is always well attended (over 2,000 attended) and usually has high profile speakers such as Bill Clinton, Tom Brokaw, Muhammad Yunus, and T. Boone Pickens. This year’s speaker was a bit less world renowned than many past speakers but did not lack world class passion (and some would say, Exuberance).
For the past 28 years, Mr. Zander has been conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and is a gifted musician and teacher. His artistry brings creative and right-brain thinking to his presentations (and frankly to his entire life). He started the presentation by stating he had no speech or plan for his presentation, but was going to just share. No left-brain thinker would do this J.
His message, The Art of Possibility, is a simple one and he used stories, piano playing, and sing-alongs (no easy task with 2,000 stodgy business people) to drive home his points. He pushed us out of our comfort zone, and even playfully heckled people for dozing off, checking their blackberries (not me of course), and even going to the rest room. In short, he demanded our attention as you would expect a great maestro to do. During his presentation, I continued to think about a book I profiled on this blog over a year ago – A Whole New Mind. The book drives home the point that in order to be successful, we in the business world will need to embrace more design, art, play, story, meaning, and empathy in our lives. Mr. Zander made many similar points, such as:
· In life we often compare ourselves to others and the little voice in our head tells us we do not measure up. Ben says to stop playing that game and instead play the game of “I am a Contribution.” In this game you wake up each day with one goal – to contribute to others.
· Life is too short to take yourself so seriously. Lighten up and enjoy the journey.
· The Art of Possibility is all about dreaming what could happen. Great leaders are able to help others see the dream and then have them join along on the journey. He calls this transformational leadership.
· We control how people are around us. Our positive energy and responses can lift others up. We can change lives!
· Many people define success as wealth, fame or power, but Ben defines it as “Shiny Eyes.” When someone is joyful and laughing, the eyes shine with happiness.
· Do not fear making mistakes, but rather see this as an opportunity to learn. Taking chances is part of the art of possibility (putting yourself out there).
Overall, a very entertaining and enlightening presentation and one that challenged me to live each day dreaming about the possibilities that exist in my life.
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