The Maestro’s Baton: On Leadership, Learning, and Vision
Columbus Symphony performs in the historic Ohio Theater on February 4th, 2024 (credits: commons.wikimedia.org)
Author’s Note: This blog inaugurates a new series on Leadership in Education and Training, exploring what it means to lead with trust, purpose, and humanity.
Drawing from my seven years as Director of a research center at a large public university in the United States, I reflect on leadership as an inner journey, one grounded in self-knowledge, fairness, and authenticity.
A few weeks ago, I attended a performance of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. It was one of those Sunday afternoons when sound, silence, and light converged into something unforgettable. Though my knowledge of music is limited, I found myself captivated by the figure of the conductor — the maestro — whose movements held the power to unify dozens of musicians into a single, breathing organism of sound.
As I watched, I could not help but think about leadership — not only in the context of orchestras, but also in education and research. The maestro’s gestures became metaphors for communication, trust, and collective purpose. I realized that, in many ways, I, too, have stood on a podium of sorts, conducting an ensemble of professionals in the pursuit of skill development, knowledge, innovation, and learning.
This reflection marks the beginning of a series dedicated to leadership in education and training. Drawing on more than twenty-five years as a classroom teacher, learning designer, researcher, and professor — and, most recently, seven years directing a research center with over 60 collaborators at a large public university in the United States — I have learned that leadership is not a solo performance. It is, much like a symphony, a collaborative act of implementing a shared vision.
Conducting as Leadership: The Art of Synchronizing Minds
The conductor does not make a sound, yet every note bears their influence. Their role is not to dominate but to align — to translate vision into rhythm, and rhythm into action. Michael Tilson Thomas once said that conducting is about “trying to get a lot of people to agree where now is.” (PBS, 2020) This definition resonates with me because it captures the essence of collaboration in its most immediate form. Conducting is not only about keeping time or shaping musical expression; it is about creating a shared sense of presence. Each musician must align their attention, emotion, and intention with everyone else’s in the ensemble. In that moment, now becomes a collective experience rather than an individual one.
I would argue that this encapsulates what I think successful leadership is when it extends beyond music. In any collaborative endeavor, whether a training session, a design challenge, or a research project, success often depends on people’s ability to synchronize their focus and energy. Getting everyone to agree on “now” means cultivating awareness, listening deeply, and responding in real time to the subtle cues of others. It is a reminder that leadership, like conducting, is less about control and more about shared timing, trust, and connection.
In my role as director, I work daily with researchers, project managers, learning designers, IT professionals, professors, instructors, and student assistants. Each person brings a distinct instrument: their expertise, style, and tempo. My task, like that of the maestro, is to ensure that all these individual contributions harmonize into something coherent and purposeful.
An orchestra without coordination becomes noise; an organization without shared vision loses direction. The conductor’s baton, like a leader’s vision, provides both structure and inspiration.
Reading the Score: Vision and Interpretation
Every symphony begins with a score. It sets the structure with notes, measures, and dynamics, but interpretation transforms it into art. Likewise, educational leaders inherit institutional “scores” in the form of strategic plans, research priorities, and societal expectations. Yet the true challenge lies in interpretation, in transforming these structures into living, breathing realities that genuinely connect with people.
Leadership in education requires both fidelity to the score and the courage to improvise. It demands sensitivity to timing: knowing when to accelerate, when to hold, when to let the music breathe. Successful leaders understand that excellence results not from rigid control but from trusting the ensemble.
Just as a conductor studies every instrument’s role, an educational leader must understand the different talents within their organization. The true measure of leadership is how well one can interpret complexity and guide it toward harmony.
The Orchestra as a Learning Community
An orchestra is more than just a performing group; it functions as a dynamic learning system. Musicians improve their skills through rehearsal: a nonstop cycle of feedback, listening, and adjustment. Every mistake is a lesson, and each repetition is an opportunity to deepen understanding.
This mirrors the nature of a learning organization. In education and training, learning is not confined to formal instruction or isolated study. It emerges through collaboration, dialogue, and experimentation. Every instance is a rehearsal for the next one, offering a collective opportunity to learn by doing.
Educational leaders play a pivotal role in sustaining this rhythm of growth. They must cultivate environments where curiosity thrives, and failure is seen not as an endpoint but as a prelude to innovation. Like a conductor who listens closely to each section, leaders must attune themselves to the organizational pulse, picking up on subtle cues of morale, creativity, and momentum.
