What Can We Learn From An Orchestra Director?

An orchestra is one of the most powerful symbols of what it means to perform at a high level. Dozens, sometimes hundreds, of musicians, each a master of their craft, come together not to showcase individual brilliance but to serve a collective sound.

What makes an orchestra extraordinary is not talent alone. It is discipline, rehearsal, and the ability to listen as much as play. This is as true in the concert hall as it is in the boardroom.

And it’s not just orchestras. Next time you listen to rock, heavy metal, or classical music, pay attention to the way guitar and bass work together. One will lead with riffs, while the other fills the gaps, creating depth and rhythm. They take turns carrying the weight of the song, ensuring that silence is as purposeful as sound. It’s a dance of leadership and support, a constant negotiation to make the piece whole.

The sheet music is the team’s strategy: it tells everyone where they’re going. Without it, even the best musicians would produce chaos. In business, a clear strategy, the score ensures that every department plays in harmony rather than in competition.

Just as the Berlin Philharmonic rehearses one piece for weeks with a unified interpretation, companies like Pixar spend months aligning on a single vision statement before production begins. Both know clarity of purpose creates excellence.

In an orchestra, violins cannot cover percussion, and flutes cannot replicate cellos. Each instrument is essential precisely because it is different. In a band, too, the bass doesn’t compete with the guitar, it completes it.

Teams thrive when roles are defined and complementary, not overlapping or confused.

The conductor doesn’t play a note, yet their presence shapes everything: tempo, interpretation, and balance. In a band, leadership may shift, sometimes the guitarist drives, sometimes the drummer sets the pace. The magic lies in the ability to lead or follow as the music demands.

The best leaders act like conductors or band leaders. They don’t need to dominate the sound, their role is simply to bring out the best in others, creating harmony rather than noise.

Audiences hear the final 90 minutes; musicians rehearse for hundreds of hours. Mistakes are made, corrected, and learned from long before anyone is watching.

Teams need protected time to practise, learn, and iterate. Microsoft under Satya Nadella embraced a “learn-it-all” culture, investing in learning as habit. Like musicians, businesses that only “perform” without rehearsal burn out or stagnate.

Listening as a Superpower

A great musician doesn’t just play their part; they listen intently to those around them. An orchestra succeeds because of this deep awareness: every entry, every pause, every crescendo depends on collective listening.

The same is true for high-performing teams. Psychological safety, candid feedback, and active listening allow organisations to adapt like an ensemble adjusting mid-performance.

Live performance is unpredictable. A string might snap, a soloist may falter, but the orchestra adapts instantly, guided by the conductor’s steady hand. The audience rarely notices.

In a crisis, resilient teams don’t collapse; they rebalance. When Airbnb lost 80% of its bookings overnight during the pandemic, its leaders acted like conductors, calming the chaos, resetting tempo, and guiding the organisation back into harmony.

My partner studied music and is an extraordinary musician. What I admire most is not only his technical skill but his approach to performance, and business. He knows the scores inside out, yet stretches himself musically by making his own arrangements. He balances innovation with discipline, exploring new interpretations while honouring the structure of the original composition.

Most importantly, when he plays with others, he instinctively knows when to lead and when to follow. That humility and awareness ensure the music sounds incredible, not because of a single person’s brilliance, but because everyone is lifted together.

Isn’t that what the best teams do?

3 Take Aways to Lead a High Perfomance Team

• Define the score: Make purpose clear. Everyone must know what piece they are playing.

• Value every instrument:Celebrate difference; complementary roles create richness.

• Cultivate listening: Teach teams to hear one another, not just themselves, and when things go wrong, keep the music flowing

An orchestra doesn’t achieve harmony by chance. They achieve it through habits of preparation, discipline, listening, and leadership. A company is the same, every person is extraordinary in their own right, and together capable of making the company the leader on their field.