Lead Like a Conductor: How to be Directive and Enabling

When we think of parallels between music and leadership, perhaps the first image to come to mind is that of the conductor holding a baton in front of an orchestra.

Those used to large organisations will recognise the structure and hierarchy in an orchestra. The different specialist players form sections, each with a leader responsible for quality and co-ordination. There are first violins and seconds, front desks and back.

Like members of other organisations, the individual players in an orchestra contribute their skill and expertise to create a whole greater than the sum of the parts.

How does a conductor lead these creative, skilled, individuals? There are as many ways to lead and conduct as there are leaders and conductors. Most conductors combine, in different ways, the ability to give direction with the capacity to enable others to contribute well.

Each of the conductors considered by Itay Talgam (see the box on page 8) drew great performances from his orchestras. Each found a leadership style authentic to himself as a musician. All of them carried authority and exercised power in taking decisions, whether over the membership of the orchestra, the interpretation of the music or in the simple act of summoning sound out of silence. Whether you agree with Talgam that conductors get the very best performance from musicians they treat as creative partners, it is worth reflecting how, as a leader, you combine giving direction and opening a space for contributions in how you lead.

Conductors: directive and enabling
In a fascinating and engaging 2009 TED talk, Lead like the great conductors
Itay Talgam describes the leadership styles of five well-known conductors. Talgam argues for the importance of enabling and engaging the players as creative partners, not simply giving them instructions. He compares:

• Riccardo Muti, impassively commanding, treating the players as “instruments, not partners”
• Richard Strauss, composer and conductor, demanding strict execution of the detailed instructions in his scores, with little room for individual creativity
• Herbert von Karajan, his eyes closed, his gestures deliberately imprecise, demanding that his players read his mind to discover his vision of the music
• Carlos Kleiber, “opening a space for skilled, autonomous players to add a layer of interpretation” so that “control is no longer a zero-sum game”
• and Talgam’s own teacher, Leonard Bernstein, starting from the meaning, enabling the players to become the storytellers and thus to share in leading the interpretation of the music.

The musician and writer Benjamin Zander acknowledged during his conducting career that the conductor is the only person on the stage who doesn’t make a sound. Whatever their style, all conductors depend on the players, as well as the players on the conductor. We suggested earlier that leadership is a discipline, not a position in a hierarchy, In an orchestra, and in an office, Zander suggests there can be leadership “from any chair”. There needs to be ownership at every chair of the purpose and quality of the overall performance.

“Leading from any chair”
In The Art of Possibility, Benjamin Zander describes how he came to see the importance for him as a professional conductor of enabling his players to “lead from any chair”.

I had been conducting for nearly twenty years when it suddenly dawned on me that the conductor of an orchestra does not make a sound. His picture may appear on the cover of the CD in various dramatic poses, but his true power derives from his ability to make other people powerful. I began to ask myself questions like “What makes a group lively and engaged?” instead of “How good am I?” […] I began to shift my attention to how effective I was at enabling the musicians to play each phrase as beautifully as they were capable.

Zander found this approach led to better performance. Leaders in other fields often ask themselves “How good am I?” We might also want to reflect on how well we are enabling those we lead to contribute to the organisation’s performance. We might get better results from a more lively and engaged team.

Conductors, and other leaders, need to give direction in order to set standards, maintain focus and ensure results. To get the best results, they also need to engage those they lead, rather than simply requiring them to obey.

From this combination, leaders and conductors create the conditions in which those they lead can bring together their knowledge and skills to create something together they could not do on their own. By giving direction along with freedom, and by creating that sense of contributing to a larger whole, conductors and leaders earn the respect, support and loyalty of players and followers.

“The Music Paradigm”
After becoming curious about how organisational development issues could be brought to life with parallels in orchestras, conductor Roger Nierenberg developed “The Music Paradigm”, described at musicparadigm.com and in his book Maestro: a surprising story about leading by listening.

Among the points brought out in a series of short videos on the website are the effects on professional musicians of a conductor micromanaging and giving mixed messages, and the positive effect of giving good directions and trusting professionals to act on them.

Something of the quality of the relationship between an orchestra and its conductor can be seen in how they communicate while performing. Some concert halls and TV broadcasts give the audience a player’s eye view of the conductor, and of the gestures, expressions and moments of connection in the music-making. A conductor’s eyebrows can be as important as the baton!

Points for reflection

• What are the “conducting styles” of your organisation’s leaders? How do the “players” respond?
• As a leader, what is your conducting style? How do you combine giving direction with opening a space for people to contribute?
• Is your conducting style authentic to you? Does it get the best possible performance from your teams?
• How are you going to enable team members to perform at their best?
• What type of conductor of teams are you going to be in the future?
• If an audience could see you “conduct” your organisation, what would they learn about you as a leader?

(From Knowing the Score, by Praesta coaches Ken Thomson and Dr. Peter Shaw, originally published on Praesta.com)