How to make a new sound?

My friend Kerry Herndon and I talked about leadership once. My understanding of leadership was inspired by listening to symphony. 

“Kerry, any successful organization is like symphony: not only talented but also highly professional musicians play together.  Each musician knows how to play individual parts, but without a conductor there is no music. It will be a cacophony, a chaos! The role of the leader is crucial!”

Kerry looked at me with interest and countered with the question, “How much do you know about jazz?”

To tell you the truth, I knew very little about jazz at that time. 

Kerry continued, “In jazz every musician steps in and plays, improvising on the major theme and then all musicians play together by listening to each other. What you hear is spontaneous and unique every time the group gets together. The mystery of making new music is right there in front of you. There is no conductor, but the musicians know when to step in and how. There is no chaos.”

“But how do they know when to step in?”

Only now, when I studied jazz from amazing musicians in Kansas City: Everett DeVan, Rich Hill and Ron Stinson, coming to jam session, I started getting a sense of disciplined freedom in jazz. Yes, there is no conductor, but there is a leading musician, like Everett, who nods his noble heavy head at a certain time, known to him alone, giving a sign to a guitar player or a drummer, or a sax player to step in. I always watch for that Everett’s nod – his invitation to step in after a very long instrumental that gives each musician a chance to improvise. Everybody has an equal role in making the music as well as everybody has a chance to shine, but nobody seems to be concerned about it. What truly rules the stage is Music, and all musicians have a mature sense of responsibility to make the best out of a short time they are given.

I feel bad for Russia and for my people. We still do not know the beauty of creative and free leadership. Russia still acts like a well trained symphony or rather Red Army orchestra: everybody follows the conductor’s stick in fear.  Recently my daughter shared the e-mail from her former classmate, “We care sheet for democracy! Russia needs a tzar!”