Do you trust your manager?


It was good to be in Birmingham and learning some leadership lesson from Tommy Shelby but we need to move on. Today we are going to Central Europe and fast forwarding to 1997. This is Vienna and we are at the famous Musikverein – where the New Year’s concert takes place -. It is lunch time and the audience is eager to listen to the Mozart K. 466 Piano Concerto.

Maria João Pires, one of the most renowned Mozart pianists, is in front of her piano. The Concertgebouw Orkest Amsterdam, conducted by Riccardo Chailly, plays the first bars of the concert. At that precise moment Miss Pires puts her hand on her face and looks at the conductor.

-      I have prepared a different Mozart concert – she confesses in panic

-      I can try – she continues

And Mr Chailly gives her three straight messages: You played that one last season. You can do it. You will do it well. And finishes with a smile full of confidence. And she starts, and she plays beautifully for 25 minutes.

Here you have the 3 minute video with the scene.

We can use this situation to reflect on Miss Pires ability to change gear and her skilfulness to play a Mozart Concerto by heart. However, I would like to move our lenses towards Mr Chailly, the orchestra conductor. He shows immense trust and conveys total confidence to the star pianist. He could have panicked or even stopped (it was a rehearsal) but with three direct messages he delivered enough inspiration for Miss Pires to deliver.

How do we act as leaders in these decisive moments when things go wrong? Do we convey confidence and trust to our people like Mr Chailly does or do we shy away trying to make up for the imminent disaster? Do we empower our people to deliver or do we do it ourselves? What is the right balance?

How do you think your leader would act in such a difficult situation? Do you trust he/she will support you and act like a safety net? Do you feel he/she will “hold your hand” or will vanish and come up with a good reason to avoid any “spill-over”?

How do we plant seeds to grow that trust?

I came to learn about this video during the last Maersk GLC in Copenhagen. It was part of IMD Professor Jean-Francois Manzoni presentation so credit goes to him.

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 16, 2018 at 5:03 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. UnknownMay 16, 2018 at 5:04 AM

    Nice read, learning: Trust your team , make them feel confident and you will have good results.

    ReplyDelete

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