Trust, Respect and Engagement

A Harmonious Experience

Kelly Hart, Intern at the Richmond Symphony

Sometimes getting along with your coworkers can be a grueling task. Following orders from a totalitarian leader who doesn't care about you is beyond frustrating. Working with people who get by with the skin of their teeth is enough to make you go insane. Why do so many organizations have these problems in the first place? It's always easy to point the finger and place the blame, but a chunk of the problem is missing the big picture. The view from the top is significantly different from the office cubical.

So the real question is, how do we see the big picture and create a more pleasant work environment?

The Music Paradigm, a nationally known workshop program initiated by conductor Roger Nierenberg, is a truly unique, interactive professional and leadership development opportunity that can benefit professionals from any field. The dynamics of a symphony orchestra are used to bring a variety of workplace issues to life.

On Tuesday March 22,  participants were able to sit among the musicians of the Richmond Symphony onstage at the Carpenter Theatre.

As a previous musician and current intern with the Richmond Symphony, I was able to sit back and watch as the audience members experienced the power music has to offer. In my adolescence I played numerous instruments including the guitar, piano and clarinet. Of all the instruments, my passion was the clarinet and I played it for ten years. When I graduated high school and moved on to VCU, my clarinet stayed at home and collected dust. It wasn't until three months ago, when I started interning with the Richmond Symphony, that I realized how much I missed playing music.

I find that there are a lot of misconceptions about musicians and often a negative stereotype of being "nerdy." But what people don't understand is the intelligence, passion and brilliance that musicians must have to create music. What interested me most about the Music Paradigm was the fact that non-musicians could really witness the creativity and genius it takes to be a musician. From the sidelines, I smiled as the audience members went through exercises to help them understand what being a team player is all about.

One exercise the audience members were asked to do was pick a musician, watch them as they played, and analyze what they were doing. One woman said it was almost as if the instrument was part of the musician; it was a very intimate experience.

Of all the metaphoric examples that were shown, one woman's comment stuck with me the most. In this woman's particular company, their core values are trust, respect and engagement. Listening to the symphony perform together with such ease left her thinking that these three values, which are often put on the back burner, can be used effectively to help an organization build a stronger connection.

Trust:

• Can you build a harmonious workplace without trust? The answer is, no.
• The Richmond Symphony uses trust to carry each other through when there is no leader (conductor).
• As the symphony demonstrated, the musicians were able to perform a piece without a conductor. How did they do this? They trusted each other. The musicians have enough confidence in each other that they are able to lean on one another for support.

Respect:

• Leadership is about giving back. If the leader is not respectful of their employees, there is no order.
• In the symphony, respect is acknowledged throughout the performance by listening to others and creating one voice.
• In order to create one voice, the musicians must be respectful of each others own unique sound.
• If there is a problem, approach it with curiosity. Asking questions like, "What is the deal?" or "Why are you messing up?" are not effective ways to get an appropriate answer. Rewording them with curiosity allows the leader and the worker to talk rationally. Examples, "How can I help you fix the problem?" or "I feel that something is off, are you OK?"

Engagement:

• I feel that this value is often neglected in the workplace.
• Often times, people are so focused on being an individual and receiving praise, they forget how important working as a team is.
• To get things done effectively, you must communicate