Taking you to somewhere else

This week The Bayard Partnership organized a concert in Antwerp for their piano prodigy Aveline Gram. Taking place in a small chapel the event created a certain coziness not often found in a classical music concert.  In our world of largely recorded and synthesized music it is easy to forget the impact that listening to a person playing a real piano can have.

It is not for nothing that the piano is classified as a percussion instrument, especially when you take into account the amount of physical energy required to make it fill even a small auditorium with sound.

On the fourth of November my second book will be published (Inspirational Leadership, The Five Essential Elements). And in its preface, the industrial leader Patrick Thomas (Chairman & CEO of Bayer Material Science) writes “the role of a leader is to take you somewhere other than where you are headed”.  In a similar way you can say the same thing of a concert pianist.  You enter the concert hall with a head full of expectations and distractions, and yet as the concert progresses, you find yourself being guided to some other place:  A world of emotions and passions; of memories and dreams, of intellectual thought and calculation.

As physical exercise is good for the body, listening to a live classical recital is good for the brain and soul.  No matter if it is ‘not your thing’, you should at least try it once.  Perhaps going to the dentist isn’t your thing either, but in my world, it is just as important to undertake activities that one may not have wished for at the outset but have the likelihood of taking you somewhere else other than where you are headed.

Have a good week,

Harley

PS if you are interested to find out more about my new book ‘Inspirational Leadership’ then visit its website and if you can make it to Brussels on the fourth of November, 2010  then take part in the competition to win free tickets for the launch event. In addition there are 10 signed copies of the book to be won.