Through showcasing the inspirational powers of classical music, Benjamin Zander demonstrates two of the most fundamental aspects of leadership: vision and inspiration. In his Ted Talk, Zander describes how vision is the foundation of leadership, and that a good leader must show complete and unwavering confidence that their vision will not only succeed, but be an outcome those they are attempting to convince to follow their lead will want. He later talks about how in order to achieve that vision, a leader must “make their eyes shine”, or inspire them to follow the vision, and for the leader to reflect on who they are being in order to be able to inspire others to follow them. Through his showcasing of a classical piece towards the lofty goal of bringing every single member of the audience to love classical music, he demonstrates how these essential components of inspiration and vision are essential to being a leader and directing the efforts of people to a greater cause and vision. In the beginning of the Ted Talk, Zander comes out and states that a leader must present their vision to those they want to lead with absolute vision. Any doubts, concerns, or lack of confidence that is voiced by someone attempting to bring a group of people to come together and collectively support a goal will completely undermine the confidence that the people have in that effort, which he illustrates using the example of a revised and far less confident version of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. He then engaged with the audience in an “experiment” where he boldly declared that, by the end of the twenty-minute Ted Talk, he would compel each and every member of the audience to not just like classical music, but to absolutely love it. Zander used this technique of describing his vision with boldness and confidence to the audience, and through the experiment of explaining, analyzing, and presenting the nuances and beauty of classical music succeeded in his goal of bringing others to love the genre. In order to help the audience see and appreciate that vision for what it is, Zander describes how one must make their “eyes shine”. This is how he describes inspiration, and it is one of the most important qualities that a leader can have. In order to mobilize any group of people to work together to accomplish one’s vision, they need to not just tell the people that their vision will be good, but to show them what it will look like. By using vivid language, emotional appeals, and other techniques to help the audience visualize what the world in which that vision is achieved would look like, the people being persuaded by a leader can go from generally supportive to totally inspired, which Zander describes as the people having “shining eyes” because of how engrossed they are in the idea, to the point where it is shown by their body language and facial expressions. For Zander, the way he inspired was by showing the possibilities and ranges of emotion that can be captured by classical music, both to his orchestra, and to audiences. At one point, Zander described how he had a revelation that he himself did not produce a single bit of the music, and how the performance was entirely dependent on the musicians in his orchestra. This realization led to a profound shift in his focus, orienting his efforts towards his inspiring the orchestra members because the entirety of their depends on their playing. This simple mindset change that led to focusing on inspiring the performers was so profound that others in the classical music world noticed a significant change in the quality of their playing, and brought it up to Zander, which goes to show just how important inspiration of others to follow one’s vision is such an essential part of being a leader. When leaders inspire others to follow themselves and their vision, they depend on the people they inspire believing that the vision is worthwhile. This could mean many things ─ it could be more individually oriented, providing some form of material benefit to follower, or it could be more altruistic in nature, bringing others together to put their efforts towards a tangible change in the world around them that will lead to societal benefit for many. Regardless of the specific impact that the leader’s vision is meant to achieve, this impact and the prospects for the leader’s vision and plan should be completely transparent to those that follow them. When there is a lack of transparency, it is possible for people to be misled about what their contributions are actually achieving, and this is an irresponsible way to engage in leadership. A responsible leader ought to be completely transparent about their goals, ensuring that those that support them understand how their role helps the overall vision, and what exactly that vision is and what it accomplishes. When a leader inspires others to work with them towards a vision that is different than what they believe or have been told it is, such as when nonprofits use the contributions and efforts of those for personal enrichment of the nonprofit leadership, it clearly becomes an irresponsible use of leadership skills as well as arguably manipulative and exploitative of those who want to do good. Leadership requires a leader to be confident and committed to their vision, as well as them to have the skills and ability to inspire others to follow their vision. Great things can be accomplished through realizing that all of the success brought about by only those who put their own efforts forward to further a vision, and that the leader only serves to inspire those contributors to channel their efforts towards a higher cause. This was illustrated by Benjamin Zander through his descriptions of the ways in which he leads his orchestra to produce and perform great works of classical music. These leadership abilities must be used responsibly however, by ensuring that those who are spending their time and directing their efforts to the leader’s vision are not being misled or taken advantage of for their labor, and fully understand and are supportive of the end goals of the vision and the benefits that the leader’s aims will bring both to the individual contributor and potentially to a community or society as a whole. To not inform those who the leader relies on for the success of their vision is highly irresponsible leadership, and so an emphasis on use of leadership skills to inspire others to commit themselves to a vision in a way they believe in is an essential part of responsible leadership.
