“None of us is as smart as all of us”
– Ken Blanchard

What happens when a group decides to have no leader? Or to have many who share leadership? How large a group can sustain this effort? Are the results better or worse than under a more rigid, hierarchical structure?

In most of the organizations where I’ve had the opportunity to coach, leadership roles are fixed as are the other roles of most people within the company. Jobs shift only as people are promoted and occasionally as new roles are created. Naturally organizations can’t expect to prosper with individuals swimming fluidly between departments, tasks and skill sets. On the other hand, rigidly fixing leadership and accountability structures denies organizations access to a range of talents and ideas that lie unexercised and often undiscovered—kind of like keeping a beautiful car in storage or lovely jewels in a vault. What’s the point of having them in the first place?

The fundamental problem with divesting talented people from meaningful involvement with the organizational decisions that will have enormous impact on their lives, is that you don’t harness the best ideas or the greatest commitment from your most valuable asset- your employees.

Lots of CEOs have developed a pretty convincing patter about pushing responsibility and accountability down the ladder. But when you actually look at how their company is run and how the individuals within the organization feel, it becomes all too clear that the “walk” and the “talk” don’t match.

And so, when I learned of the award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, widely considered to be one of the world’s great orchestras, I got intrigued. Orpheus, founded in 1972 has turned the classic orchestral org chart on its head: they have no conductor, have 27 permanent members who cannot be fired, share leadership fluidly and intentionally among all members and continue to wow audiences around the world.

Tossing out the role of conductor sounds a bit like expecting a plane to fly with no pilot. In most orchestras, the conductor directly supervises each musician, decides what music will be played and how it will be played. The musicians themselves have little or not opportunity to share opinions and suggestions. The conductor rules the roost. So why did Orpheus eliminate this tuxedoed icon from its stables?

While orchestras may produce sublime music that transports its audience, it turns out that orchestral musicians are an unhappy class of employees. When Harvard Business School professor J. Richard Hackman studied job attitudes among 13 different job groups, symphony orchestra musicians ranked below prison guards in job satisfaction! So when cellist Julian Fifer founded Orpheus, he wanted to shake things up.

In place of the traditional fixed leadership position of conductor, Orpheus has developed a unique system of collaborative leadership that invites every member of the orchestra to participate in leadership positions—either leading the group in rehearsal and performance as concertmaster, or by heading one of the orchestra’s many different teams. Their system, which they call the Orpheus Process, is flexible—musicians freely move in and out of leadership roles—and enables and expects all members to step up not only as musicians but also as members and sometimes leaders of a team.

Here’s how the Orpheus Process breaks down:

1. Choosing Leaders.

• For each piece of music the orchestra will perform, the group appoints one of its members to lead the development of the piece—the concertmaster. The leader is chosen based on what skills and knowledge he brings to the piece—an expert in baroque music would not lead the group on a Stravinsky piece.
• For each piece, the orchestra’s members also select a leadership team called the core. The concertmaster anchors the core.

2. Developing Strategies

• Before a piece of music is taken to the full orchestra, the core develops and articulates a vision for the piece—they decide how the piece will be played. They accomplish this goal through experimentation in core rehearsals.

3. Involving the Orchestra

• Next, the core takes the music and its vision to the whole ensemble. Here comment and suggestions are invited from the entire orchestra as the final product is refined. All players are invited to comment and make suggestions outside of their immediate domain: a violinist may make a suggestion to the oboe section, the concertmaster may be questioned and engaged in lively discussion even though he is guiding the piece. Consensus on all decisions is the goal. When disagreement cannot be reached by consensus, the issue is settled by a full orchestral vote.

4. Sound Check

• Before every concert, a couple of members are selected to go out into the hall and listen as the audience will hear it. They report back suggesting any final adjustment.

5. Show Time

• The final step is the performance where the Orpheus Process is put to the test.

6. No Rest For The Weary

• After every concert, members informally discuss their impressions of the event, making suggestions and further refinements to improve each subsequent performance.

The powerful eye-opener about Orpheus is that leadership can successfully be shared in uncommon and extremely fluid ways. The challenge to anyone running a company or a team is to step back and look carefully at where your leadership bottlenecks are. Are there ways in which you might create your own ‘orpheus process’ so that more people throughout your organization are asked to step up to the leadership plate and work to share their unique vision?

The best leaders of all, the people know not they exist.
They turn to each other and say ‘We did it ourselves.’
~ Zen Saying

Dina Silver, MCC, is the Principal of Pegasus Coaching Group.

I specialize in leadership coaching working with senior executives and their teams to create great leaders and high impact groups. I have enjoyed success working with technically proficient people who need guidance in developing the interpersonal skills that are essential to effective and compelling leadership.

My background in the entertainment industry as a feature film and interactive game producer effectively assists me in helping leaders develop powerful executive presence so that ideas and challenging initiatives are met with keen interest and excitement. In order to lead, people must be excited to follow!

I have enjoyed trusted advisor status with high performance individuals, teams and organizations, coaching in high tech, entertainment, banking, and marketing.

I hold a B.A. in United States History from Princeton University. I am a Master Certified Coach (MCC) and hold my credentialing through the International Coach Federation. In addition, I am certified in a range of assessment tools including DISC and PIAV, and am an active member of Professional Coaches and Mentors Association (PCMA) and the International Coach Federation (ICF). I am married, have two teenage kids, two fat black cats and live in Santa Monica, CA.

If you are interested in learning more about how my work may be of value to you and your organization, please get in touch. I am happy to offer interested prospects a complimentary and confidential half hour coaching session so you can take me and coaching for a test drive.