What makes a leader?

A recent article in the Sacramento Bee caught my attention not just because it was profiling a woman conductor, Laura Jackson (whom I've met - she's a lovely person and fine musician), but for a quote towards the end from Jesse Rosen, president of the League of American Orchestras. Jesse is quoted as saying: "There has been a movement away from top-down, authoritarian leadership... to a more collaborative and more participatory kind of structure, a structure where the leader is now more of a facilitator and nurturer."

It's an interesting assertion. When one imagines a conductor, it's hard not to conjure up images of the authoritarian white-haired maestro wielding his baton like a dictator on the podium. It's an image that's been instilled into the popular psyche, an image that was largely accurate until not so many generations ago.

Women have been on the conducting scene for awhile, and it's not longer so unusual to see us on the podium, although I have certainly stood in front of several orchestra who have told me I was their first female conductor. I think, at this point in history, we can safely assert that from a musical standpoint, you will find no difference because of gender - women and men can both attain the highest level of musicianship. Although perhaps the most subjective concept in the world, I really find musicianship to be, in an odd way, empirical. Most musicians will tell you they know a good musician instinctively, and will respect their viewpoint even if they disagree with it, because they understand the knowledge and skill behind it.

So if it's not musicianship that separates the genders, then what? Clearly, the answer is leadership style, which is what I think Jesse Rosen was alluding to in that quote above.

I'm often asked to make presentations to various groups and organizations such as the AAUW, and part of my speech focuses on the widely divergent leadership styles of men and women. (And before I dive into this, let me say that these are certainly generalization!) Men tend to make more authoritarian leaders and are more likely to engage in strictly top-down management. Apply this to the conducting field, and it makes a great deal of sense, at least by the old model - whatever the conductor says goes, no questions asked, no room for leeway. The conductor has a vision, the orchestra is simply there to put that vision into sound.

Women tend to have a more consensus-based leadership style. This is not to say that we go around trying to get people to agree with our viewpoint - it is more the sense that we welcome discussion and participation. I call the process the "buy-in"; in my view, my job as a leader is to make everyone understand where I'm coming from musically, to accept it as a group goal, and to find ways to reach this goal together. I have a very strong sense that the players in front of me are not just there to support my musical vision; they are active participants in a group effort in which we all strive to reach a common, agreed-upon musical goal.

I was recently guest conducting an orchestra, and late in the rehearsal process, after we had gone over a piece several times, I asked, "Any questions in this? Any concerns?". The ensemble looked a little baffled at first - clearly, they had not been asked this before. All I wanted to know was, I'm comfortable with where this piece is, is there any spot that one of you may be uncomfortable with? After a few moments of silence, a clarinetist asked to rehearse a tricky entrance again and the basses asked for a cue in a particular spot, which I was happy to do. After rehearsal a brass player came up to tell me that they had rarely if ever had the opportunity to speak up in rehearsal to address any issues that were left unrehearsed. And, not coincidentally, I was the first woman to have conducted them.

I think women, as a whole, take a more holistic view of the world, and I certainly think this colors our view of leadership. There are certainly those out there who don't believe women can exercise leadership or authority, but I dwell on that as little as possible. I think it's important to acknowledge that men and women make different leaders (an interesting idea, particularly given what's happening in politics these days!), but as I like to say, different is not better or worse, just different. And to think how much less strife there would be in the world if we could all understand that...