In yesterday’s Advisor, Maestro Roger Nierenberg helped flesh out leadership’s “job description” by sharing lessons he’s learned about leadership as the conductor of an orchestra. Today, we’ll take a few more music lessons, and get a look at an extraordinary job descriptions management tool.
Nierenberg, an accomplished symphony conductor, has recently released Maestro (Portfolio, Oct. 2009), a book based on his management training program called the “Music Paradigm.” Participants learn about leadership while sitting in the middle of an orchestra.
We Listen to Each Other
“You’re all professionals, isn’t it easy to play in tune?” Nierenberg asked the orchestra’s flute player.
“Oh no,” said the flutist.
“What percentage of your attention would you say goes into playing in tune?” Nierenberg asked.
“About 75 to 100 percent,” the flutist replied.
“That much?”
“Yes, it’s our major preoccupation. You see, it doesn’t matter how good you sound if you don’t match the others who are playing with you. We listen to one another very carefully, in great detail. We’re all ready to adjust at any moment, and we do make adjustments constantly.”
“But what if you’re right? Can’t you ask the others to adjust to you?”
“There’s no such thing as right. Sounding in tune is about everyone valuing the collective sound as the highest priority.”
How well might your business run if all your employees were that highly attuned to what all the other employees were doing, Nierenberg’s program asks.
Can the Orchestra Play Without a Leader?
Nierenberg next asks the orchestra to play without him conducting. After a few moments of exchanging glances, the concertmaster starts them off and the orchestra plays quite well without him.
Nierenberg asks, “If the orchestra can do this without me, don’t you think that raises some uncomfortable questions for me? So what is the value added by this,” he asks, pointing to his baton. This is a question every conductor should ask, Nierenberg says, and, by the way, it’s also a question that executives should be asking themselves—what has my value added?
Then Neirenberg took the podium again, and as the orchestra played the piece again with him leading, it was clear to listeners that he did add something. Did having a leader make a difference? As one listener said, “It made all the difference in the world.”
Set that keyboard aside! Your job descriptions are already written. Click here to see why thousands of managers have a permanent place in their offices for BLR’s classic Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.
What’s the Leader’s Job Description?
Nierenberg summed it up: “Leadership doesn’t make a small difference, it makes all the difference. Under the leadership, there was a oneness, a focus, an alignment that took place and everyone knew it.”
It falls on the leader’s shoulders to make the remarkable happen, Nierenberg says. “You mustn’t settle for a series of satisfactory transactions. You can elevate your team to heights beyond their wildest imagination.”
That’s a great job description for a leader. Now, how about all the other job descriptions you’re responsible for?
Are they complete? Up to date? If not—or if you’ve never even written them—you’re not alone. Thousands of companies fall short in this area.
It’s easy to understand why. Job descriptions are not simple to do—what with updating and management and legal review, especially for the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) requirement of a split-off of essential functions from other functions in the description. Wouldn’t it be great if they were available, already written?
Actually, they are. We have more than 700, ready to go, covering every common position in any organization, from receptionist right up to president. They are in an extremely popular BLR® program called the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.
First created in the 1980s, the “JDE” has been continually refined and updated over time, with descriptions revised or added each time the law, technology—or the way we do business—changes.
Prewritten job descriptions in the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia now come with pay grades already attached. Click here to try the program at no cost.
Revised for the ADA, Pay Grades Updated
There was a major revision, for example, following the passage of the ADA. In fact, BLR editors reviewed every one of those 700 descriptions to ensure they were ADA-compliant.
Another enhancement was the updating of pay grades for each job. According to our customers, this is an enormous timesaver, enabling them to make compensation decisions even as they define the position. You can see a sample job description from the program by clicking here. (Yes, it is the one for HR manager. Pay grade: 38.)
The BLR Job Descriptions Encyclopedia also includes an extensive tutorial on setting up a complete job descriptions program, and how to encourage participation from all parts of the organization. That includes top management, the employees, and any union or other collective bargaining entity.
Quarterly Updates, No Additional Cost
Very important these days, quarterly updates are included in the program as a standard feature—key at a time of constantly changing laws and emerging technologies. We’ll send you new or revised descriptions every 90 days. And the cost is extremely reasonable, averaging less than 43 cents per job description … already written, legally reviewed, and ready to adapt or use as is.
You can evaluate BLR’s Job Descriptions Encyclopedia at no cost in your office for up to 30 days. Get more information or order the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.
Download product sample
Download list of job descriptions included
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