TREND Karriere 17/2018 – Translated by Julia Schöllauf
Interplay in a team
Conductor Lorenz Huber coaches executives with the Leadership Orchestra for the interplay in high-performing alpha teams
“When the term ‘alpha team’ is mentioned, many think of alpha leaders, self-centered personalities, as well as of abuse and demonstration of power,” explained Lorenz Huber. “But when we work with management teams, we particularly want to help executives evolve into an alpha team in order to deliver their best possible performance and have a positive and motivating influence on other staff members.” Huber is a conductor, but also a management trainer, an organization consultant and a keynote speaker. Together with soprano Johanna Krumin, concert master Martin Reining and the musicians of the Leadership Orchestra – a project established by Huber – he coaches management teams.
There is a reason why effective collaboration in teams is referred to as “good interplay,” said Huber. Especially in orchestras this is the key success factor. Crucial are the perfectly defined roles of the conductor, the concert master and the soloists. From this setting, an alpha team can develop. “Alpha teams are characterized by outstanding commitment and higher motivation. They can better put their own skills and competences to advantage without weakening other team members,” Huber emphasized. He pointed out other characteristics:
- Alpha teams don’t stifle contradictions but know how to manage them in a constructive way. Leadership and participation, development and subordination are examples that are relevant in enterprises and orchestras.
- Alpha team members can state their opinions in a strong and vehement way, which can lead to dissonance. High performance is only achieved through such dissonance. Permanent striving for harmony, on the contrary, weakens the energy and nothing exciting emerges. “Weak teams wipe away pungency in preemptive comfort and get lost in the vague,” Huber knows.
- “In a piece of music, it is clear who gives or receives an impetus, who plays the main voice or accompaniment,” he mentions another parallel. “Also in the professional life, successful teams distinguish themselves through stable leadership situations and well-attuned group dynamics, in which each member can play their roles in a stronger and more effective way,” said Huber.
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