SYDNEY, Australia–Credit unions from around the planet meeting here for the World CU Conference were sent home with a musical message about the importance of being in tune.
Closing out the meeting was Freddie Ravel, the pianist and composer who had a number-one hit in the U.S. in 2001 with “Sunny Side Up” and who shared with World CU Conference a music-themed message—as well as a virtuoso keyboard performance–around “harmony” and “listening,” including pointing out that the letters L-I-S-T-E-N can be rearranged to create S-I-L-E-N-T.
Ravel said the question the world is struggling with is how to make the most of the potential that is at its fingertips, including tapping the power and potential of “our greatest asset: the people.” What is the next tool to bring together the information and the wisdom to win?”
To illustrate how “in less than a century we have gone from living on a farm to living on a flatscreen,” Ravel observed that the refrain in Old MacDonald is no longer “E-I, E-I, O,” but “AI, AI, AI, O.”
A Proud CU Member
In another twist on words, he said what some see as an “emergency” in the world right now, he believes to be an “emerge-and-see.”
Ravel, who proudly noted he is a member of Musicians Credit Union, told the meeting, “The structure of music is the structure of success. There are many, many reasons why this is a big, big truism. One of the biggest reasons is that music is the oldest language on the planet. We’ve been speaking music for tens of thousands of years…We’ve only been using the written word and the spoken forward for about 5,000 years.
A Drummer Inside All of Us
“The other reason that the structure of music is connected to success is that by virtue of all of us having a heartbeat there is a drummer living inside of every single one of you,” he said. “Music is with us from the cradle to the grave.” He then proceeded to play music associated with various stages of life, such as rock-a-by-baby, the wedding march and a funeral dirge.
But it is the “superpower of listening that can transform your business,” Ravel shared. “The holy grail of all communication is based on how we listen.”
Ravel said he was doing a presentation at the North American headquarters of Honda, and the CEO of the company told him that listening is one of its operating principles. That principle is: “Listen, ask and speak up.”
It Sounds Easy, But…
Ravel said it sounds easy, but it isn’t as the average person speaks about 150 words per minute, but the average mind is moving at 600 to 1,000 words per minute.
“So, when you say something to somebody their minds have faced way onto something entirely else,” he said. “Another way you can think of it is that 25% of your attention is on the speaker, but the other 75% your mind is wandering of course.
“Listening is the ultimate risk management tool,” he continued. “Listening captures errors and deep fakes and fraud. Bu there is another side of listening and it’s incredibly subtle and more important.”
That “subtle” threat, he said, is the number-one culprit hijacking people’s time: the smartphone, which the average person touches 150 times per day.
It’s all part of the great challenge to the ability to listen, he said. The “interruption.”
Other Notes Played
Other observations shared by Ravel, who demonstrated he is a gifted keyboardist, included:
- “AI can write the lines. But as humans we can read between the lines. As AI gets more clever, human care gets more important. We are here to connect, and connection is the key to success. Interaction matters as much as the transaction.”
- “When you can listen, you can be a more effective leader and get more done.”
- Sharing what he learned in touring with Carlos Santana, he shared, “When someone younger in your organization is stepping out and expressing their own melody, you can step back and support them. Every band needs a leader—but every leader needs a band. What harmony does is it collaborates.”
The closing number played by Ravel can be viewed on the CU Daily’s Youtube channel here.
