Page 1 of 10

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 9, No. 9

Publication Date: September 25, 2022

DOI:10.14738/assrj.99.13047. Odunuga, A. F., & Yekini-Ajenifuja, I. A. (2022). The Musical Orchestra Leadership: An Imagery of Participative and Relational

Societal Leadership Style. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(9). 163-172.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

The Musical Orchestra Leadership: An Imagery of Participative

and Relational Societal Leadership Style

Adeola Funmilayo ODUNUGA

Department of Music, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo

Isaac A. Yekini-Ajenifuja

Department of Theatre Arts and music

Lagos state university, Ojo

ABSTRACT

The issue of leadership in society has been of major concern from times

immemorial, this is because it is believed that the quality of leadership is one of the

major determinants of societal development. The existing societal leadership style

in Nigeria seems not to help the populace in meeting societal needs and satisfying

human aspirations, hence there is a need for an improved leadership style that will

help in the attainment of societal and individual goals. Using existing leadership

theories, this paper explains the ideals of a good participative and relational

leadership style using metaphoric inference of an orchestra and its conductor. The

study is an ethnographic study that used oral interviews and other qualitative

techniques to obtain its information. The research discovered that with a

competent leader (conductor) at the head of a team of members (the orchestra),

society is capable of doing great as long as everyone does their specific

roles. Societies will fare well if the ideas of this imagery are adopted. The paper

recommends that the younger generation should be encouraged to learn and adopt

participative and relational leadership styles.

Keywords: Orchestra, Leadership style, Participative, Relational

INTRODUCTION

In recent times, there is a global concern about having the right leader at the helm of affairs of

nations. The reason behind this is that when there is a right and functional leader that is

knowledgeable, competent, value-oriented, relational, and effective there will be good

followership that is devoid of violence. A leader is a person that leads other people around him

towards achieving a goal. There are so many definitions of a leader. Morgan (2020) defines a

leader as ‘someone who does more than just leads people. They have to be driven by the right

motivation and make a positive impact on the people around them. A leader is someone who

sees how things can be improved and who rallies people to move toward that better vision.’

Great leaders can inspire political movements and social change. They can also motivate others

to perform, create, and innovate. Bennis (2021) sees leaders as ‘people who do the right thing’.

They help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring

vision, and create something new. Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use

management skills to guide their people to the right destination, smoothly and efficiently.’

There are good leaders and there are bad leaders. Good leaders have attributes and peculiar

Page 2 of 10

164

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 9, Issue 9, September-2022

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

qualities. These qualities among others are honesty, truthfulness, discipline, courage,

selflessness, and being sacrificial. There is no good leadership when there is no good

followership. One of the characteristics of a good leader is know-how of how things are

supposed to be. It is expected that a person that will lead should have prior knowledge of what

should be done. He should also have a foreknowledge of the qualities of the people that he will

lead - his follower. This information will help him or her to harness these qualities to achieve

the desired goal. Another characteristic of a leader is sound judgment coupled with integrity.

Other leadership attributes include a sound belief system, values, ethics, character, knowledge,

and skills. Leaders need to put the people first if they want to make their vision a reality. They

also need to be empathetic and connect with people.

Leadership is a key process in any society or organization. It is important to the extent that

everything in the society or organization revolves around it. It is therefore not a surprise that

it is often said that the success or failure of any society depends on the ability, capability, and

intelligence of the leader. Leadership means different things to different people around the

world, and different things in different situations. Stoner (1982) defined it as the process of

directing and influencing the task-related activities of group members. Obadara (2006) sees it

as the ability to influence individuals or groups towards the achievement of goals. It takes a

good leader to produce good leadership. Leadership is that process in which one person sets

the purpose or direction for one or more other persons and gets them to move along together

with him or her and with each other in that direction with competence and full commitment

(Jacques & Clement, 1994:4). Szilagyi and Wallace (1980) defined leadership as a relationship

between two or more people in which one attempts to influence the other towards the

accomplishment of some goal or goals. There are different kinds of leadership, community

leadership, religious leadership, political leadership, and leadership of campaigning groups.

This article focuses on societal leadership and discusses leadership in society rather than in

other areas.

Research has found out that most nations that are developed and thriving technologically,

financially, and physically run a government that is participative and relational (Bhatti, Ju,

Akram and Bilal, 2019; Sagnak 2016). National leadership is a reflection of what happens in

the society, this means that whatever error that is seen in the family, classroom, religious, and

social group leadership equally transpires at the higher level of leadership. Therefore, any

intervention towards good leadership should start from the lower societal leadership. This

research work put forward the participative and relational leadership style as a style to adopt.

