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Mood MusicLast Sunday morning, I caught the tail-end of a piece on NPR’s “Weekend Edition”, a reminiscence by a World War II veteran of
one night in a makeshift bar in Manila during the war, a night, he said, he will never forget. Amidst the noise of the crowd of patrons, a young Second Lieutenant sat down at the beat-up piano and began to play the chords of Debussy’s Claire de Lune. A hush fell over the crowd, and when conversation resumed, “people actually looked at one another, and the talk took on a different tone.” The image, in sound and pictures, stopped me in my tracks.
Not only did this beautiful story resonate with the jumble of emotions I, like so many others, am feeling in the midst of today’s war with Iraq, but it also spoke to me about how leadership is exercised. What the young lieutenant-pianist did that night was to reset the mood of the group in the bar. In doing so, he enabled important connections to be established among its members, connections that no doubt carried through into other times and
settings. And, by shifting the mood of the group, he opened up new possibilities, so that a new conversation could take place. Evoking the new conversation, it seems to me, is one of the most important jobs of leadership. Music, as it happens, is a great influencer of mood, and it is also a good metaphor for mood in an organization. What music is playing in yours? Is it heroic, bright, inspiring? Or dark, stormy,
quarrelsome? Maybe quiet, contemplative, somber? Who is playing the music? Is it, as described by Benjamin and Rosamund Zander in their book, The Art of Possibility, a “symphonia” -- the sounding of voices all together? Or is it a cacophony of sound, many voices singing different tunes?
As a leader, you may think of yourself as the conductor of an orchestra, an image, the Zanders write, that probably is based on a model of the orchestra as “one of the last bastions of totalitarianism.” Ben Zander – himself the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic – tells of his own epiphany, when he realized that the conductor of an orchestra does not actually make a sound. This thought led him to reinvent his role to become an enabler of the
musicians to play each musical phrase as beautifully as they were capable of. And one of the enabling strategies he used was to generate a mood of excitement, pride, and passion in his musicians. Moods are definitely contagious, and in organizations they can spread like wildfire, especially the negative ones. The organization doesn’t so much “have” a mood, as the mood “has” the organization. Moods are pervasive, and the irony is that a good
mood can turn bad on a dime, while a bad one can take months or even years to turn around. So often one of the goals of corporate culture change initiatives is to “fix” a mood of cynicism, or inertia, or resentment, and leaders are urged to undertake complex communications strategies as part of the fix. But here’s the paradox: sometimes it is the simplest of acts, like the playing of Claire de Lune in the veteran’s story, that bring about the greatest
change. What matters most, it seems, is just starting a new conversation. If you’d like to continue the conversation about leadership, please visit the Bloomfield Associates website. Find out about our executive coaching and consulting services, and contact us for your own complimentary coaching session. |
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According to a recent Gallup poll, 31% of Americans expect to get rich at some time in their lives. Young people are the age group most optimistic about their future wealth. Just over half of Americans under the age of 30 say they are very or somewhat likely to be rich at some point in their lives. Most Americans do not buy the proposal by some congressmen that we should abandon the words "French fries" and "French
toast" in favor of "freedom" fries and "freedom" toast. Two-thirds of Americans — 66% —say this is a "silly" idea. Gallup reports that more than 8 in 10 Americans (81%) say they have a clear idea of what the war with Iraq is all about, or what we are fighting for, while 18% say they do not. By comparison, a May 1967 Gallup Poll found that just 49% said they knew what the Vietnam War was all about, and 48% said they did not. 
Innomediation Coined by the authors of an article in the Winter 2003 issue of MIT Sloan Management Review, this term refers to the use of third parties (“innomediaries”) to complement their direct channels of customer interaction. “Innomediaries” are helping companies
innovate more effectively by connecting them over the Internet with a wide variety of current and potential customers. 
 The Legend of Bagger Vance, directed by Robert Redford (2000). What I like about it: Using golf as a metaphor for life, this movie teaches us about the work of personal renewal. In the words of Bagger himself, "Inside each and every one of us is our one true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone.
Something that can't be learned. . . . Something that's got to be remembered."
Beth Bloomfield
Executive Coach, Strategy Consultant
Principal, Bloomfield Associates  Freedom and Accountability at Work: Applying Philosophic Insight to the Real World, by Peter Koestenbaum and Peter Block (2001). What I like about it: This book provides a framework or path for everyone in an organization--workers,managers,
leaders--to find their heart--values, ethics, compassion--by going through their heads. By bringing together Koestenbaum, who has 30-plus years as a philosopher, together with Block, who is the author of Flawless Consulting, the book provides a framework for how the world
works and how we in organizations can use that knowledge or insights to more authentically, honestly, and powerfully conduct ourselves. The single biggest message is a fundamental belief in free will which leads to a call for choice. In particular, there is a recognition that avoid choice is actually an act of free will, just not a particularly strong one.
Andrew Cohen
Executive Coach,
Capital One Financial Corporation
nandrewcohen@yahoo.com Share what you’re into — books, articles, movies, music,
websites — with others on the list! Send us the title and author or other pertinent information, along with a sentence or two on what you like about it, and if we use it in A Different Optic we’ll not only quote you, we’ll provide a link to you or your website. |
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Advice is what we ask for when we know the answer but wish we didn't.
--Erica Jong |  |
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Beth Bloomfield was featured as a guest columnist in “Consultant’s Corner” appearing in the March 2003 issue of Executive Summary, the newsletter of the Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association. Visit the Association’s website to learn more about their activities and
upcoming events. Beth was recently elected member-at-large of the Board of Directors of the Eastport Business Association. EBA has a diverse membership representing businesses in this unique community in Annapolis, Maryland, where many of the members also live. Bumper
sticker: “What I do in Eastport is My Business.” Executives, consultants, coaches, lawyers, accountants, journalists, regulators: Join others for a seminar on “Ethics in Management Consulting” on Thursday, April 10, 5:30 to 8:30pm, at the Wyndham City Center Hotel in Washington, DC. Featuring a panel of experts, the seminar is sponsored by the DC Chapter of the Institute of Management Consultants. Click here for more information and to register.
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