Lead like great conductors
Over the past few weeks we have examined the different leadership approaches from the academic prespectpective. We have examined leader-member exhange, path-goal theory, behavioral and situation approaches to leadership. We have examined the intricacies of each of these applications including the depths of the theories.
This mid-term review is an excellent point of reference as Itay Talgram gives us a role up of different leadership practices in by examining different musical conductors and their style of leadership. He examined how conductors guide the orchestras in their own way (2009). in the first case the conductor is using a behavioral country-club style with a slight middle of the road management to relax the orchestra, as describe by Northouse (2016). Everyone is happy, he is relax, his hands are in his pockets and his body language demonstrates that he is neither feverous nor scared. He is allowing the stories of everyone around him to be told. This is very similiar to one of my finest commander I have ever work for she was always relaxed even under intense pressure. She had trust that we could do our job and trusted us to get the job done and we enjoyed doing it for her. She allowed for individuality while transforming us into a team.
The second conductor is controlling described by Talgam, commands his orchestras with situational leadership and controls the dynamic through demand response through direction and coaching. You can see it in the body language of control and snap of the music. A person can almost fell the command of the baton as the orchestra is intemdiated by the stroke of the hand. While the conductor ceterinaly is a great conductor this approach may not work for the exploration of the individual. It controls the behavior of all the followers without allowing for support of the individual. I currently have a supervisor who is like this conductor and pushes me and team to his own will and it has broken me down. He offered very little support and the outcomes have had a negative outcome on my morale while the mission has succeeded. One can feel the tension in the air when he walks in, we perform for the mission not for the person or the joy of the music.
An intersting parallel to things we have learned about leadership, this this week is the way Talgam describe's the conductor Carlos Kleiber (Talgam, 2009). This conductor encompasses the path-goal theory. During the short presentation we watch the conductor point out the individual of each of the musicians with different guidances approaches, noticing behaviors that work for some but not for all. We notice his posture and his eye contact, we noticed the conductor letting the individual explore the next layer of music. Is this not the very idea of path-goal? In this case, I have rarely seen this used correctly as the ultimate goal of any leader of so many would be to lead like an great conductor and allow the orchestras to play for you not you play for them (a cut scene at the end of the Ted Talk). The military tends to force the music instead of allowing the music to play. This type of relationship takes time and effort that very few people are willing to put in. I hope that through this course I can learn different tools to become a better conductor.
References
Itay Talgram "Lead like great conductor" (2009) TedTalk. https://www.ted.com/speakers/itay_talgam
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and Practice 7th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publishing
Vandergrift, R., & Matusitz, J. (2011). Path-goal theory: A successful columbia records story.Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 21(4), 350-362. doi:10.1080/10911359.2011.555651
Over the past few weeks we have examined the different leadership approaches from the academic prespectpective. We have examined leader-member exhange, path-goal theory, behavioral and situation approaches to leadership. We have examined the intricacies of each of these applications including the depths of the theories.
This mid-term review is an excellent point of reference as Itay Talgram gives us a role up of different leadership practices in by examining different musical conductors and their style of leadership. He examined how conductors guide the orchestras in their own way (2009). in the first case the conductor is using a behavioral country-club style with a slight middle of the road management to relax the orchestra, as describe by Northouse (2016). Everyone is happy, he is relax, his hands are in his pockets and his body language demonstrates that he is neither feverous nor scared. He is allowing the stories of everyone around him to be told. This is very similiar to one of my finest commander I have ever work for she was always relaxed even under intense pressure. She had trust that we could do our job and trusted us to get the job done and we enjoyed doing it for her. She allowed for individuality while transforming us into a team.
The second conductor is controlling described by Talgam, commands his orchestras with situational leadership and controls the dynamic through demand response through direction and coaching. You can see it in the body language of control and snap of the music. A person can almost fell the command of the baton as the orchestra is intemdiated by the stroke of the hand. While the conductor ceterinaly is a great conductor this approach may not work for the exploration of the individual. It controls the behavior of all the followers without allowing for support of the individual. I currently have a supervisor who is like this conductor and pushes me and team to his own will and it has broken me down. He offered very little support and the outcomes have had a negative outcome on my morale while the mission has succeeded. One can feel the tension in the air when he walks in, we perform for the mission not for the person or the joy of the music.
An intersting parallel to things we have learned about leadership, this this week is the way Talgam describe's the conductor Carlos Kleiber (Talgam, 2009). This conductor encompasses the path-goal theory. During the short presentation we watch the conductor point out the individual of each of the musicians with different guidances approaches, noticing behaviors that work for some but not for all. We notice his posture and his eye contact, we noticed the conductor letting the individual explore the next layer of music. Is this not the very idea of path-goal? In this case, I have rarely seen this used correctly as the ultimate goal of any leader of so many would be to lead like an great conductor and allow the orchestras to play for you not you play for them (a cut scene at the end of the Ted Talk). The military tends to force the music instead of allowing the music to play. This type of relationship takes time and effort that very few people are willing to put in. I hope that through this course I can learn different tools to become a better conductor.
References
Itay Talgram "Lead like great conductor" (2009) TedTalk. https://www.ted.com/speakers/itay_talgam
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and Practice 7th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publishing
Vandergrift, R., & Matusitz, J. (2011). Path-goal theory: A successful columbia records story.Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 21(4), 350-362. doi:10.1080/10911359.2011.555651
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