Blog Post 2
It Might Get Loud features some of the most prominent musicians of their times meeting to discuss various elements of their art form. The movie opens with Jack White describing how he predicted that he, along with Jimmy Page and The Edge, would be at each other’s throats due to the vastly different stylistic and philosophical approaches the individual musicians take to their craft. Despite the initial pessimism, as well as the musicians’ seemingly unbridgeable differences in genre and style, their shared passion and dedication to their craft ended up bringing them together to discuss their influences and philosophies regarding music, as well as collaborating and ultimately playing each other’s songs in a show of respect and admiration for their fellow artists. One of the most interesting elements of leadership shown in the film is the discussion over playing styles between The Edge and Jack White. Edge puts a very heavy emphasis on the use of technology in creating his music, through electronic alterations to the music such as pedals and modulators, while White was at the exact opposite end of the spectrum, instead focusing on incredibly low-tech and primitive methods for creating sound. These two engaged in level communication with each other in a constructive and illuminating way despite the irreconcilable difference in their philosophy of music, which demonstrates an important leadership characteristic of constructive communication, even between two parties that will never come to an agreement, rather than simply attacking or discrediting another’s views on the world. “To matter” is a very subjective and personal judgement. It seeks to distill the entirety of one’s life, their accomplishments, their failures, their impacts, and contributions, all into a single binary of whether or not the sum of that person’s existence here on earth was relevant. The only person that is truly able to judge whether or not someone “matters” is that person themselves, and what exactly “mattering” means is also entirely up to that person. To the musicians in the film, they all seemed to share the consensus that rather than external marks of success such as fame, fortune, popularity, or awards, their version of “mattering” was focused on staying true to their vision for their music, and creating art that resonated with them. This view of what it means to matter is inwardly, not outwardly focused, and shows how satisfaction with oneself is the key to mattering. The artists in the film matter to a great deal, not just due to the extreme commercial and artistic success that they have achieved through their careers as musicians, but also because of the way in which they interact with and create music. The musicians in the film truly are musicians, because unlike bands or artists that become commercialized or produce music with an interest in making money or generating fame, they create music that expresses themselves. They have certain philosophies and techniques, from White’s use of home-made instruments and primitive forms of generating sound to Edge’s use of large arrays of high-tech audio-manipulation devices, which they true to in their music to create an end product that embodies their way of approaching the world, as well as the qualities of themselves that they want to express. I think about what it means to live a life that matters a lot, probably too much. It’s a very simple, yet absolutely essential question that every person needs to have an answer to. The answer to what it means to matter is the entire framing for your life, what you do, who you are, what you believe, and what goals you set. Despite this, I have absolutely no clue what mattering would look like for me. It’s a weird and existential form of decision paralysis, because when one is provided with the opportunity to go into so many professional fields, meet so many people, and volunteer for and participate in so many different causes, one also has to weigh the relative pros and cons of each and every one in order to make the “right decision”, which quickly becomes impossible. Ultimately, mattering comes down to largely internal judgements. Staying true to yourself, pursing a path which you wish to pursue, and creating something lasting and impactful that you can call a legacy, especially one that gives back to others around you in your community.
Blog Post 3
To me, one of the most admirable traits in a person is their drive and dedication towards accomplishing their goals, and because of that my One Word I would trade in my name for is diligence. People that exemplify this diligence dedicate all of their time and effort to accomplishing something that they’ve set their minds too, working long hours, sacrificing opportunities to have fun or relax, and staying focused, in order to bring about some kind of change to the world. This requires motivation, but far more important than that is discipline, the ability to master one’s emotions, desires, and self, and put all of one’s heart and soul into accomplishing something they believe in. Even outside of grand causes and goals, this diligence is evident in one’s daily life as well, shown by a person’s constant efforts through things big and small to constantly improve themselves and the world around them. Things like sticking to routines to learn new skills, exercise, or help others also shows this dedication and drive. A person that is diligent exhibits this in every facet of their life, from commitment to the relationships with people around them, dedication to achieving their goals even at the cost of hardship, and a “flame” inside of them that keeps them moving forward.
