Rising Stars: Awareness, Rising Star, a Piano & the Audience.

Dr. David Jeremiah recently told of an occasion that, while very simple, wonderfully illustrates a Divergent Approach to Rising Stars that would also lead to amazing results. 

It also highlights the need to be aware of those Defining Moments in the life of our Rising Stars; moments that most people miss because they are unaware of it.

The story related involves a very young boy and his mother.  The parents had a piano in their home and the young boy had sometimes got on it and pressed the keys one finger at a time and over time figured out one song…..”Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.

There came a time when there was a piano concert from a famous piano master at a local Performing Arts Center.  The mother, being a lover of music and the piano, got tickets and she took her very young son with her.  They arrived at the Performance Hall and found their seats.  There came a point where she found someone she knew and went over to say hello.  When she turned back she did not see her son…..

…..the young boy took the opportunity to explore this new adventure.  He walked around and saw some interesting things until he went through a door that said “Restricted Entry”.  The mother was highly concerned as she searched for him.  As she was searching, the time to start arrived and as the curtain was drawn back, there was her young son sitting at the piano in the middle of the stage with one finger tapping out “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.  The audience was shocked and groans and gasps of shock went across the audience.  What a tragedy this was for the show and performance; after all, one just does not do this….

However, the piano master saw something that no one else did…..he saw the value of the moment.  In his tuxedo with tails, he walked on the stage and walked up behind the young boy as he tapped one key at a time.  The Master leaned over the young boy and said “Don’t Stop”!  As the young boy tapped one key at a time, the master reached  his left hand around the boy and began to play the base accompaniment with him.  As they played, the master then reached his right hand around and began to play the very high harmony accompaniment together as the young boy tapped out his song one finger at a time.

The audience was stunned at the beauty of the music and as the master and the young boy completed their music, the audience rose to their feet in joyful and excited applause and I believe not just for the music….but just as much for the master’s awareness of the situation and for the amazing thing that they just observed.

It is a simple story but the insight is key.  What Defining Moments do you miss in the journey of your Rising Stars?  What is keeping you locked in your Convergent “In The Box” thinking?  What do you need to do differently to increase your Situational Awareness to know when a Defining Moment is present or is coming on your stage?  Let’s don’t miss those opportunities.

– Randy Swaim, Coaching for Relevance, LLC