Peter F. Drucker
Another Drucker, this one really is my favourite!
… You don’t start out with what’s best for you but with what’s best for them. You see yourself not as the boss but as the conductor. Good orchestra conductors are exceedingly autocratic. But they do not see themselves as the boss. They see themselves as the servant of the score. I’ve talked to a good many conductors, and they all say "My job is to make the orchestra hear the score the way I hear it." Partly because no conductor knows how to get a single note out of a clarinet. Only the clarinetist knows that. All a conductor can say is, "First clarinet, I would like to have this a little louder, or a little slower, or a little softer." That authority is a command authority, but it rests on the ability of the conductor to share, to communicate.
Then comes trust. Trust has to be built on the conviction that this conductor, this coordinator, this executive creates a partnership — and then you have trust. Trust very largely means there are no surprises. …