Blog Post 4
There are countless examples of large-scale projects that had millions of dollars poured into them, were headed by professionals with decades of experience in the field, and had widespread support, and yet despite all of this missed the mark and didn’t end up successfully benefitting the people it was aimed at helping. This isn’t because of a lack of talent or resources, but rather because the team working on the project fundamentally had a goal that was misaligned with the change they wanted to see. This is because they did not properly empathize with the people that they were trying to help, instead making faulty assumptions that cause downstream harm to the efforts of the group. If empathy is encouraged in the design-thinking process, a more human-centered approach can be taken that actually takes into consideration the unique needs of the individuals being helped. One of the reasons that the Stanford EXTREME design sent their students to the actual countries that they would be helping was to get a real idea of what the needs of the individuals in the communities they were helping. When the design process begins with a fundamentally incorrect view of the problem and needs of the people, all of the other processes that stem from it will not adequately address the problem and will likely end up doing either something that doesn’t help, or is actively harmful to their efforts. Being able to speak to the people in need, understand the limitations of design methods, and properly contextualize the problem. The best way to make sure that misunderstandings are avoided is to assume that you know nothing. Making assumptions is a form of arrogance that can completely undermine the efforts of the project by creating fundamentally incorrect information that serves as the foundation for design efforts. Being open to being wrong, and not assuming that you know more than those you are trying to help about the individuals you are trying to serve. A beginners mindset includes everything from acknowledging your assumptions about a situation can be wrong, being open to seeing the unique talents of the end-user, and not being stuck in only the design philosophies you are comfortable and familiar with, and instead being willing to expand your horizons and grow to acknowledge the validity of alternative solutions that would not traditionally be considered or used. The most important part of avoiding conflict within a group is knowing when to step back and become less involved. Being able to keep oneself “out of the weeds” and avoid letting their ego drive them in the ways they interact with their group members and contribute to the project is essential for preventing hard design choices from becoming too personal. Setting aside ones ego and allowing the other members of the team to explore alternatives to design methods and ideas is important for implementing diverse decision-making in the group, as well as exploring all possible options to produce the best solution to the problem that will most effectively help the people that the project targets.
Blog Post 5
Empathizing with the end user is the most important part of the design thinking process because it allows one to connect with the interviewee on a personal level and understanding the issues that they deal with and the struggles they have from their perspective. This is essential for designing a solution that not only works well, but also addresses the specific needs of the end user and eliminates their “pain points”. Karter described a lot of his experiences while seemingly in discomfort, grimacing a lot and seeming to feel unpleasant while talking. He was laying back a lot, and I could see him become sad as he started describing how his chances as playing varsity soccer with his brother went away due to covid, and how hard it was on him being isolated from his friends because of his mom’s immunocompromised state. I didn’t ask many questions because Karter had a good storyline that he was telling, and so it made it easy to understand where he was coming from and helped to understand how he was personally impacted by COVID. Things turned out okay for him senior year, and so as he talked about the upward swing after things became worse in Junior year he became more relaxed and smiled a lot. Using empathy interviews is important for us understanding the emotional response that our nonprofit partners, as well as their customers and clients, while they’re going through their routines. This allows us to find out problems and pain points that they deal with which they may not even fully know about. It can also give us a better connection with the problem and the clients to help motivate us and give us a reason to want to help, which will be incredibly important when it comes to designing and working with our partners. The question I asked that gave the greatest insight was about whether he was able to play soccer with his brother during the summer league, because this revealed that of all of the stressful events he went through during covid, not being able to play varsity soccer was the most impactful to him, and the start of his upward swing and positive feelings about the situation began when he was able to play with his brother again. The questions that had the least importance were about the specifics of what he did during covid, since he mostly just sat around and relaxed when school no longer mattered due to them freezing grades, because it was mostly his outside-of-school experiences that impacted him.