A familiar parable: The wise lumberjack knows that the most important thing he needs to do before he fells a tree is to sharpen his axe. (Also, to be in good physical condition, a clear state of mind and to have the skills and know-how to use that axe effectively.)

My secondary school principal, a man I respect deeply, also happens to be a Major in the Singapore Armed Forces. He told me that always made it a point to keep fit, and to continually update and upgrade himself as a person so that he would remain relevant as a leader to his men. It would be impossible for him to be better than all his men at everything, of course, and it would be silly of him to aim for that- part of being the leader of a team is to harness the strengths of people who can do things better than you. But it was important to him that he was good enough to be taken seriously.

Another man that I respect deeply is Benjamin Zander, the music director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. One of my favourite quotes from him:

“I’d been conducting for 20 years, and I suddenly had a realization. The conductor of an orchestra doesn’t make a sound. He depends on his power on his ability to make other people powerful. I realized my job was to awaken possibility in other people. And of course, I wanted to know whether I was doing that. And you know how you find out? You look at their eyes. If their eyes are shining, you know you’re doing it. If the eyes are not shining, you get to ask a question, and this is the question: Who am I being that my players’ eyes are not shining? We can do that with our children, too. Who am I being that my children’s eyes are not shining? That’s a totally different world.”

Now, as a conductor, Benjamin Zander doesn’t make a sound. But he’s pretty damn capable of doing it himself. He seems (to my unprofessional ears) to be a concert-level pianist. He trained under and performed with Spanish cello virtuoso Gaspar Cassadó. To conduct an orchestra requires earning their respect, and I’m pretty sure you’re not going to do that if you’re incompetent.

So what do I want to be? I could be a teacher, a manager,  a consultant, it doesn’t matter. All I want is to empower others, to make their eyes shine. And if I’m going to do that, I’m going to have to sharpen my axe. Which is, elegantly and coincidentally, the main focus of this blog and my 90 week experiment!

Benjamin Zander on Music_and_Passion (I never get tired of watching this.)