Beethoven’s Ninth – A Lesson in Leadership and Control
Last Saturday evening my wife and I attended a wonderful concert by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra in which the featured work was Beethonven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor Opus 125, conducted by Maestro Christopher Wilkins. This symphony is considered by many to be among the most iconic works in western art, let alone music. Beethoven’s Choral Symphony is a colossal masterpiece and one of the most difficult for an orchestra and choir to render well. Many believe it to be the standard against which all subsequent symphonies have been measured. It possesses unprecedented size, imposing grandeur of conception, and a revolutionary, for its time, choral finale. This symphony has both inspired and intimidated later composers and can often measure the competence of the orchestra and choir bold enough to dare its performance.
Over 300 musicians and voices were assembled on stage for the performance, including many instrumental and vocal soloists for featured roles. This is the largest assemblage of musicians in the history of the Orlando Philharmonic. Although I have heard this symphony before, both live and in recorded versions, this performance could only be described as breathtaking in its scale and magnificence.
We watched Maestro Wilkins conduct over 300 performers through the entire symphony without a single page of sheet music in front of him. The entire Philharmonic Orchestra, an assembled choir of over 230 voices formed from three separate chorus groups, and featured soloists assembled for the performance – all of these lead and controlled by Maestro Wilkins. Each voice, every instrument, each section of the orchestra and choir had a separate part to play for the Symphony to be performed in its perfection. All this led and controlled by a single conductor who already had each note, each measure, each phrase and theme assembled in his head. As the conductor led the pace, cued each performer, and controlled the assemblage of musicians and voices everything came together in perfect precision to produce the Symphony and Choral. The audience sat enthralled, worshipping the performance when it finished with a standing ovation.
Readers of this Blog may well be asking now, what does this have to do with entrepreneurism or business? Ah, have patience good readers, please.
In reflection, Maestro Wilkins reminds me of a successful entrepreneur leading a new enterprise to growth and success. The entrepreneur may not be working with “sheet music” in front of him, but he already knows the music by heart. He or she knows exactly what and who will be required and when. Key players have been identified and recruited for the endeavor. Risks have already been examined and analyzed. Contingency and risk mitigation plans made ahead of time to minimize the chances of a “wrong note” being played and plans made to deal with uncertainties and the hidden flaws. A successful entrepreneur may be a good manager, but must be a great leader. Just as 300 performers trusted Maestro Wilkins to lead them through the performance of such a difficult Choral Symphony, the enterprise team and stakeholders trust the successful entrepreneur to lead them through whatever challenges the business will face. No one doubts that the end result will be success. Everyone knows the part they are expected to play. They have rehearsed. They are prepared. And, most importantly, the team knows someone they trust and respect leads them.
We cannot overemphasize the importance of leadership as a quality essential to the success of any enterprise. This is even more so for an entrepreneurial business. When investors, lenders, early customers, and other stakeholders evaluate a new business the quality of its leadership is among the most important criteria subjected to judgment. If the team of founders surrounding the business lacks these critical leadership skills, the likelihood of failure is high.
© Harbour Bridge Ventures, Inc., 2009, All Rights Reserved
© Harbour Bridge Ventures, Inc., 2009, All Rights Reserved
Completely agree. Then the important questions is, how do you bring leadership to people who lack the basic intellectual capabilities to understand LEADERSHIP. Have you an easy understandable definition of leadership vs. management?
ReplyDeleteKIP:
ReplyDeleteYou asked about a easy to understand definition of leadership versus management. While this in itself could be a lengthy discussion topic and I will consider it for a future Blog post, let me try to answer your request for a short and easy to understand answer to the question.
Management requires the organization and control of people(and ofter resources) to accomplish specific goals and objectives. A good manager can often produce exceptional results by properly organizing and directing people to "get the most out of them."
Leadership has been described as the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. While this a rather dry description, I call attention to the aspect of leadership that involves the attraction and motivation of people in the accomplishment of a common goal. Leaders seem to have the ability to attract and surround themselves with talented people and then motivate them to accomplish extraordinary results.
Both a good manager and a good leader may each accomplish excellent results. However, a good manager may need to be blessed with the people and resources necessary to accomplish those results. A good leader may have at the outset neither the people or the resources necessary to accomplish the desired results. However, the good leader will be able to attract and motivate the people necessary to accomplish the goals and objectives and indeed will likely motivate them to perform beyond their normal capabilities and accomplish the results despite lacking all the required resources.
It is this ability to attract, motivate, and inspire others to accomplish great results despite perhaps lacking the required resources that makes the leadership quality so essential for a successful entrepreneur.
As to your concerns about how to "bring leadership to people who lack the basic intellectual capabilities to understand leadership," I would respond as follows. Good leaders are able to attract and motivate the right people - including those with the intellectual capacity required as well as many other positive attributes. Great leaders are able not only to attract those type of people but create more of them from amongst those around them.
My own successes in business are attributable primarily to having been fortunate enough to b surrounded by very talented people and understanding how to motivate them to accomplish extraordinary achievements. I would go to war with most of them again to succeed.
Aspiring entrepreneurs should not only work to develop their own leadership skills (as well as sound management skills by the way), but also seek out the most talented individuals they can surround themselves with, let them know what is important and what you wish to achieve, get them what they need to get the job done, and stay out of their way.
Does that help answer your question?
One simple way to see the difference is by finding out who is riding on the coattails of the person in question.
ReplyDeleteLeaders have "followers"; managers have "employees" (positional manager)or "clients" (project manager). You can tell the difference immediately if you have access to the folks who are hanging around. Leaders tend to be like Tom Sawyer getting folks to paint the fence. Managers direct the project by working with the folks assigned to them.