Summary:
Maestro Gustavo Dudamel is a much loved orchestra conductor who has some outstanding
leadership skills to share. Learn how his philosophy of "love the music and the
musicians who play it!" can apply to your industry.
Imagine a crusty group of seasoned professionals standing,
applauding and cheering a 28 year-old leader who has turned a same-old-same-old product
into something fresh and exciting! This does NOT happen-particularly when the
professionals are members of the Israel Philharmonic. But under the baton of young Maestro
Gustavo Dudamel, orchestra members did just that.
Now, Southern California music lovers are witnessing the
same magic of a man who started as a tot playing in El Sistema, the publicly funded
program for children in Venezuela. Talk about team work. Talk about taking an old product
like Beethoven's Fifth and turning it into something that has the young and old talking.
Dudamel is entering his second season as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in
the fall of 2010, beginning his twelfth year as Music Director of the Simón Bolívar
Youth Orchestra and his fourth season with the Gothenburg Symphony.
In a recent interview, Dudamel's leadership genius jumped
off the page as something that leaders in all industries can practice.
The secret: love the music and the musicians who play it!
Dudamel makes every player a star, asking them to play
their best and then-just a little more and still more. He is a persistent and disciplined
communicator. This means he delivers the same message, evoking over and over again the
possibility of amazing outcomes and a belief in the individual strength of each player
that only become better when joined with others.
He uses the power of words to express the results he seeks.
It's not the language of the bottom line and shareholder return, but rather words that
turn a symphony into human terms: blood, meat, happiness, magic. Every player can sense an
emotional component to the end result. Imagine what would happen if leaders could
translate a product or a service into something that resonates emotionally with team
members. I can make a case for software technicians as surely as a team of surgical
nurses.
According to close observers, Dudamel's eyes radiate joy
and energy when working with the orchestra. He admits that having fun with the
"product" and the players is what allows him to create a musical experience that
brings the "buyers" of the product and the "makers" of the product to
their feet.
Fun. Energy. Joy. These aren't words that one normally
associates with work. Results without joy, fun (however one defines it) and energy create
a disengaged workforce and a perfunctory leadership style.
In a competitive arena, where every orchestra can select
the same product, imagine the difference a great leader makes. It's why lines formed to
buy tickets for Dudamel's first concert in October in Los Angeles. What would happen when
lines formed to buy a company's product or service because the leader's behavior showed
the world that he loved the "music" and the "musicians" who made it?
Let the trumpets swell on that final note!
© 2010, McDargh Communications. |
