I think this video fits really well with this chapter as it discusses characteristics of a leader, and as the presence of the people in the video show, Ben Zander is a great leader.
I like what Zander says about being a leader of positive forces as opposed to trying to stave off disaster. What can we do? Not, what can we avoid? This is important for educators. We need to strive to advance our students, not to fail into the void of running through the motions and presenting stock information in standard ways that happens far too often.
I really liked the King Christian story; it reminds of the common saying that Professor Joe says a lot: a teacher should be willing to complete every assignment they give. This is important for teachers to remember. If a teacher is going to be bored with an assignment, odds are, most of the students won’t get into it either.
Being a musician, I really appreciated the discussion on tonal music versus atonal music. I feel Zander is on to something here in that atonal music was destined to fail from the start due to losing the listener and that most pop music (there are a few exceptions – typically the ones that continue for more than a few weeks or months) is destined to be boring after 4 or 5 times of listening to the same song due to its relative simplistic – compared to the other types of music.
Reference:
Zander, B., & Zander, R. S. (2002). The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life. Boston: Penguin (Non-Classics). (Original work published 1942)
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