BBC News - How to Conduct Your Staff
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BUSINESS 3 June 2014 Last updated at 00:00 How to conduct your staff Quite often management books look to the symphony orchestra for examples of leadership in action: the conductor on the podium, conjuring wonderful music from a group of performers who would be rudderless without the man or woman with the stick. I've always been suspicious of this sort of metaphor, which is compelling mainly because it is so grandiose... it makes bosses feel good about themselves, and puffs them up with the idea that leadership is an art you can master with the right input. But the other evening at the Barbican Concert Hall in the City of London, I had a chance to review my instinctive feelings, during an extraordinary performance by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam. They were playing music I don't know and (to be frank) don't really want to know: the huge, long, Symphony Number Seven by Anton Bruckner. But the performance was amazing. We were sitting in expensive seats set to the side, because we bought too late to put us in the middle of the hall. So instead of the traditional back view of the conductor, Mariss Jansons, we could see one side of his face, all the time. And it was utterly compelling. Man among equals Mr Jansons is 72, and born in Latvia. He has been Concertgebouw chief conductor for 10 years, and there is a deep regard for him among the musicians. Seeing him (and them) in action, I am not surprised. With restrained gestures and the subtlest of facial expressions, he drew from the orchestra the most glorious performance. This was not a leader in charge of a production; it was a man among equals, enabling the ensemble to flower, joining their efforts to his to evoke the spirit of the music. It was one of three Bruckner symphonies performed on successive nights in London. They had had no full scale runthrough of this huge work beforehand, no dress rehearsal. Some of the performers were new to Bruckner altogether. The rehearsals concentrated on the difficult bits, in particular the transitions of mood or speed. Mr Jansons knew he could trust the musicianship of his superb players. What he had to do was to realise the possibilities of the ensemble. No wonder the impact of it was so tremendous. Watching him sideways, I realised that what was happening was that effectively we were in on the creation of the music, so listening was almost as if it were being invented in front of our ears. There was a revealing moment in the pause after the first movement. The conductor gave the tiniest of acknowledgements of satisfaction so far to the different orchestra sections; not a wink, but little movement of hands and eyes to indicate that what was supposed to be created was happening. Peter Day Global business correspondent More from Peter
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Transcript of BBC News - How to Conduct Your Staff
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BUSINESS3June2014Lastupdatedat00:00
Howtoconductyourstaff
Quiteoftenmanagementbookslooktothesymphonyorchestraforexamplesofleadershipinaction:theconductoronthepodium,conjuringwonderfulmusicfromagroupofperformerswhowouldberudderlesswithoutthemanorwomanwiththestick.
I'vealwaysbeensuspiciousofthissortofmetaphor,whichiscompellingmainlybecauseitissograndiose...itmakesbossesfeelgoodaboutthemselves,andpuffsthemupwiththeideathatleadershipisanartyoucanmasterwiththerightinput.
ButtheothereveningattheBarbicanConcertHallintheCityofLondon,Ihadachancetoreviewmyinstinctivefeelings,duringanextraordinaryperformancebytheRoyalConcertgebouwOrchestrafromAmsterdam.
TheywereplayingmusicIdon'tknowand(tobefrank)don'treallywanttoknow:thehuge,long,SymphonyNumberSevenbyAntonBruckner.Buttheperformancewasamazing.
Weweresittinginexpensiveseatssettotheside,becauseweboughttoolatetoputusinthemiddleofthehall.
Soinsteadofthetraditionalbackviewoftheconductor,MarissJansons,wecouldseeonesideofhisface,allthetime.Anditwasutterlycompelling.
ManamongequalsMrJansonsis72,andborninLatvia.HehasbeenConcertgebouwchiefconductorfor10years,andthereisadeepregardforhimamongthemusicians.Seeinghim(andthem)inaction,Iamnotsurprised.
Withrestrainedgesturesandthesubtlestoffacialexpressions,hedrewfromtheorchestrathemostgloriousperformance.
Thiswasnotaleaderinchargeofaproductionitwasamanamongequals,enablingtheensembletoflower,joiningtheireffortstohistoevokethespiritofthemusic.
ItwasoneofthreeBrucknersymphoniesperformedonsuccessivenightsinLondon.Theyhadhadnofullscalerunthroughofthishugeworkbeforehand,nodressrehearsal.SomeoftheperformerswerenewtoBruckneraltogether.
Therehearsalsconcentratedonthedifficultbits,inparticularthetransitionsofmoodorspeed.
MrJansonsknewhecouldtrustthemusicianshipofhissuperbplayers.Whathehadtodowastorealisethepossibilitiesoftheensemble.
Nowondertheimpactofitwassotremendous.Watchinghimsideways,Irealisedthatwhatwashappeningwasthateffectivelywewereinonthecreationofthemusic,solisteningwasalmostasifitwerebeinginventedinfrontofourears.
