The Ignorant Maestro

Conductors face the ultimate leadership challenge:command a complex organization in real time before an audience, not once stopping midway or starting again from the beginning. For the great conductor,leadership is an art, and he gives direction without saying a word. But theleadership techniques of a maestro do not apply only to the symphony. Anyoneinterested in improving their leadership skills can look to conductors forhelp.Far from being specifically geared toward classical music aficionados, The Ignorant Maestro isfor anyone who has ever been frustrated by leadership and communication tasks.Itay Talgam appeals to the universal need to find harmony--a need that is feltin all organizations, even families. His mission is to help everyday peopledevelop a conductor's sense of leadership, and to do so by borrowing andadapting from the repertoires of the masters.Itay Talgam observes the leadership styles of sixgreat conductors--Muti, Toscanini, Strauss, Karajan, Kleiber, and Bernstein. Hethen presents readers with six faces of leadership based on those conductors'styles. These are approaches that anyone can recognize and draw from in dailylife and work: Commander, Father Figure, Bureaucrat, Guru, Dancer, and MeaningMaker. The Ignorant Maestro showsreaders how these approaches work but also points out their limitations.Filled with engaging stories from Talgam's career asconductor, consultant, speaker, and teacher, The Ignorant Maestro ultimately challenges readers to answer thequestion, what kind of leader are you? and, more importantly, what kind ofleader do you want to be?