Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser Master Class Quotes (Part 2 of 2)

The fantastic master class I attended summer by the one and only Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser had so many good quotes I needed to split them up into two posts.  It was a class for band directors but there are great lessons for all of us in these.  Here is the second installment. (And click here for Part 1 if you missed it.)

• "Band has to be challenging."
   
• "We have to put people in an atmosphere with courage."
   
• "If you want to win a trophy, go buy one.  It’s easier and you don’t have to rely on someone else’s subjectiveness."
   
• "Positives come and go.  Negatives accumulate."
   
• "When we put the attention on others, they will follow us anywhere."
   
• "How Do We Motivate: 1. Competition 2. Cooperation 3. Creation - Of those three, the highest level of motivation is creation."
   
• "Create what isn’t."
   
• "Happiness isn’t getting what you want, it’s wanting what you get."
   
• "This is our lives.  This is not a dress rehearsal.  This is it.  The cameras are rolling."
   
• "Pessimists see the challenge in every opportunity.  Optimists see the opportunity in every challenge."
   
• "If it come between being right and being kind, be kind.  Because you can always go back and be right."
   
• "At every moment we are either appreciating or depreciating the environment."
   
• "Leadership isn’t something you do but something you are."
   
• "Criticize in private, not in public."
   
• "When we change the way we look at things, we change the things we look at."
   
• "Communication is the key to all problem solving."
   
• "Whatever we want is what we should give away."

Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser Master Class Quotes (Part 1 of 2)

This past summer, I ran into one of my favorite human beings, Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser, when we were both presenting at a drum major leadership camp in West Chester, PA.  Luckily for me, the Boston Brass stuff was at a separate time than his master class for the directors so I was able to be there.  And as with every Dr. Tim class I've ever attended, I left ready to change the world. Some of these are music educator specific and some are just great tidbits to make us better human beings.  Dr. Tim's constant ability to make me think is truly remarkable.  He is one of the most gifted communicators I've ever seen in action and it is an honor to call him a friend.

There were enough quotes that I have split them into two posts.  I've put the ones that really stand out to me personally in bold:

• "It’s only when knowledge is guided by wisdom that value is created."
   
• "The world of academia is famous for pushing knowledge, not wisdom."
   
• "It is easier to work with someone with a great attitude and a little bit of talent rather than someone with lots of talent and a bad attitude.
   
• "The intention (of students) is always to be good.  The trick is to get to outcome.  That’s where wisdom comes in."
   
• "Band is not about being right."
   
• "No (band director) gets fired because they’re not a good musician.  They get fired because they can’t handle the other stuff."
   
• "Flutes are nice, they smell good and you can let them be treasurer."
   
• "Percussionists are the bottom of the food chain.  We’re one step below blenders."
   
• "Maturity is the ability to understand how your behavior affects other people."
   
• "How do we go from competition to cooperation?"
   
• "Each layer of self-doubt puts another wall around your comfort zone."
   
• "Don’t get positive and happy mixed up."
   
• "10% of a band or organization are positive leaders.  80% are followers.  10% are negative leaders."
   
• "It takes 6 positive leaders to counteract 1 negative leaders."
   
• "The quickest way to get attention is to do something wrong.  It works every time."
   
• "The whole game of teaching is energy."
   
• "We don’t teach as we’re taught to teach.  We teach how we’re taught."
   
• "People don’t feel better by making them feel worse."
   
• "Nobody in your band is coming out of their comfort zone if it’s not safe."
   
• "Successful people don’t know how to not be successful.  That comes from being young and giving up giving up."

Click here for Part 2 of Dr. Tim's quotes.