The two most important people in the symphony performance don’t even play an instrument.
First, the composer. She’s the one who writes the music. She may play some of the instruments for which she is writing, but not all. And she doesn’t play anything on the night of the performance. Her job is to create the framework for the feeling; the roadmap for taking the audience from point A to point B.
She’s the original gig worker, entrepreneur, and intrapraneur. She creates and then lets it go into the ether. She’s the visionary.
Then, the conductor. He’s the one who drives the audience from point A to point B on that particular night. He makes the decisions on who needs to give more or less, which part requires emphasis, who must do what, and how to adjust the flow to create that emotional journey. His role is to unite individual performances into a harmonious collective that meets the composer’s vision and his interpretation, even if those individuals are machines.
He’s the leader in the new work paradigm. He gathers his team around the stage, and they’re all better than him at their individual roles. But he’s the one that turns the musicians into the symphony.
Both of these roles have been around since the dawn of work, but now more than ever, the new work paradigm emphasizes these roles.
Find your place.
