Beginner's Mind

Armando Ghitalla came to WVU in 1979 to do a masterclass. That evening at a party I found myself sitting beside him on a sofa. I asked him for advice. Ghitalla said to me, "Every morning when I pick up the trumpet to start practicing, I'm a beginner."

"Leading From the Back of the Room"

While reading Derek Sivers' blog yesterday, I was amazed at his presentation on leadership. Recently, he gave a talk at the TED 2010 Conference and received a standing ovation for his presentation.

His comments reminded me of a book, "The Tao of Leadership", that I started reading back in the 1980's when I was living in Washington, D.C.  I say, started reading, because it's one of those books you never actually completely finish. A book I can read over and over. This is one of those books that I like to read at least 1-2 times a year. As my life changes, my perspective about the book is always in flux.

Many years ago, I read a reveiw of "The Tao of Leadership" by Dr. John Hanley (Lifespring). Hanley stated that the taoist style of leadership (explained in the book) is to "lead from the back of the room."

Derek Sivers Blog Site

Derek post - "Leadership Lessons from  Dancing Guy"

John Hanley's review of The Tao of Leadership

TED

TED 2010 Conference

2/6/10

Learned something about myself last night. Something about going back into the past.

Several years ago, I wrote a block of songs about a life experience of mine (throat cancer). Maybe 5 years ago, I had an opportunity to record those songs in Tokyo. After I released the CD, we performed those songs throughout Japan for about a year. By that time, I just didn't want to have anymore to do with those songs.

Was informed a couple of weeks ago that I would need to do those songs for a gig last  because we were being video taped for TV in Japan. I felt kind of irritated for 2 weeks about the gig. Didn't want to rehearse the band. Haha..even lost the music (my copy) 2 days before the gig. Got to the club last for the soundcheck/rehearsal. Wow...talking about avoidance!

My point is I don't like to go backward. I want to live now, experiencing this moment and creating something based off of the experience.

2/2/10

Sometimes I get so busy in the doing (and kind of lose myself in THAT place) that I forget to step and do things like this (write in a blog).

It's nice to have a flow going. Not feeling the need or the desire to stop and analyze.

It is good to be able to pull up and take a break for a minute just to make sure the "boat is still on course" though. The "drift" is strong and sometimes deceiving.