Neil Perkin highlights this video of a talk by conductor Itay Talgam. Talgam compares a variety of conducting styles as examples of leadership and explains how control gets in the way of relationship and creativity.
If you don't have 30 mins to watch the whole thing, maybe you could just skip to 26m35s where he explains that conducting "becomes something else" - and then watch Leonard Bernstein demonstrating it.
If you're running a meeting in the next day or so, wouldn't it be fun to try to do what Bernstein does for at least a few minutes and see what happens?
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Comments (3)
Thanks for posting this. It's a beauty.
I think the moment starts at 25.50 with "I need you as a full person, bring what you know, then we can start a dialog". It strikes me as a call to really "show up".
June 21, 2009 09:33 Permalink for comment
Thanks for this Johnnie, I enjoyed all of it except the culmination.
Bernstein was a dreadful showoff (from one who shares that propensity without any of his talent) but of all the conductors he was the least authentic.
Yes, its possible to conduct an orchestra with your eyebrows, but you have to be a serious control freak to want to do it and a major exhibitionist to do it in public.
The Lenny piece was all about Lenny, did you notice that it was almost entirely focused on him, and not on the orchestra?
It was the immature child in him that could not resist showing the whole world, "look ma, no hands"
June 22, 2009 10:27 Permalink for comment
Hi Earl, I see exactly what you mean. I think I love the idea of the non-interventionist conductor and I do think that Bernstein may really be showing off. Maybe we can allow both: he's a showoff AND you don't need to do a lot to influence things?
June 22, 2009 13:22 Permalink for comment