Managing Dissonance: Lessons from the String Quartet
However, even the most harmonious ensembles face tension. Musicians disagree about interpretation; researchers debate methodology; leaders argue over leadership style. The true measure of success is not the absence of conflict but how it is managed.
Murnighan and Conlon’s (1991) study of British string quartets offers timeless lessons about how close-knit teams navigate tension. Their research revealed that the most successful groups did not eliminate conflict altogether. Instead, they learned to manage it in ways that allowed disagreement to exist without disrupting the group’s harmony or productivity. Because the musicians relied heavily on one another, how they handled conflict—whether through open confrontation or thoughtful compromise—had a significant impact on both their performance and their ability to stay together over time.
In university research centers, as in quartets, interdependence is constant. Disagreement is inevitable. Yet, when leaders cultivate psychological safety, meaning when they create an environment where individuals can express divergent views without fear, dissonance becomes a source of creativity rather than destruction.
In my own leadership experience, some of the most productive innovations have emerged from healthy tension. When approached with respect and curiosity, conflict can sharpen focus, challenge assumptions, and lead to breakthroughs. The key lies in transforming discord into dialogue, making sure that every voice remains part of the larger picture.
Trust: The Silent Note Beneath It All
If vision is the melody of leadership, trust is the sustaining note beneath it. Trust binds teams, enables risk-taking, and fuels collaboration. It cannot be imposed; it must be earned through consistency, transparency, and empathy.
In an orchestra, trust is mutual. Musicians rely on the conductor to guide them, and the conductor relies on their skill and responsiveness to deliver a powerful performance. Similarly, in educational leadership, trust forms the foundation for both collaborators and employee engagement and external partnerships.
When people trust their leader, they do not merely comply; they commit. They bring their whole selves to the work. They innovate, collaborate, and persevere through challenges. Once trust is established, it enables the organization to perform not just efficiently but expressively, to make music rather than just produce sounds.
The Visionary Leader: Seeing Beyond the Present
A conductor must always be one measure ahead, anticipating what comes next while fully immersed in the moment. Visionary leadership demands the same awareness. It requires not only understanding current challenges but also imagining the future that is already arriving.
Michael Tilson Thomas exemplified this quality by reimagining classical music’s place in contemporary life, using innovative formats and technology to make orchestral performance more accessible (PBS, 2020). His approach reflects what visionary educational leadership must embody today, with foresight grounded in a deep understanding of audiences and relevance within our technologically advanced world.
In my own practice as a leader, this has meant anticipating technological shifts, especially related to artificial intelligence, and preparing our research center accordingly. Developing AI literacy and fluency across teams is not simply a technical initiative; it is an act of stewardship. It shows that leadership must not only navigate the present but also orchestrate readiness for what lies ahead.
Final Thoughts: Harmony, Trust, and the Promise of Tomorrow
As the final notes of the Columbus Symphony faded into silence that afternoon, I found myself reflecting on that stillness, the collective breath that lingers after creation. In that brief silence just before the outburst of applause, there was presence, connection, and the shared recognition of something beautiful accomplished together.
Successful leadership, like music, is ephemeral. It lives in moments of alignment, in the trust between people, and in the courage to imagine what comes next.
As I look toward the future of our research center and the evolving landscape of education and technology, I am reminded that leadership is not about control but about composition. It is about finding harmony amid complexity and guiding others toward a shared vision that resonates beyond the present while also uplifting and developing their talents.
In the next issue, I will continue exploring lessons learned from leading in education and training and my journey as an educational leader. Like an ongoing symphony, these reflections will examine how we can build and sustain organizations that learn, adapt, and inspire.
References
Murnighan, J. K., & Conlon, D. E. (1991). The dynamics of intense work groups: A study of British string quartets. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36(2), 165–186.
PBS. (2020, October 23). Michael Tilson Thomas documentary. American Masters.
Please cite the content of this blog:
Correia, A.-P. (2025, October 22). The Maestro’s Baton: On Leadership, Learning, and Vision. Ana-Paula Correia’s Blog. https://www.ana-paulacorreia.com/blog/the-maestros-baton-on-leadership-learning-and-vision