Making Music

A couple of weeks ago we looked at a story from the book Great Work: How To Make a Difference People Love, by David Sturt. Sturt shares another story with direct implications for employee engagement:

“The conductor of a symphony is given great power over an orchestra (some might even say absolute power). This is due, in part, to conductors’ extraordinary gifts, abilities, and training. But it’s also a practical matter in order to get 100 or so creative musicians to perform with the same vision and the same feeling – at the same time.

“Besides, it’s tradition. It’s pageantry. It’s how classical music has been interpreted and performed for hundreds and hundreds of years. In fact, it’s stunning to watch how the all-knowing baton is wielded with such supremacy and honored with such obedience. Each conductor’s role is defined by the right to command but not to converse with players. When it comes to contributing great work ideas, violinists and cellists and oboe players are not included in the conversation. In the majority of symphony orchestras, the conductor reigns supreme. End of discussion.

“Then there’s Benjamin Zander.

“While he’s respected for founding the Boston Philharmonic, Maestro Zander has a different perspective – some might even say a rebellious one.

“Ben has conducted the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra for more than 30 years. But he’s actually been conducting a lot longer than that: nearly half a century. He’s a force to be reckoned with at the podium, certainly, but a special kind of force that’s not often seen in his line of work. Whereas most conductors are known for their command over the musicians, Ben is known for his relationship with the musicians. His is one of few orchestras in the world, student, semiprofessional, or professional, where conversations flow both ways, from the podium out and from the players back – all because of an epiphany he had 30 years ago.

“’I was 45 years old,’ he told us. ‘After conducting for 20 years, I suddenly had a realization: the conductor of an orchestra doesn’t make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make others feel powerful. It was life changing for me. I realized my job was to awaken possibilities in other people.’

“Initially, there was some question as to how to go about having two-way conversations with players. How could Ben pick the brains of his musicians? How might they interpret a piece? What were their favorite recordings from the past? When would trumpeters most prefer to take a breath? Since communication in a rehearsal is traditionally a one-sided affair from the maestro to the musicians, Ben had to come up with a new way to reverse the flow of ideas.

“He calls them white sheets.

“Before every rehearsal, Ben places a blank sheet of paper on every musician’s music stand. He then invites the players to write down any observations that might help him to help them play the music more beautifully. It is quite simply an invitation to express ideas – not to express a neighbor’s ideas, nor to try to guess the conductor’s ideas, but to authentically add their own thinking to the music interpretation process.

“In the beginning, input tilted toward the safe side. Comments were about practical issues: the agreement between parts, the score, and so forth. But in time, as the players learned to trust Ben’s genuine interest, the conversations and ideas blossomed, deepened, and took on a newfound confidence.

“The magical thing about Ben’s white sheets was the way they lit up participation in each and every player. Soon the musicians were sharing insights and know-how about the music and the experience they were having in every rehearsal. That’s really what Maestro Zander was after. In his book The Art of Possibility, he says ‘An orchestra of a hundred musicians will invariably contain great artists, some with an intimate or specialized knowledge of the work being performed, others with insight about the tempo or structure or relationships within the piece, a subject about which no one has ever asked them to communicate.’

“The impact of the white sheets on the first few rehearsals was profound. It was career changing – and not just for the players, but for Ben as well. ‘The white sheets give me insights I could never otherwise gain.’ He told us. ‘My power as conductor is not diminished by any means. It is enhanced, as is the power of every musician.’…

“Thirty years later, those blank sheets are in attendance at every rehearsal – and not just at the Boston Philharmonic, but at any orchestra Ben guest conducts around the world. He told us, ‘After rehearsal, I read every white sheet from every player. If I incorporate an idea from a musician, I make eye contact with that musician the moment the passage is played – I acknowledge him or her during rehearsal and during the performance. Quite magically, that moment becomes the individual’s moment.’”

In Section 1 of Called to Lead we find this quote from President John Quincy Adams: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”

Called to Care Action

Make team feedback a regular part of your communication with your employees. This can be done in many different ways – “white sheets” handed out at staff meetings, an invitation to stop by your office with new ideas every week, etc. Find the method that works best for you and your team, and let your employees know that their ideas and input are at the top of your priority list.