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Thoughts on Leadership

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The following thoughts related to leadership come from an interview with Hugh Ballou via Creator Magazine. Check it out at http://bit.ly/frrqNH

 
Ballou: Tim, as you know, I teach Transformational Leadership. The perfect example of this style of leadership is the choral conductor. What advice do you have for the church musician as Transformational Leader in creating and communicating a clear vision for their goals in church music ministry.
 
Sharp: My primary advice is to let the clear vision one has for their goals to permeate every aspect of their work. Too often, statements become bylines for stationary, bumper stickers, or slogans. My advice is for the church musician to stick to the message, repeat it often, and make it an ongoing part of every rehearsal, presentation, tour, meeting, and other aspects of public display. I think too many people think if they say it once or twice, write it on the wall, and perhaps include it in a newsletter, that is enough. That is not enough. It needs to be mentioned every time there is a display or working out of some aspect of that vision, as if to say every time, "this is what I mean by the vision statement.
 
Imagine if a prophet of old said, "Here is where we are going", and then in a year said, "Now, this is where we are going." In three years, people would be going in circles. The temptation is to think a new vision is needed every year…this is not the case. What is needed is an ongoing, visible display of the working out of the vision, and a regular repetition of the vision and goals of the vision. True, goals can be modified, but rarely does that change. What happens is people lose sight of the vision, and must be reminded verbally, but better yet, visually by the working out of statement."
 
Ballou: Now that the leader has a clear vision, what about relationships make it possible to achieve that vision. What advice do you have for church musicians in creating and maintaining important relationships?
 
Sharp: Collaboration is the key to making relationships align toward the accomplishment of a vision. Motivational forces drive everything we do, and to achieve a vision, these motivational forces must overlap. For example, businesses are motivated by profit; educational institutions, at their core, are motivated by the search for truth; faith communities are motivated by a core belief; sports teams are motivated by a scoreboard. All of these entities are motivated by a different driving force, and sometimes, those driving motivations can be at odds with each other.
 
However, with hard work and patience, a common thread can usually be found that intersects the various motivational forces. When that happens, a powerful engine is created. It is rarely discernable at first, but once found, will propel initiatives forward. Also, once found, it will take work to sustain the relationship, but sustaining the relationship is not as hard as working to find the overlapping thread of opportunity, and therefore, well worth the effort.

Ballou: Having attended many bad meetings in my life, what ideas do you have for choral conductors to transfer their skills in planning and conducting effective rehearsals to systems such as conducting meetings?

Sharp: A simple metaphor for the choral conductor would be the musical score. If a meeting received the same planning as a musical score, there would be form, structure, motives, and development. There would be a definite start, and a definite conclusion. There would be room for theme and variation. Conductors are very comfortable with the musical score, so the first advice might be to treat the meeting like a rehearsal, but make certain there is a score in hand that is as precise and nuanced as a good musical score.

The second piece of advice would be to listen more than you talk. A good rehearsal takes place when the conductor uses listening skills, and then applies knowledge to what is heard. A bad rehearsal takes place when a conductor talks a lot, and leaves less room to listen to what is being produced. And finally, a really good rehearsal takes place when the performers/singers/instrumentalists are prepared and practice their own part outside of the group rehearsal. If participants in a meeting come prepared, the meeting can be an exchange of ideas, rather than an exchange of ignorance. But, it is the conductor's task to give them something to prepare. The same is true for a good meeting.

Ballou: Finally, how do you suggest we keep it all balanced? With multiple priorities in the church and in balancing life in general? Working in a church can be a never ending job. What suggestions do you have for creating balance in the life of a church musician?

Sharp: Balance is truly a matter of allotting time. There are 24 hours in a day. If you sleep 6-8 of those hours, then there are 16-18 usable hours in a day. At ths point, you have to do the math. If you are spending 10 hours per day working, this leaves you 6-8 hours a day for family or other priorities. I start with the math, and make certain I have my priorities aligned with the hours I truly have to spend. Secondly, I have learned that I have to spend time, purposefully, on the goals and visions I have outlined (back to your first question), or my time will be spent on someone else's vision and goals. If everything is important, then the immediate will always win out over everything elso. I do not let that happen.
 
I purposefully spend time every day working on pieces of the vision and goals i have outlined for my life and work, and I let the immediate fit into this priority decision. I find that it is best for me to quantify just about everything. For example, I read 400 pages each week. I don't worry too much about what those 400 pages are, but by setting this goal, I achiever a higher priority for myself, which is to keep current in my field, to feed my imagination, to learn new information, and to enjoy being human.
 
Ballou: Tim, do you have a parting thought to share?

Sharp: For me, the important and positive transitional moments in my life and in my work have taken place at the moment when preparation intersects with the right opportunity. Opportunity is always in a moving continuum, and if opportunity is important to a person, then a person's preparation must also be on a similar spectrum. Opportunity and preparation will occupy the same orbit. The intersection is the illusive part, but the important aspect of this relationship is that they are in the same orbit. If preparation is also a joy, then opportunity is only a delightful consequence of the intersection.


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