Three notes, one melody and a lesson in listening

This article forms part of CN&CO’s series covering The Insurance Conference Western Cape 2026. Across the series, we revisit the ideas, stories and conversations shared by the conference’s speakers, highlighting the insights that are shaping insurance, business and leadership in a changing world.

Charlene assured accomplished jazz and concert pianist Charl du Plessis that she could not play the piano. That was perfect: she was exactly the volunteer he needed.

Invited onto the stage at The Insurance Conference Western Cape 2026, Charlene was asked to play any three notes. She chose E, D and A – although Charl admitted that he only knew this because he had looked!

Charlene could not repeat the notes, but Charl could. Within moments, he had transformed them into an impromptu rendition of Barbie Girl.

The point was not to demonstrate that he could play better than anyone else. It was to show what can happen when we take someone’s contribution seriously and build on it.

“Contribution does not require virtuosity,” Charl said. “Leadership is about recognising what somebody brings to the table and turning that small input into something greater.”

It was one of several funny, deceptively simple musical demonstrations in a session that explored the surprising relationship between playing the piano and working in insurance.

No guarantees on stage

Charl began by acknowledging the obvious question: what was a pianist doing speaking to a room full of insurance professionals? The answer, it turned out, was uncertainty.

Every time a pianist walks onto a stage, the conditions are different. There is a new instrument, a different hall, another orchestra and an unfamiliar audience. Classical pianists often perform from memory, without a musical score in front of them. They can prepare meticulously, but there is no guarantee that everything will go according to plan.

Pedals can fall off. An orchestra can begin with the wrong piece. A drummer can wander into a different beat. When something unexpected happens, the performer has to listen, adapt and continue.

The insurance world may have policies, systems, pricing models and technical expertise, just as a musician has a score. Yet real life rarely unfolds exactly as written.

“Insurance has a score,” Charl said, “but the future has not been written yet. We are performing it together.”

Discipline makes creativity possible

A musical score is more than a set of suggestions. It must be respected, studied and practised. That technical foundation gives a pianist the confidence to respond creatively when circumstances change.

The same is true in insurance. Expertise and preparation are not the enemies of creativity; they make meaningful creativity possible.

As Charl put it, “Creativity without discipline is noise, while discipline without creativity is machinery.”

To prove his point, he played Beethoven’s Für Elise mechanically. The notes were correct, but the music had no life. Someone in the front row asked whether the gin was being served yet.

Charl then took a familiar melody and performed it in different moods and styles – cautiously, confidently, warmly, mechanically and dramatically. The notes remained largely the same, but the audience’s experience changed completely.

Two insurers can offer similar products, systems and pricing, Charl observed, yet create entirely different experiences. The difference lies in interpretation, timing, judgement, empathy and execution.

Being technically correct is not always the same as being humanly right – especially when someone is navigating a claim or another difficult moment.

Listening changes the performance

For Charl, one of the strongest connections between music, leadership and insurance is the importance of listening.

“Piano students often learn alone,” he said. “They practise their notes, perfect their pieces and begin to think they sound wonderful. Add a singer or another instrumentalist, however, and everything can fall apart. Suddenly, they must do more than play correctly; they must listen to someone else.”

The same problem can arise when selling a product, advising a client or even navigating a marriage. We assume we know what the other person needs and begin offering a solution before we have properly heard them.

Charl demonstrated this with a Mozart melody. When the accompaniment remained delicate and supportive, the melody could breathe. When he made the accompaniment too busy and forceful, it overwhelmed the music.

Sometimes, he suggested, serving people well means knowing when not to add another process, product or presentation. More is not always more.

“Leadership is not necessarily about playing louder,” Charl said. “Sometimes it is about creating the conditions in which somebody else can be heard.”

Knowing when to step into the background

This lesson becomes particularly important when a pianist accompanies a singer.

The pianist occupies a powerful position. Play too loudly and the audience cannot hear the singer. Play too slowly and the singer may quite literally run out of breath.

Charl recalled the legendary South African opera singer Mimi Coertse confronting a pianist after a performance: “Why were you playing so slowly? Were you trying to suffocate me?”

The story earned a laugh, but the leadership lesson was clear. Our choices affect other people’s ability to perform, sometimes in ways we do not immediately recognise.

When Charl works with a singer, he listens, moves into the background and responds to what that person needs in the moment. Supporting someone does not mean disappearing. It means using your skill and influence to help the whole performance succeed.

Building confidence through participation

The three notes supplied by Charlene brought all these ideas together.

She did not need years of training to make a meaningful contribution. Charl did not judge the simplicity of what she offered. He listened, accepted it and turned it into Barbie Girl.

Confidence grows, he said, when we allow people to contribute and build alongside us rather than making them feel that they are being tested.

This is true of leaders, colleagues, clients and partners. People are more likely to participate when their contribution is welcomed – and when those with greater experience use their expertise to expand an idea instead of dismissing it.

Charl’s session was filled with music, laughter and apparently effortless improvisation. He ended on an appropriately insurance-themed note, performing ABBA’s Money, Money, Money in the style of Beethoven – a playful final demonstration of what becomes possible when strong technique meets imagination.

Underneath it all was a serious message: preparation matters, but so do adaptability, empathy and the willingness to listen.

We may know the score, but we cannot control every instrument, person or circumstance. What we can do is pay attention, respond generously and help create the next part of the performance together.