When your mom calls you, can you tell instantly whether she’s in a good or bad mood?
We often focus on finding the right words when we have crucial conversations. What happens when we focus on our tone instead? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell Violinists work hard. Practicing 5 hours a day is not noteworthy. However, one of the most influential teachers, Carl Flesch, would “spy” on his students to make sure they didn’t practice too much!
Flesch understood musicians needed to take extended breaks, recharge, and return to the music with a fresh perspective. Similarly, in a world where work is a phone tap away, how might we make sure we bring our best selves to tackle sticky problems? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell What’s the difference between empathy and sympathy? Depression and anxiety? Equity, diversity, and inclusion?
Word choice matters. Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell For years, I struggled opening jars of tomato sauce. Since my family loves spaghetti, this was a constant, frustrating problem. The lids were too slippery. I’d squeeze the tops and twist until my hands were red and raw.
I looked it up on YouTube one day, and the answer is simple. Place a rubber band around the lid and twist. It takes only seconds and works every time. Problem solved. At work and in life, most problems aren’t so easily solved. However, we don’t need to suffer needlessly. How might life change if you reached out to someone to help you with a particularly hairy problem you’re facing today? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell Are you looking to gather information and make a decision?
Or have you made a tentative decision and are looking for feedback? When people ask for advice, how do you make sure you’re answering the right question? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell Which startup would you rather fund?
Company A, which has incredible growth and metrics but a substandard pitch? Or company B, which gave an incredible pitch but had substandard growth and metrics? For your work, what are the essential parts? The parts where if you bomb everything else, you’ll still be successful? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell Even among virtuoso musicians, Rachmaninoff stood out. He was incredible as a pianist, composer, and conductor. However, after suffering from depression, he completely gave up composing.
Fortunately, he was open to treatments. He worked with therapist Nicolai Dahl and then produced his most stunning work, his heart-wrenching 2nd concerto. Rachmaninoff dedicated it to Dahl. Sometimes, even the most talented people need help. You can hear a touching performance from my friend in college, Ning An, here. Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell Has anyone ever asked you to buy girl scout cookies?
I love the entrepreneurial spirit and courage it takes to sell these cookies. However, I prefer not to eat them. I’ll ask the girl scouts what their favorite flavors are, then buy those flavors for them. Whether we eat the cookies or give them away, we aren’t buying cookies. Instead, we’re buying the happy feeling of helping out others and putting a jolt of positivity into the world. Whether you’re pitching for girl scout cookies, your favorite non-profit, or even ideas at work, ask yourself, what are the decision-makers really buying? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell Why is pitching your idea in 30 seconds daunting?
It’s easy to get caught up in details. So what would happen if you practice leaving out as many details as possible? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell One of my conductors mentioned that good violinists with great technique are common. He can count them like sheep to fall asleep. But on the other hand, great violinists who are brave enough to share their unique interpretations, go against tradition, and stand out, are rare.
Every great violinist sounds utterly different from the others. How might you sound like a great violinist next time you pitch your ideas? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell Conductors are rarely first-class instrumentalists. She can’t play the violin like the concertmaster or the cello like the principal.
Her role is to lead all the sections in harmony and execute her musical vision. Not to micromanage each phrase, what fingerings to use, and subtle details. How might you think more like a conductor and less like a manager? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell In America, it’s common to see people smile. Smiles indicate warmth, openness, and friendliness. However, in some cultures, people smile less. People are conditioned to view a person who constantly smiles as untrustworthy.
In a global world, when working with people with diverse backgrounds, personalities, and communication styles, how do you ensure you’re correctly interpreting people’s signals? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell Have you ever binge-watched a show on Netflix?
Instead of waiting a week for the next episode, Netflix lets us find out what happens asap, on our own time. We gain convenience. We can replay our favorite scenes. However, there is a cost. We lose the anticipation and the sense of shared excitement when everyone talks about the show together the following day. The same could be said about meetings. Some meetings might work better as video recordings or written presentations, to be digested and replayed when convenient. Other meetings may benefit from having everyone in the room to generate excitement and shared purpose. How do you ensure you set your next meeting in the most effective format? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell What’s more crucial, giving a compelling pitch or having a meaningful conversation?
