The world of the symphony orchestra has traditionally been a maelstrom of competition, survival, backbiting, subservience, and status seeking. Many would say the same of today's business culture. The idea of the all-powerful leader has given way to the belief that in order to innovate successfully, to perform beautifully, we need leaders in every chair. This book guides leaders in enabling every individual to recognize the leader in themselves, and to perform with passion, energy, and flair. We are so concerned with personal advancement that we fail to take in the big picture, and either hold back in fear from taking exactly the kind of risks that would optimize an organization's chances to develop its contribution, or make moves that favor some at the expense of the whole.
Assessments are important for seeing where things stand at any given moment.
They can show, for example, what an employee has accomplished and what is still left to be done to get a project off the ground. Ben's public presence conducting orchestras around the globe, teaching generations of music students, and speaking to major corporations, often brings him face to face with challenging situations that call for new kinds of leadership and new conceptual frameworks. When these challenges appear to have broad implications, Ben brings them to me, and I then call on a lifetime of work with family and organizational systems to sketch out innovative new approaches for resolving these dilemmas. Ben then takes the new designs into the public arena to try them out. The stories you tell in the book really bring the practices to life.