In the many years playing with an orchestra / band, I’ve always found that conductors plays a large part in making a group “tick”, i.e. going beyond what individual players are capable off, bringing out the 2 + 2 = 5 kind of effect in music making. This TED talk gives a fairly laymen explanation of the various “management styles” on stage:

However, there’s a lot the happening behind the scenes as well. In professional groups, the conductor’s primary job is to commit the mucisians into music making together, and (hopefully) to decide the preference of how the music should go especially when the composer of the piece didn’t indicate it. For the more amateurish groups, the conductor then doubles as a mentor and teacher, utilising his position to teach music making, a bit like a professor teaching in a practical workshop.

This mirrors many (mid to large) organisations very well. The leader, typically the CEO, actually does very little other than provide that direction and ensure the performance of everyone in the team. He doesn’t carry any “product” with him, therefore like the conductor he “makes no sound”, i.e. is involved but not committed (remember the chicken and the pig?)

This is also the reason why small organisation’s CEO is fairly different from their larger peers by virtue of the leader’s involvement in the day-to-day business. In small music groups, you don’t usually see a conductor. The leader of the group usually also performs (makes some noise) in the group.

Conductors are known to have personalities, which is notoriously conspicuous in their public appearance like you see in the video. Some might argue that the personalities are crucial for the “branding” of their “product”, i.e. how they influence the orchestra to play music in a certain way that’s unique / pleasant etc. Others simply attribute it to the arrogance of the conductors, and blame the traditional “hierarchy” in orchestras that promote such elitism. Sometimes, the conductor’s character runs against the musician’s desires, as many famous conductors are simply parachuted into the music group without the consent of all members of the orchestra, and sometimes simply to conduct one or two concerts while earning obscene amounts of money. Doesn’t this all sound familiar to you if you work in a big organization?

Ultimately, like any worker, musicians in large organizations can only do their best on that one or two notes that their instrument can produce at a time. It is only when the entire group comes together that music can be made with such depth and hue. When they come together, some will inadvertantly have to play a bigger role than others, like solos and melodic passages. The conductor must use his authority bestowed to him to calibrate such contradictions, and achieve a unanimous success for the entire group, playing in harmony.

So the next time you wonder what it takes to be a CEO of a big company, just go attend one of those open rehearsals where the conductor is preparing a group for a concert. Alternatively, buy tickets to concerts where you’re allowed to sit behind the orchestra (gallery seats) so that you get to see the conductor’s real time performance to his organization. And listen to the music as a response to the conductor’s gestures.

As concluded by the video, the best leadership is one that gives the lightest touch and yet brings the best out of every person in the organization.

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