Influence with Aubrey & David
In this slightly different post, I want to share some reflections I had from hearing a meaningful conversation between Aubrey Bergauer and David Taylor last week about tapping into the influencer industry for orchestras. (You can watch and listen to it here!)
The conversation centered around David's "Orchestra of Influence" program he piloted with London's Philharmonia Orchestra. 10 people from the orchestra (8 musicians and 2 administrators) participated and received group and individual coaching on how to create original content as an influencer and as brand ambassadors for their organization. They were given the nuts-and-bolts on content creation and also received guidance on individual purpose and goals. David believes this approach can "revolutionise how orchestras connect to audiences and how their musicians are supported in the modern world."
As I listened to Aubrey and David chat about this program's positive results in the area of marketing, I could not help but notice how it perhaps also had the added benefit of increasing job fulfillment in the people who participated.
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Here are the four areas that struck me in this conversation.
Unlocking autonomy and control
The participants were given the freedom to do whatever they want with their influencer content. As David explained, the work "takes into account their preferred method of communicating, their passions, their interests, their skills, also their lifestyle, the amount of time they want to commit…"
Research studies have shown that the lack of autonomy and lack of control over work environment are among the leading factors that result in low job satisfaction across all industries.
Engaging people in this kind of influencer activity begins to address both factors.
It's difficult to imagine how we may design game-changing autonomy in the typical orchestra rehearsal that would dramatically increase job satisfaction. The nature of orchestral work doesn't lend itself well to attempts to increase autonomy or flexibility in the work environment–even the most valiant efforts. It's just hard to imagine how musicians may really be able to choose when and how they work to fit individual needs and have an orchestra still function like an orchestra getting work done.
Aubrey and David's conversation made me think maybe the outlet for autonomy and control over the workplace exists elsewhere. Maybe it's not turning the rehearsal space on its head (though we can still try to innovate in that regard). Perhaps it's finding ancillary avenues that complement the onstage work that could actually unlock the degree of autonomy and control people need in order to feel fulfilled.
I wonder: which other avenues in the orchestra workplace may we explore along the same lines??
Centering on purpose
It was affirming for me to see that David's influencer training was grounded in conversations about individual purpose and goals. I am such an advocate for doing this work to uncover a musician's why.
When people have a better grasp on why they're doing it, they feel a personal stake in its followthrough and outcome. They don't need to have a 100% clear why, but having had one conversation about it through this program is probably one more than most musicians ever had in their education and training combined. With purpose, the participants are intrinsically motivated, and not by monetary incentives (in fact, this program had none).
And when clarity of purpose works in tandem with increased autonomy and flexibility in how the work is done, the kind of work generated can be highly powerful, innovative, and indeed influential. For example, I wonder what innovations in outreach we could achieve when we mindfully connect our people's passions with the passions of the audience. What if we had outreach events where we set up booths not to try out instruments like an instrument petting zoo, but to hear musicians share their passion projects, music or otherwise. What different kinds of audience engagement might result? How might the musicians feel differently about the concept of outreach?
Furthermore, imagine how this individual influence on an organization's target audience could be maximized if we were to intentionally overlap and align the organization's purpose and goals with those of the individuals. This is an example of the "human magic" Hubert Joly speaks about in how he led the Best Buy turnaround as its CEO.
Here's 90 seconds of Hubert talking about his philosophy of work that I think is hugely applicable to energizing our orchestral workplaces:
Focusing on the people
Hubert Joly also advocates for companies to have three incentives, in this order of importance: people, business, and finances. Excellence in the development and fulfillment of employees (people) will lead to the loyal customers buying again and again (business), which will then lead to making money (finances). He says, "Making money is an outcome, but it's not the ultimate goal."
David framed his program's work as an "investment" in the orchestra's people and the organization. This framing may not yield immediate financial gains, but it will build a foundation for prosperity in business that will ensure healthy finances. We can all work to shift away from our traditional thinking of what investment means to embrace this reframing.
Hearing this thread of focusing on the people in the conversation made me think about the idea of talent brand (which I just wrote about a couple weeks ago here!). Supporting musicians to be publicly seen for who they are as individuals and what they care about is in fact a strategy to cultivate and operationalize a talent brand. This is more genuine and attractive to our audiences than having all outward marketing fit into a cookie-cutter employer brand designated by a select few.
David adds that participants of the program are "in essence building relationships at scale, which they are doing offline anyway… They are representing the orchestra outside the orchestra." This comment immediately reminds me so much of Krulak's law from the military, which states that "the future of an organization is in the hands of the privates in the field, not the generals back home." In other words, the closer you are to the front lines, the more power you have over the brand and customer experience (more in my post about how the law applies to musicians).
It would be a shame to not capitalize on the talent brand we have in our orchestras.
Giving room for psychological safety
David shared that in his program, "75% is how do you feel." A large portion of the conversations grappled with anxieties in self-promotion, revealed shared fears, and uncovered why resistance exists in using social media.
This is challenging work because vulnerability along with awareness of our feelings and reactions are not part of the typical musician's training. We have been modeled to shy away from it and be tough. We measure achievement through compliance in highly structured environments that favor conformity–our society, our schools, our jobs. We are constantly thinking: what we should do to be more correct, what we should do to please an authority figure, and what we should do to keep our jobs. The consequence of years of this mindset is a professional environment motivated by fear, where we don't feel psychologically safe to have our own thoughts, to share ideas or report problems, or even to be our true selves.
All this stifles creativity.
In fact, it goes way back. Research has found that teachers in grades 1-5 actually don't like creative students and they are not even aware of that bias. This article below sums it up, sharing that "people think that they should like creativity, but they do not like the reality of the challenges that come with dealing with creative individuals… And children pick up on these cues, slowly noticing that prototypically creative behaviour is frowned upon, while less creative behaviour is more positive."
We think that artists are in the most creative of industries. While that is inherently true for the artform, we may have just been conditioned out of creativity from a young age and through our lifelong training.
How often are we told how we should play something by a teacher or a conductor? Almost always. How often do we feel comfortable saying "I feel differently" in a genuine way that doesn't result in confrontation? Almost never.
It is often easier to simply do what's expected of everyone.
So for David's program, it is not enough to simply say to musicians, "there is no right way to do this project - go for it." The vulnerable work of peeling through the layers of "how do you feel" was absolutely necessary. This built trust and psychological safety, and through that they were able to achieve a wide span of highly creative results.
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It's exciting to see David implementing something that not only increases visibility for an orchestra but also heightens employee engagement and satisfaction.
I hope these reflections were interesting and offer another dimension to consider for an already exciting and relevant conversation. I was surprised that Aubrey and David's conversation made me feel seen and heard in a way that tells me I'm on the right track advocating for better job fulfillment for our musicians.
Again, I encourage you to give it a listen, and check out their work here: Aubrey and David.
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