Jazz, like leadership, combines the unpredictability of the future with the gifts of individuals.

– Max De Pree, business leader and management philosopher

After a failed attempt to navigate a major business transformation, I was called in to serve as strategic advisor to a company’s top global leaders. They had been unsuccessful in achieving any of the critical milestones necessary because the leaders, often unknowingly, were thwarting the change efforts. Furthermore, the transformation team leaders who were initially excited for their high-profile role and eager to do the hard work necessary to drive the transformation, had became disheartened and lost confidence.

Many of the global leaders thought they could exclusively rely on their teams to make it all work, but true transformation needs to start at the top. They had to become more flexible and adaptive and learn new ways of leading.

One of the leaders with whom I worked-I’ll call him “Leo” – was the division president of a $5B+ business that was underperforming. There had to be more emphasis on innovation to compete effectively in the future and stay relevant to customers. At the same time, the division struggled to attract and retain great talent.

Leo intellectually understood and embraced the value of creating a more agile culture for his leadership team and the people in his division. But, he just didn’t realize that he was actually the main blockage point.

Leadership must be more like jazz

Leo was valued across the company for his ability to adapt to changing circumstances and market conditions. But when I observed him in action, it was clear that he was quite rigid in his leadership style. He learned to be a leader in a hierarchical environment and didn’t realize he could flex his leadership style like he flexed to changes in business. Consequently, his organization became more driven by adhering to internal processes than focusing on their core mission. The leadership team often failed to look up and look out to see what customers really wanted and needed until it was too late, and competitors took share.

In one of our discussions, Leo shared his love of music—the types of music he liked and why. When he got to jazz, he lit up! What a perfect opening for me. I shared my approach that great leadership is more like jazz. Leaders need to “be jazz.”

A jazz-influenced approach to leadership

The spirit of jazz is the spirit of openness.

– Herbie Hancock, jazz musician, bandleader and composer

So what do I mean exactly when I say to leaders, “Be jazz”?

Great leaders understand the fundamental constructs and accepted wisdom while also knowing when and how to transcend them. Jazz encourages and celebrates newness, originality, personality, and meaningful expressiveness. Jazz is always moving and reinventing. Even in more traditional contexts, jazz is most impactful when it explores traditional patterns in novel, spontaneous, and creative ways.  Improvisation is necessary and encouraged.

Architect Frank Gehry talked about his form of “liquid†architecture as it relates to music: “It’s like jazz—you improvise, you work together, you play off each other, you make something, they make something.†Musicians have opportunities to play solos and converse with the music as it is being created. The spirit of jazz can guide us personally and professionally. “Life is a lot like jazz,†said George Gershwin. “It’s best when you improvise.â€

Breaking boundaries

Sometimes we have to break boundaries to become truly effective leaders. Does it mean throwing away all those lessons learned about leadership from your MBA, leadership development programs, lived experiences, and mentors? My answer is, “Yes and no.”

Yes, please be willing to throw out many preconceived (and often unhelpful) ideas. Rigidly adhering to methods taught in classrooms can stiffen our leadership style and hinder our approach. Embrace spontaneity—be fully present and respond sensitively as new obstacles emerge. Push beyond traditional boundaries and the assumptions you may hold.

And no, don’t discard what you know, just be willing to adapt and bring more of your personal style into the mix. It is impossible to break boundaries until you understand them. You can’t change the rules until you deeply understand what those rules are and what they are there for. There are critical reasons why we learn the theories, fundamentals, disciplines, and foundational principles first.

Practice, practice, practice

We must master the basics/foundations before we can create something newer, bolder, and more modern. Famed dancer Martha Graham once said that the only way to truly be spontaneous is to practice for 20 years. She sought influence broadly from diverse places. She developed her technique by studying different forms of dance and endlessly experimenting with basic human movements. This transition from foundational skills into bold creation is seen in the arcs of many great artists, including Henri Matisse, George Gershwin, Ella Fitzgerald, Igor Stravinsky, James Joyce, Pablo Picasso, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Picasso, famously known as a great iconoclast of the 20th century, began his painting career quite traditionally. He learned formal techniques and mastered classical fundamentals before venturing into the unknown. Composer Stravinsky, famous for his avant-garde music, centered much of his early work on Russian folk poetry, which he later blended into popular music styles like the tango and waltz.

For each of these artists, you can see how they built upon their mastery of foundational techniques to evolve and invent fresh experiences and forms of expression. They stayed true to their calling to see the world differently.

To be a great leader requires the same approach as the great jazz artists.

Learning to go with the flow

It’s the group sound that’s important, even when you’re playing a solo. You not only have to know your instrument, you must know the others and how to back them up at all times. That’s jazz.

– Oscar Peterson, jazz pianist and composer

So how did ideas from jazz inform my discussions with Leo? Leo was able to apply the ‘Be Jazz’ analogy to adapt his style and strengthen his leadership impact. A key point here is that jazz-influenced leadership does not mean abnegating the basic responsibilities and mission of a leader’s job. Even in jazz, there is a leader. Yet, as Oscar Peterson notes, leaders have to do their job while maintaining awareness of what everyone else is doing and back them up. To “go with the flow,” as the saying has it.

I did not want Leo to throw out some of the distinctive characteristics of his leadership approach, nor his wealth of experiences and expertise, but I did need to help him understand when he got in his own way and created obstacles for his teams to overcome.  He had to understand how he was interrupting his own flow. Through our collaboration, he began to understand how and when he needed to adapt, listen more intently, read the audience, and amplify strengths within his teams. He also began to learn how to reinforce rigor while giving people more space to express their ideas.

Knowing when to take a breath

Leo learned when a breath or a pause are more impactful than an admonition or redirect, when to encourage and energize rather than to blame and diminish, and when to lean in and when to lean back. We explored ways for him to tap into his creative energy and get inspired by his unique way of understanding business dynamics. These insights made him more alive and a far more impactful and engaging leader. He realized that his previous leadership approach was actively sapping his energy. By being “more jazz,” he could more deeply connect to his vision—to lead more inspirationally, and to step back and allow his teams to perform. Leo’s growth as a leader resulted in improved business performance and innovation.

A jazz-influenced future

The word “jazz” means to me, “I dare you. Let’s jump into the unknown!”

– Wayne Shorter, jazz musician and composer

Traditional leadership styles are increasingly irrelevant and counterproductive for younger generations of workers who are resistant to the more rigid, linear, process-adherent, rules-based approach to their work lives. They are open to leadership influence but also want to be influencers themselves—sharing a common harmony while also expressing individuality. The most effective leaders set the vision and guideposts and allow their teams to find the best expression of that vision. They provide the guidance the teams need and create the space for them to excel.

For great leaders, the jazz metaphor goes a bit beyond just being influenced by it. They need to internalize it so it becomes one with who they are at the core. It’s not just, “Hear jazz.” It’s more like, “Be jazz.”

Releasing reliance on trusted paradigms requires a leap into the unknown that can be frightening, but it is also exhilarating to leaders who want to hear the music and take their impact to the next level.

Let’s jump into the unknown together!