What art and culture can teach us about leadership skills

SCENE Workshop „Music / Conducting with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists” led by Prof. Dr. Stephan Frucht. Photo: Kolarik Andreas

The rehearsal room in the Great Festival Hall is filled with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, a chamber music orchestra, and about a dozen Siemens employees. One by one they step in front of the orchestra and conduct the first few bars of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”.

The same piece sounds very different with each person; we hear emotional and hesitant, energetic, and rather chaotic versions. Some appear tentative, while others proceed more forcefully and none of them have ever done this before. Being thrown into a new situation and improvising in an artistic environment is what SCENE is all about.

Active involvement beats passive consumption

The SCENE workshop is an integral part of the Siemens Arts Program. This year, participants are invited to the city of Salzburg during the Salzburg Festival and for a couple of days they are immersed in the world of culture and opera, taking on both the role of the audience, and the role of the artist.

SCENE Workshop „Music / Conducting with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists” led by Prof. Dr. Stephan Frucht. Photo: Kolarik Andreas

Through a well-rounded combination of lectures, seminars and interactive workshops that are organized in close collaboration with our long-standing partner, Salzburg Festival, participants experience how artists work and have the opportunity to get actively involved themselves. They receive a chance to improve their ability to use failures to their advantage and openly engage with a new group of people to achieve goals.

Throughout the workshop, individuals are invited to try new things, break out of established thought patterns, and push limits. They learn how to improvise, work creatively within a group and access new points of view.

Getting involved with art sharpens our power of perception and strengthens our ability to engage in personal reflection. It promotes creative thinking and enhances communication skills such as rhetoric and body language.

Taking the lead like an artist

SCENE Workshop „Music / Conducting with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists” led by Prof. Dr. Stephan Frucht. Photo: Kolarik Andreas

It might not be obvious at first glance but leading a team can be a lot like conducting an orchestra. How you come out on stage, the tone in which you communicate with the musicians, the way in which you attend to each individual’s needs can make or break a musical performance – or a business project. The parallels are numerous, however the feedback you receive in music is often a lot more immediate than in business. The conductor’s instructions are instantly interpreted by the musicians in front of them and everyone in the room can hear the music as a direct result of this collaboration. For this reason, we think that exploring our skills intuitively in this artistic environment is the perfect setting to get to know ourselves better and gain new perspectives on our abilities and leadership styles.

SCENE Workshop „Music / Conducting with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists” led by Prof. Dr. Stephan Frucht. Photo: Kolarik Andreas

Using culture as a tool for self-improvement

Not everyone who works at Siemens is a big culture enthusiast. And they don’t need to be! Having a diverse group of people with varying interests is what makes a company strong. Yet with SCENE we want to offer a chance to take a deeper look at artistic performances. When we recognize how the many elements, like conducting, music, acting, costume design and technology, come together on stage to create an amazing performance, we can reflect on our own potential and the role we play in our team.

On many occasions, art has been described as a mirror reflecting on nature and society. To this, the famous playwright Bertolt Brecht responded:

Art is not a mirror to hold up to society, but a hammer with which to shape it.
Bertolt Brecht

Whichever way you chose to look at the arts, be they a mirror or a hammer, they are a valuable tool from which we can always learn – both personally and professionally.

Siemens Arts Program – SCENE Handout Download