The words echoed in the little room in the basement. The conductor was not impressed by the brass ensemble. He knew that a bunch of talented musicians was sitting in front of him. But it still sounded very bad. The first trumpet was playing too loud, the second and third trombone could not intonate together and the tuba was not playing on time. How could he make the ensemble play together if the musicians did not listen to each other?

He said to the musicians that he would start the piece one more time, but this time he would stop conducting after two bars. They should not stop but continue playing without anyone conducting the music. Before he started he asked the trumpet player to play a little softer. It’s not necessary to play that loud only because you’re playing the melody part. Everyone’s eyes were on him now. “1, 2”. He threw the conductor’s baton out to the right and then up in a wide movement to mark the start of the piece. The musicians looked at him intensively as if they were trying to suck every piece of information out of him before he put the conductor’s baton down on the stand only to follow them with his eyes. In some way, he felt the freedom in the music now that the musicians played without him waving his arm. He could enjoy the music in a new way. This thought had just left his mind when they had come to the crescendo that would lead up to a forte. The musicians filled their brass instruments with even more air and the sound level in the small room increased step by step. Even though the intonation between the second and third trombone still was not perfect, it was a lot better and the tuba played on time. After 16 bars he raised his right hand to make them stop playing. The music faded out as the musicians stopped blowing their instruments and it was totally quiet in the little room. “Very good!” he said joyfully.

Even though you have the best musicians, the best software developers or the best sales managers in your team, you can’t guarantee success. If the group does not cooperate it will fail. You have to make the group aim for the same goal and not just let them be individual members working together, but as a team aiming for the same goal. Only then you can succeed. You decide for yourself how to get there. The conductor started by asking the first trumpet to play a little softer to give the band a better balance. The rest was solved by eliminating himself which increased the musicians’ attention and made them listen to each other. When the musicians couldn’t see the conductor’s tempo they had to listen to each other to keep the balance and intonation together. This resulted in the band playing the same tempo, playing together and balanced to perform as well as possible.

Are you working in a team with a shared goal? How did you agree on what the goal should be and how are you working to reach it? Let me know by leaving a comment below. You are also welcome to share this text to hear what other people in your network do to reach their goals.