This is done by using metaphoric imagery and inference of a musical conductor and the

Orchestra. The melodious, harmonious, and rhythmic sound product of an orchestra

performance is an attestation to the fact that leadership and followership can achieve success

if they work in unity. An ensemble symphony is a genuine illustration of cooperation,

coordinated effort, discipline, learning, job lucidity, execution, and genuine authority in real life.

Oguoma (2010) posits that ‘the issue of leadership and followership in traditional music

ensemble is an issue of networking whereby right-hand washes the left hand and vice-versa.

Citing Barrett (2015), an orchestra can be beautiful when everybody is playing in harmony,

however, only one individual working out of tune can ruin the musical show for the performers

and audience. Group performance gives a strong relationship to the fundamental

administration abilities business visionaries should develop.

Page 3 of 10

165

Odunuga, A. F., & Yekini-Ajenifuja, I. A. (2022). The Musical Orchestra Leadership: An Imagery of Participative and Relational Societal Leadership

Style. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(9). 163-172.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.99.13047

In Africa, the role of the master musician is that of a leader on whose leadership other

performer takes the cue. The Iya Ilu (mother drum) Dundun in its ensemble leads, as it talks,

dictates the pace, determines the song, and gives clues and prompts, with a deep audible sound,

while the other members of the ensemble follow. Not only does the master drummer lead, but

he also showcases enough skill that exemplifies him as a leader. In the southwest, Nigeria the

Dundun master drummer is so versatile that he can play all the other subsidiaries like Iya ilu

dundun, Kerikeri/aguda, Omele Isaaju, Omele Atele, and Gudugudu. Olaosebikan (2020) in his

documentation of dundun drumming styles, posits that the master talking drummer of the Iya- ilu must be versatile in other to be able to skillfully lead while the accompanying drummers

follow. He equally noted that ‘the workload of etikeeti music lies more on the lead drummer

with other drums playing accompaniment and at the same time serving the backup singer for

the lead drummer. The performance of etikeeti is a call and responsorial style of movement.

This pattern manifests itself as the lead drummer plays a particular verse and other drummers

will sing out what the lead drummer plays.’ Idamoyibo (2021) sees a master drummer in the

context of Yoruba usage as ‘a skillful ensemble leader and a custodian of oral repertoire. Most

master drummers who are the leader of street ensembles have sonorous voices and very good

memory of local histories which they transmit in the oral form’. The implication of this is that

leaders should possess enough knowledge to lead successfully. Attesting to this Oguoma (2010)

says, ‘the leader (of an ensemble) aspires to impress his members and the community that owns

the ensemble. The qualities required of him to achieve his desires are self-discipline,

consistency.....knowledge, and mastery of the instruments, ability to give clear instructions and

directions...’. Good leaders are worthy of good followership.

LEADERSHIP THEORIES

Leadership theories are theories that have been developed on leadership by different

management theorists to portray the elements or factors that result in leadership effectiveness.

It seeks to explain how and why certain people become leaders. Such theories often focus on

the characteristics of leaders, but some attempt to identify the behaviors that people can adopt

to improve their leadership abilities in different situations. There are so many leadership

theories in the world today. These theories are based on the following approaches: trait

approach, behavioral approach, and situational approach. Trait approach theory was

propounded by Mondy et.al (1990), it looks at the inborn characteristics of leaders and the

belief that leaders are born and not made. These traits are categorized as physical

characteristics, social background, intelligence, personality, task-related characteristics, and

social characteristics. The behavioral approach attempts to identify the personal behavior

associated with effective leadership. That is, the behavioral styles utilized by the leader in

leading individuals or groups in achieving organizational goals that result in subordinate

commitment and high productivity (Obadara, 2006). The situational theory of leadership

suggests that no single leadership style is best. Instead, it depends on which type of leadership

and strategies are best-suited to the task.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This research work used the situational approach theory. According to this theory, the most

effective leaders are those that can adapt their style to the situation and look at cues such as the

type of task, the nature of the group, and other factors that might contribute to getting the job

done (Cherry, 2021). The situational approach to leadership also avoids the pitfalls of the

single-style approach by recognizing that there are many different ways of dealing with a