Therewasarevealingmomentinthepauseafterthefirstmovement.Theconductorgavethetiniestofacknowledgementsofsatisfactionsofartothedifferentorchestrasectionsnotawink,butlittlemovementofhandsandeyestoindicatethatwhatwassupposedtobecreatedwashappening.
PeterDayGlobalbusinesscorrespondentMorefromPeter
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Anditwassofresh,soofthemoment,thatweintheaudiencewerepartoftheperformanceaswell.ListeningagainlatertotheRadio3livetransmissionwasnotthesameexperience,evenifmyspeakershadbeenuptothevastsonoritiesofBruckner.
Thiswasmusicalleadershipofaveryhighorderindeed,hugemusicconductedwithabundanthumanity.
AndinMrJansons'enablingratherthanautocraticstyleofleadershipthereweresomereallessonsforbusinesspeoplewholooktoconductingtoshowthemhowtorunanorganisation.
ToughapplicationprocessAfterwards,talkingtoamemberoftheorchestra,Igotafewinsightsintothedemocraticstructureoftheorchestra,whichmayexplainthebalanceofpowerbetweenconductorandplayers.
The120playersaremembersoftheorchestraassociation,whichhasthreeseatsontheorchestra'sboard.
BecomingatenuredConcertgebouwmemberisdifficult.Prizedvacanciesonthebandmayattractasmanyas250applicationsfromallovertheworld.
Thesearewhittleddown,andthenanervewrackingselectionprocesstakesplace.
Applicantsauditionbehindacurtain,listenedtobeacommitteeoftheplayerswithwhomasuccessfulmusicianwilleventuallyplay:about16membersoftheorchestra,includingalltheplayersofthesectionforwhichtheapplicantwilleventuallyjoin.Peergroupjudgment.
Thiseliminationroundhappenstwice...andthenthere'saplayoffwiththecurtainraised,sotheselectorsatlastseewhoisplayingforthem.
Butevenafterthechoiceisdecided,thereisstilluncertainty:successfulentrantstotheorchestrafaceaprobationaryyear,andtheirservicesmaybedispensedwithduringthattime.Notjustapossibility:thishappens.
Nowondertheorchestra'sstandardissohigh.NowonderapublicperformancecanberealisedonthespotinthatmiraculouswayIheard(andsaw)inLondontheothermonth.
Ahugemutualtrustbetweenplayersandconductor,allworkingontopformtocreateanexperienceforthemselvesandthelistener,realisedbythemusicianshipofaverygreatconductorindeed,andtheband'srespectforhim.
Howmuchthebossesandmanagersofotherorganisationsandcompaniescouldlearnfromthatcommunityofpurpose.
'Naturalprocess'OntheRoyalConcertgebouwwebsitethere'sconfirmationofwhatorchestramembershavetoldmeabouttheexperienceofworkingwithMarissJansons.
Thesiteitselfasks:WhatisMarissJansons'secret?Howdoesheconsistentlymanagetotakehisorchestrastoahigherlevelandgarnerinternationalrecognition?
InansweritquotesfromaninterviewintheGramophonetheconductorgavesixyearsago.
"It'smyjob,"hetoldthemagazine,"tofindouttheorchestra'sspecialqualitiesandpreservethem.Then,ifthroughanaturalprocess,myownindividualityaddssomethingandtheirstomethenitwillbefine."
Asuperblymodestsummingupofwhatleadershipcanbe.Anaturalprocess.
Ithastobesaidthatthissortofrelationshipisnotagiven,evenattheRoyalConcertgebouw.
Onefamouspreviouschiefconductor(for25years),BernardHaitink,isembroiledinacontinuingrowwiththeorchestraoverwhathesaysishislackofinvolvementinits125thanniversarycelebrationslastyear.
MrHaitinkhasvowedhewillneveragainconducttheband.Thefeelingmaywellbemutual,thoughIhaven'tasked.
Sadly,however,thewonderfulrelationshipbetweentheorchestraandMarissJansonswillsoonbecomingtoanend.Hishealthhasbeenproblematicforsomeyears,andhehasjustannouncedthathewillbegivinguphischiefconductorshipnextyear.
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Sothereisnotmuchtimelefttohearaconsummatemusicianutterlyintunewithconsummateplayers.Andtowitnessaremarkableexampleofleadershipinaction,withtheresultofitbloomingbeforeyourveryears.
PeterDaywillbeplayingandtalkingaboutmusicthathasinfluencedhim(notBruckner)onSaturdayClassicsonBBCRadio3onSaturdayJune7at14:00.
PeterDayGlobalbusinesscorrespondentMorefromPeter
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