Monday, March 30, 2009

Benjamin Zander on TED: Shining Eyes



"I had an amazing experience:

I was 45 years old, I had been conducting for twenty years, and I suddenly had a realization: the conductor of an orchestra doesn't make a sound. My picture appears on the front of a CD, but the conductor doesn't make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make other people powerful... I realized my job was to awaken possibilities in other people. And of course I wanted to know if I was doing that, and do you know how you find out? You look at their eyes: if their eyes are shining, you know you're doing it... If their eyes are not shining, you ought 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?"