LEADERSHIP ENSEMBLE: Lessons in Collaborative Management from the World's Only Conductorless Orchestra
Harvey Seifter, . . Holt, $25 (225pp) ISBN 978-0-8050-6692-0
When it comes to business books, one of the primary questions that publishers ask concerns the needs of managers. Their answer, in a spate of new business books, includes everything from a basic starter kit to "more imagination" and doubting the necessity of a CEO.
The business-as-orchestra metaphor is nothing new: the business executive must bring out each employee's best so that the entire organization finds harmony. Seifter, executive director of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which operates sans conductor, takes the idea a step further, arguing that a leader may be unnecessary. With the help of writer Economy, Seifter offers eight CEO-optional management principles (e.g., put power in the hands of workers; clarify roles; share and rotate leadership; foster horizontal teamwork; learn to listen, learn to talk) for achieving organizational success. The irony, of course, is that, except in inchoate organizations, only a boss can implement this leaderless system.
Reviewed on: 09/10/2001
Genre: Nonfiction
