Teachers confront new possibilities with inspirational Benjamin Zander
Rachel Levin, Martha's Vineyard Times, September 9, 2004
Posted: 2004-09-20 10:58:36
Roughly 300 Island teachers and staff filed into the Performing Arts Center at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School 8 am Tuesday morning for the 2004-2005 orientation program - and for what many said was an especially inspirational address by keynote speaker Benjamin Zander, acclaimed conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and Boston's Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.
School superintendent Kriner Cash emceed the three-and-a-half hour event in which he welcomed new teachers to the community, thanked departing staff, and introduced Mr. Zander.
Dressed in a vibrant red tie and navy blue blazer affixed at the lapel with a mini-mike, Mr. Zander immediately enlivened the crowd. He began by roaming the aisles, expounding boisterously and engaging the audience. He wanted to know why people always gravitate toward the back of the auditorium and inevitably leave the front rows empty. "The front row consists of the man who invited me to speak (social studies teacher and music critic Chris Abbot), his wife, and his mother," he said to laughter. "I invite everyone in the back to come forward. I invite you in the same way the government invites you to pay your taxes." People shuffled to the front. A group of West Tisbury teachers reluctantly hung back, according to one observer, before they were further prodded to move up. "Now for the rest of your life," he told the audience, "every single time you walk into a room, you will think about sitting in the front versus the back."
And the tone was set for the remainder of his almost three-hour "transformational — as opposed to motivational" — speech.
As the conductor of an orchestra, said Mr. Zander, "my job is to awaken possibility in other people." Drawing on the obvious parallels between conductor and teacher, Mr. Zander (with the infectious energy of Italian actor Roberto Benigni) spoke on the subjects of leadership, possibility, and the value of "thinking outside of the box."
"Every interaction between two human beings is an opportunity for leadership," he began.
He shared personal anecdotes, each one simultaneously humorous and poignant: from stories about his 96-year-old father on his deathbed to seven-year-olds learning to play the piano sitting on "one buttock;" to the last words of Auschwitz survivors; and to a little girl being serenaded by 1,000 people on her birthday. Each tale told came with universal pearls of wisdom. For example:
"You can't really learn anything unless you have something at stake."
"You can only see what you have a category for." "Wake up every day saying ‘I have a contribution,' and you will never grow tired."
"Everyone should feel free to communicate without fear."
"When you make a mistake, it should be followed by: "‘How fascinating!'"
And, what he calls Rule Number Six: "Don't take yourself so goddamn seriously."
In conjunction with many of his yarns, came classical music treats. He performed Chopin on the piano, instructed talented high school student Emma Conley on the violin, and led the crowd in a heartfelt rendition of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," in German.
The English-born conductor, teacher, speaker, and co-author with his wife of "The Art of Possibility" (Harvard Business School Press, 2000), seemed to capture the minds and hearts of everyone in the room. Like a perfect class, all 300 heads tilted attentively, smiles were huge, laughter plentiful and loud, and eyes, at times, even welled-up with tears.
"He was probably the best speaker we've had in my nine years here," said Heidi Ganser, a second grade teacher at Oak Bluffs School. "This guy was talking about real life. He could inspire any audience with his sense of spirit, his energy. He was authentic. And I think that is what resonated most with people."
Said Nadine Cunningham, new seventh- and eighth- grade teacher at Edgartown School, "I'm inspired. What a positive start to a new year, and to my new job."
©The Martha's Vineyard Times 2004 - www.mvtimes.com
