leadership - Ben Zander

The conductor doesn't make a sound. The conductor who recognizes that he does not make a sound can focus on making other people more powerful. Unless he constantly connects his effectiveness as a leader to how others are playing, he's likely to blame his players when things go badly. This goes for business leaders as well: If the people you're managing feel lively, energetic, and connected, they'll be able to feed you information that's valuable to you as a leader. The information that Ben receives on those blank sheets of paper is the kind of critical data that most leaders never receive.

Everybody gets an A. What that A recognizes is that people operate from a number of different selves. There's the "A" self -- the part of the person that's all possibility -- and there's the self of Rule Number Six, which takes itself too seriously and is in a combative relationship with the world. The A creates a level playing field, which allows people to communicate freely and easily -- uninterrupted by the "conversation in the head" about approval or grades.

The Success Game vs. the Contribution Game. When we play the Success Game, life looks like an obstacle course, in which our task is to overcome hurdle after hurdle. We can distinguish that mode from another state of being, which I call "radiating possibility." Anyone can step into this mode simply by waking up in the morning and saying, "How am I going to contribute today?" That way, we see ourselves as part of a team of human beings -- which gives life relevance. A new role for the leader in our time is to transform the conversation from that of a downward spiral to one of radiating possibility.

Polly LaBarre (plabarre@fastcompany.com) is a senior editor at Fast Company. Contact Ben Zander by email (zanderbpo@aol.com). To learn more about the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, visit the Web (www.wizinc.com/BPO).