Leadership Ensemble: Lessons in Collaborative Management from the World's Only Conductorless Orchestra - Hardcover

Seifter, Harvey; Economy, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805066926 ISBN 13: 9780805066920

Publisher: Times Books, 2001

Synopsis

An exciting new model for streamlining organizational management and structure, from an organization known around the world for its innovative structure.

For nearly three decades the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has earned rave reviews as one of the premier touring musical ensembles in the world. Recently, it has also attracted the attention and admiration of the business world. As the only major orchestra without a conductor, Orpheus is a shining example of a new management style based on collaborative leadership.

Leadership Ensemble is designed to show business leaders in any industry how to re-create the successful "Orpheus Process" in their own companies by dismantling top-heavy hierarchies; developing flexible, responsive strategies and decision-making procedures; and unleashing employee creativity, responsibility, and productivity. The authors delineate the ten core principles of collaborative management, including shared and rotated leadership, passionate dedication to mission, clarity of roles within an organization, and learning to listen. Spiced with anecdotes and lessons from the life of Orpheus and case studies from the world of business, Leadership Ensemble is an entertaining, eminently practical guide to implementing changes essential to survival in today's speed-of-light business environment.

About this title

About the Author

Harvey Seifter, a classically trained musician, is executive director of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and successfully managed a number of performing arts organizations in both New York and San Francisco. He lives in New York City. Peter Economy is co-author of At the Helm: Business Lessons for Navigating Rough Waters and the bestselling book Managing for Dummies. He lives in California.

Reviews

The business-as-orchestra metaphor is nothing new: the business executive must bring out each employee's best so that the entire organization finds harmony. Seifter, executive director of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which operates sans conductor, takes the idea a step further, arguing that a leader may be unnecessary. With the help of writer Economy, Seifter offers eight CEO-optional management principles (e.g., put power in the hands of workers; clarify roles; share and rotate leadership; foster horizontal teamwork; learn to listen, learn to talk) for achieving organizational success. The irony, of course, is that, except in inchoate organizations, only a boss can implement this leaderless system.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1972 in New York, designed to rely on the skills, abilities, and passionate commitment of its members rather than on the leadership of a conductor. Power, responsibility, and motivation rest entirely in the hands of the musicians. Jointly its members make the artistic decisions that are ordinarily the work of a conductor, and they participate in choosing the repertoire and creating the group's programs. There are eight Orpheus principles: put power in the hands of the people doing the work, encourage individual responsibility, create clarity of roles, share and rotate leadership, foster horizontal teamwork, learn to listen and talk, seek consensus, and dedicate passionately to your mission. The authors' goal is to show business leaders in any industry how to use these principles in their companies. Each chapter focuses on one of the principles, and each ends with a five-step prescription for applying the relevant principle to a specific company and a warning about problems that may be encountered in doing so. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Ten Orpheus Principles:
--Put the power in the hands of the people doing the work.
--Encourage individual responsibility for product and quality.
--Foster teamwork built on individual responsibility.
--Share and rotate leadership.
--Create clarity of roles.
--Learn to listen, learn to talk.
--Make everyone a specialist, and a generalist.
--Seek consensus.
--Foster respect for others.
--Be passionate about your mission.

Edition details

• Publisher: Times Books
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805066926
• ISBN 13: 9780805066920
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256