Correspondence

Maestro Zander:

I am in the second reading of your beautiful book, "The Art of Possibility", and I must tell you how much in love with your ideas I am.

I work for a large corporation as an internal Leadership Develpment consultant and often drag myself through very scholarly, and desperately dry, business books. I sometimes even attempt to implement their recommendations. Often, however, I and my clients are left feeling frustrated and powerless to change the culture of this long-established organization, or, more important, to breathe life into the leadership in ways that create lasting change and inspired outcomes. In the case of your book, I can barely put it down. It speaks to me so clearly, and at a visceral level, that I can't wait to share it with my clients.


Perhaps because my heart is a musician, the orchestra metaphor resonates above all others. I spent most of my first four decades in choral music, as a part of professional quartets and soloist with some of the finest choral groups in the country and I can truly count among my top ten life experiences some of the performances in which I was privileged to perform with extraordinary conductors. I want so much for my clients, all of whom are experienced executive leaders, to lead with the kind of passion that pulls from each person their very best.


I am about to deliver a class in which I will use the orchestra as a metaphor for leadership, drawn heavily from your book and the great interview in Fast Company magazine. If enthusiasm for the subject makes a good facilitator, it should be a hell of a class!


I just wanted you to know that you (and your wife, to be sure!) have given us all a gift. I hope you sell millions of copies, but please know that one copy is already dog-eared and notated on every page.


Gratefully,


Nancy S. Calhoun