What leads people to focus more on the pitch and less on creating verbal ping pong? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell Performing music for a live audience is both thrilling and scary. Often, elements that went well in the practice room fall apart under pressure.
Yes, you can practice performing for a few friends. Try to simulate a concert feel with a dress rehearsal. But there are no substitutes. The same goes for leadership. You can read books and gather advice. But, like riding a bike or swimming, you have to jump in. How might life change if you jump at some opportunities available to you now? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell Violinists don’t fix their own instruments. They care too much. They bring it to trusted professionals. I used to drive from Boston to New Jersey to have a master luthier keep my violin in shape.
As precious and delicate as violins are, our bodies are more so. So what leads intelligent, well-meaning people to go to the do-it-yourself road regarding health? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell How did it feel the last time your phone was low on power?
For some people, there’s nothing worse than having a dead phone. To prevent this, we’ve adopted a host of measures. First, we proactively check our phone battery levels. Our phone gives us an early warning. We charge it right away at home. Outside, we may carry an extra battery. Worst case scenario, we restrict our phone use, close many apps, and put our phones on energy-saving mode. We are hyper-aware of our phone energy levels. However, what about our energy levels? How might life improve if we created an early warning system and other measures to ensure we have the emotional and physical energy to keep going? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell A good violinist faithfully follows the composer’s instructions in the score. A great violinist understands the composer’s intentions and adds her own insights. She elevates and transforms the work.
Which would you rather listen to? In your working life, once you receive your marching orders, how might you go from good to great? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell "I am not fitted to give concerts. The audience intimidates me. I feel choked by its breath, paralysed by its curious glances." - Chopin
Some of the greatest musicians in history have performance anxiety. Barbara Streisand gave up live performance for 27 years after she forgot the words to a song. Adele says, "I'm scared of audiences," and even once "escaped out the fire exit." Rihanna still gets "the jitters." Like bubbles rising to the surface from a swimming pool, nervousness doesn't go away. There's a reason people shy away from public speaking, presentations, and voicing our opinions at meetings. What happens if we shift our focus from ourselves to the people we are seeking to help? What happens if we ask ourselves can I help this audience with my topic? What's at stake for them if I don't help them? Do they need to hear this? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell How would a 100-piece orchestra made up of only violinists sound?
The diversity of sounds is what makes an orchestra attractive. From the rich tones of the bass that you feel more than hear to the flutes dancing in the sky, to the golden tones of the brass, it’s the interplay between all the different voices that matter. How many different voices do you hear in the work that you do? How might you create change it if it’s more like a group of violinists instead of a full orchestra? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell Beyonce
Beatles Adele Rihanna Streisand Bocelli Van Halen These musicians all overcame severe stage fright. We can too. If you’re uncomfortable taking the leap at work, you’re in great company. Getting comfortable being uncomfortable is a superpower. So learning to lean in while others shy away is crucial. What would life be like if all the musicians on this list shied away? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell Thirty years ago, most songs were over 4 minutes. Now, they’re clocking in at around 3 minutes.
What does that say about our attention span? Though we’re not all musicians, we all fight for attention during meetings. So when you give a high-stakes presentation, how might you condense your pitch? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell How much time do you take before jumping into the pool or ocean?
If you jump right in, you’ll feel cold for a moment, then refreshed. If you gradually wade in, you’ll feel uncomfortable for longer. There’s a cost for indecision. Sometimes, it’s more painful to sit on the fence than to commit either way. Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell The conductor!
Though conductors make no sound, they have the most crucial position. They look like they are just beating time. However, that’s the least important part of their role. All professional musicians can count. More importantly, conductors invite the musicians to go on a musical journey together. They give space for each section to express their musical ideas, are proactive in setting the tone, and are reactive when sections start to move away from each other. Conductors are like managers. How might you lead like a conductor? Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell In chess, openings are crucial. Grandmasters, especially with the help of computers, have charted what the best possible moves are in various situations.
It’s easy to get stuck trying to memorize opening theory. The problem is, there are a mind-boggling amount of moves possible. According to some people, there are close to 200,000 possible positions after your second move! You have to move away from theory and just play using your chess skills. Similar situations happen whenever a new opportunity arrives at work. In theory, there are always new courses to take, skills to learn, experiences to gain. However, sometimes, you have to jump right in and say, I’m ready. Thanks for caring! With gratitude, Anwell |
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