Benjamin Zander on “Leadership”:
In the remarkable book, The Art of Possibility, Mr. Zander offers 12 paradigm-shifting tools designed to allow us to learn to see possibility in any situation. One of the tools he calls “leading from any chair.” The metaphor is an orchestra in which there are many “chairs.” Mr. Zander, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, is the purported leader of the orchestra. And yet he talks about 
how anyone can lead from anywhere. He talks about a time that he played in a string quartet:
“[W]hen I myself had the privilege of playing string quartets with Robert Koff, the founding second violinist of the Julliard String Quartet, I came away convinced that the real leader of the string quartet is the second violin. Not because Koff dominated the rest of us, but because in his part he had all the inner rhythms and harmonies, and he gave them such clarity and authority that we were all tremendously influenced by his playing. He was leading us from the ‘seconds.’ In a truly great string quartet, all four players are doing that simultaneously.” (P. 41.)
Note what is being said here. That there are four parts and yet they all lead in their own way. That we all are leaders if we choose to “play” as leaders. Consider your work, your home life. Where do you stand as a leader? And where could you stand as a leader but choose not to? Let this be a conscious choice – you can choose to lead or not to lead, but do choose consciously. Notice where you would like to be a leader more, but you are not. See if you can identify why that is.
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If you want more on this topic – the many ways to lead and to find endless possibilities, join us in Sacramento starting on May 10 for a 6 week series on the topic. See here for more information:
Or email Cami@mclarencoaching.com
