Leading Side by Side: 9 Lessons for Founders from the World of Orchestras

Picture a world-class orchestra: The conductor sets the vision, section leaders guide their groups, and every musician contributes their unique part, all working together to create something extraordinary. But the real magic isn’t just in the performance — it’s in the evolution. The better the orchestra gets, the higher the stakes, the bigger the venues, and the greater the expectations.

Building, running, and scaling a company works in much the same way. For founders, every Stage of Development requires a new level of leadership, talent, and alignment. The habits that got you through the early days won’t be enough as you scale. Every stage demands more, and so you have to be willing to adapt and change as your company grows.

Let’s explore nine lessons from the world of orchestras that can help founders like us navigate the complexities of scaling and leading a thriving company.

You Can’t Play Every Instrument

As a founder, your job is to lead your company, not to do everything yourself. Like a conductor, your focus should be on setting the vision and aligning your team, not on playing every instrument yourself.

This is hardest in the early stages of building a business because we have to be hands-on. But as the organization grows, our role as founders should evolve with the company. In the higher stages, you’ll delegate more and more to your leadership team so you can prioritize long-term strategy and vision.

Lesson: As a founder, your primary responsibility is to create clarity around things like purpose, priorities, and tempo. Trust your team to execute so you can focus on the bigger picture.

Build a Leadership Cadence

Section leaders in an orchestra are like the department heads in a company — they interpret the conductor’s vision and ensure their group performs in sync.

For founders, hiring and developing these “leaders of leaders” isn’t just important, it’s critical. Your organization can only scale as quickly as your ability to empower your leadership. Without strong leaders in place, you’ll find yourself caught up in day-to-day tasks, unable to focus on the high-level strategy and vision your company needs to thrive.

Lesson: Invest in strong department heads who can lead your teams with confidence and alignment. Empower them to make decisions and resolve challenges without waiting for constant direction from you.

Act with Precision

In orchestras, even a split-second hesitation can throw off an entire performance. The same holds true in business: Timing is everything.

Hesitation — whether in decision-making, communication, or execution — creates confusion and misalignment throughout your entire company. When you hesitate, so does your team. As founders, we should set the pace and act decisively so our organizations can move forward with both clarity and purpose.

Lesson: Remember that you set the tempo for your company. Make timely decisions, and create a culture where action replaces hesitation.

Create a Culture of Ownership

While conductors and section leaders provide guidance, every musician in an orchestra is accountable for mastering their part.

In your organization, this means creating an environment where individuals take ownership of their Work, acting with confidence rather than constantly waiting for direction or permission. This is the only way to scale a company where initiative and accountability thrive.

Lesson: Create a culture that allows individuals to take ownership of their roles. This includes building the necessary systems and processes your team members need to understand their part in the “score” and have the confidence to execute.

Alignment Beats Control

Orchestras don’t succeed because they’re tightly controlled — they succeed because they’re deeply aligned. Musicians listen to each other, adjust in real time, and follow the conductor’s broader vision.

For founders, this underscores the importance of alignment over micromanagement. Build systems and communication channels that establish trust and harmony throughout your organization.

Lesson: Focus on alignment throughout your teams. Everyone should understand the vision and priorities so they can act independently while still staying in sync with one another.

Trust the Process — Don’t Wait to Lead

Musicians can’t wait for someone else to play the first note — they have to trust in their preparation and step in confidently.

As founders, it’s our job to instill that same sense of trust throughout our teams. Be proactive about creating an environment where your people can lead, take risks, and contribute without hesitation.

Lesson: Show your team that leadership is distributed. Everyone has a role to play, and great organizations thrive when people lead side by side and play their part with confidence.

Continuously Raise the Bar

Here’s the hard truth: As an orchestra gets better, the venues get larger, the pay increases, and the stakes rise. And with every stage of growth, the level of talent required must rise as well.

In a small-town orchestra, there are a lot of people who might be good enough to play for the local community. But a world-class orchestra requires world-class musicians. The same is true in business.

As your company evolves, the level of talent required to succeed will increase dramatically. This is one of the hardest challenges founders face: consistently raising the bar on talent, leadership, and execution as the company grows. It’s not easy, but it’s the nature of the job. Great founders learn to do this well so their organization can continue to evolve at every stage.

Lesson: Recognize that the talent you need at one stage may not be the talent you need at the next. Continuously evaluate and raise the bar to match your organization’s growing complexity and vision.

Conduct Without Ego

Conductors may stand at the front and center of the orchestra, but they aren’t the stars of the performance. Their role is to unify the group and bring the music to life.

As founders, we should adopt the same mindset: It’s not about you. Your success isn’t about personal glory or control — it’s about helping your team achieve extraordinary results.

Lesson: Let go of your ego. Your role as a founder is to elevate your team and create the right conditions for collective success.

Magic Happens When Everyone Plays Their Role

The beauty of an orchestra lies in the balance between individual excellence and collective harmony. Each musician must master their part, but the real magic happens when they blend seamlessly into the whole.

For founders, the ultimate goal is building a company where every individual contributes at the highest level while staying deeply aligned with the organization’s Compelling Why.

Lesson: Create a culture where talent thrives, leadership is distributed, and everyone feels empowered to play their role in achieving something great.

Raise the Bar by Leading Side by Side

Building a company is like leading an orchestra when the music, venues, and expectations are constantly evolving. But great founders embrace the challenge of evolution. They recognize that the talent, systems, and dynamics that worked at one stage won’t be enough for the next. They don’t shy away from the hard work of raising the bar. Instead, they lead side by side, creating an organization capable of greatness at every level.

To succeed, we as founders need to:

• Set our vision and align our teams.
• Empower our leadership to guide their “sections” with confidence.
• Build a culture of accountability, ownership, and trust.
• Raise the bar on talent, stage by stage, as the stakes rise.

When you step into Founder Mode, remember this: Your job isn’t to play every instrument — it’s to trust your team, raise the standards, and keep the music playing as the venues grow larger. That’s how great companies are built.