MARIL MACDONALD:
So coming back to that morale and the high morale, and the energy that you’ve talked about that’s so unique in your performances, what would you say really are the key things that drive that? If you were gonna give recommendations to a leader go increase engagement on your team, what would you say?”

JONATHAN SPITZ:
First of all, give every individual a voice. Actually, I’m gonna go back from that. I would say, first of all, to set a…a specific mission for the organization and a specific…a high target for how well you’re gonna achieve that mission. I mean, our case, it’s…it’s relatively simple: we’re gonna perform music, a very, very wide range of styles in music. We really push ourselves in difficulty. But we want to perform the music we play at the absolute highest level.

The next step is that we do engage the talents of great individuals on our team, and we really let them free to play. There’s no one, looking over an individual players in the orchestra and critiquing their work moment by moment. I mean, the…the critiques come of…of the general sense of…of how well the work is going. Uh, and we…our individuals are able to understand what that means for them as members of the team. So it’s unleashing the potential of the…the…the talents of the…of the individuals – not micro-managing them. And really allowing those individuals to comment on…on how the…the whole is working.

I’ve seen musicians in other situations become kind of passive-aggressive, where…where they will do, more superficially what the task calls for. But, you know, they are…clearly holding something back, holding back their frustration or holding back their absolute best…best work. And I think, what our situation really discourages – it doesn’t allow for that kind of behavior. You know, people will be called on it. You know, if…if someone is holding back, I would say, a feedback in rehearsal that…that they would get right away. But I think that the incentive in Orpheus IS to contribute. When you contribute, you get to be heard. Your musical ideas get to be part of the outcome…. It’s incredibly powerful.

That leadership energy emanating from everybody in the orchestra instead of from a central point is, uh, I would say, our kind of manifestation of…of…of that idea.

MARIL MACDONALD:
And what, from your experience, do you think leaders need to let go of?

JONATHAN SPITZ:
I would say that if an institution is involved in meaningful work, that the leaders need to identify with the…the beauty and the meaning of their work; the success of the outcome for the institution, and not about their own personal glory, you know; that the… I find, as a musician on stage, I…yes, I love it – being…being the recipient of the applause of 2,000 people in Carnegie Hall, as we get. But it’s…it’s so beautiful getting that as a member of the team…the most powerful kind of leader can let go of their ego and enjoy the success of the whole endeavor and not be as concerned about their own PR points or their own individual success; let it…let it come from the success of the endeavor.