This article was published back in May, but hey! It's still funny! Joel Stein learns how to be a classical music snob.
My friend Ethan Zuckerman is at the PICNIC conference, and doing a bit of blogging while he's there. He talks about Itay Talgam's presentation. Itay Talgam is the conductor of the Tel Aviv Symphony, and he discusses conducting, and what corporate leadership can learn from conducting styles. (Digression: It is interesting to compare what Ethan says that Talgam says about Bernstein, and what Jim Olesen said about Bernstein a week ago. Jim said about Bernstein, "one could not help but be within the aura of his spell." Jim had one of his best musical experiences under Bernstein. But if you are teaching corporate leaders how to lead, I'm not sure that holding up one of the most charismatic conductors in collective memory is the best way to do it. What's the lesson? "Go be more charismatic?" Clearly there is more to think about here. Perhaps the most important thing the corporate world can learn from conductors is how much you can make happen just by listening.)
And finally, the 2008 MacArthur Fellows have been announced! One of them is Alex Ross, music critic for the New Yorker. A violinist, a saxophonist, and an instrument inventor/composer are also on the list.
Both times I heard Itay give his talk, he was rushed as he got to Bernstein. I think the message was that if you love - and are truly moved by - what you're doing, and you find a way to connect that love to your fellow players, you can lead with very little aparent authority. That's an incredibly important and powerful message for business leaders, and a hard one for them to get... :-)
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