The Power of Moments

I hope this finds you in “summer mode”—fully engaged but a little less stressed in the absence of the daily triage that our jobs often require in season (with a healthy dose of well-earned downtime as well). I take a moment here, a few weeks before it all “cranks up” again, to share a few thoughts on “The Power of Moments.”

I was blessed to spend many years as a music conductor and throughout my career often had people make a statement such as “I don’t know much about classical music but your concerts really fly by. I enjoy them more than other experiences with classical music.” I’d love to tell you that that had something to do with my deep insight into music or my brilliance as a musician. It didn’t.

I think it had more to do with playing in piano bars to get through my undergrad. (yes, you read that correctly.) You see, as the “piano man” you have to be observant of the clientele, you need to keep them interested for as long as possible so that club stays full and you get hired back. The crowd votes with their feet in these situations and you have to be thinking about the experience from their position, not your own. (Billy Joel will tell you he could go the rest of his life without playing Piano Man but he does it every time because he understand this.) You have to find “the moments” that keep them engaged. SO as an orchestra conductor (true confession here) instead of thinking about how much I love Mahler and can’t wait to bless you with my interpretation of his work, when planning the concert I was thinking like this: “Folks have just gotten to their seats after the hassle of rushing to get ready, eating, parking and making it to their seats on time. Let’s play something exciting to get their heads away from their daily life and into this experience.” Then I would think “They are still fresh now, have only been stuck in that seat for 7 minutes, now I can play a longer work with natural rises and falls that will move them as they are totally into the music.” That would be followed by “If I were seated in a crowded hall for 47 minutes straight, I would need something short to engage me again and something lighter to follow that serious second piece.” On this would go, through intermission and to the finale and even (hopefully) an encore. This could be heresy to other conductors but for me, it always fully engaged the listener. It was my way of making sure the “big musical moments” came at the right time—at the time the audience was ready to hear them based upon their experience, not mine.

Now why am I taking up your time telling you all of this?

Because you have some big moments coming up: The first meeting of the new academic year, The first day for many new employees and students, The first day back for the others, The first full meeting of the academic year for your team(s). You cannot prepare this as any other day any more than the conductor could haphazardly choose which music to play in which order. I would begin concert planning asking myself “how do I want this audience to feel when the final note is played?” Have you asked that about your upcoming retreat/first meeting/first class/first day? Too many of us are planning all the things we need to tell. What do we need to hear? How do we want them to feel when we finish? What tone do we want to set? We get one chance to make a first impression and there is a big moment coming up. Several of them. Are you thinking about more than the to-do list of topics to grind through?

We are all reading about the “big quit” or the “great resignation” or whatever they call it. Why are people leaving in droves? Two reasons: lack of purpose and poor teams. The big moments coming up would be a perfect time to reconnect your people to their purpose, to remind them of the value of good teams, to inspire more than motivate them to a new year full of new opportunities.

There is no feeling like seeing an audience on their feet sharing their appreciation for being moved in a powerful way. You have that opportunity to move your “audience” in a powerful way and set the tone for your and their best year yet.

Harness the power of this moment.

Here’s to your best year yet,

Mark