Last Friday I watched São Paulo Symphony Orchestra at Sala São Paulo, and I started to think how maestros lead their musicians. They anticipated the next movement and kept the pace required for the music to flow smoothly, so I started to think about leadership, even on sales or business.
Each musician have their music sheets and they know when to start, end or change chairs, but they are always looking at the maestro waiting a visible gestures with the hands, arms, face or head. All the communications is non-verbal during a performance and all musicians know what to do, and what are their responsibilities.
In our day to day, we need that everyone on our team must fully understand and embrace their respective roles and responsibilities. A good leader has insights into the personal and professional lives of each person on their team. He learns what motivates them and what doesn’t.
A maestro is not just there to keep everyone on time. He also acts as the team coach, working to get the best out of each individual and the collective performance of the orchestra. They provide encouragement when needed (especially if there is a particularly challenging section in the music), and direction/redirection as needed — play faster, slower, quieter, louder and so forth.
Coach and give feedback in a way that builds the confidence and capabilities of your team. A leader creates interactions that allow open communication and build trust, and trust is crucial in high performance team when personalities sometimes cause conflict.
The Maestro congratulated the number one chair with a handshake but recognized the entire orchestra whenever the audience responded. He made sure everyone knew their music but set a standard in recognizing those that had taken the time to master their craft.
It’s your job to evaluate each team player’s talent and skill level and to develop team and individual training based on skills that can be strengthened and gaps that need to be addressed. Learning is one of the most important aspects of successful leadership.
In the same way as musicians and maestros spend time practicing and learning the skills to master their instruments, we need to pay attention to the “what” and the “how” of effective leadership. In doing so, we may just find ourselves delivering a leadership performance alongside a team that earns a standing ovation.
References:
http://99u.com/articles/41485/the-best-teams-act-like-musicians