Personal Leadership Styles

            If you asked me throughout the years what leadership style resonates the most with me, you would get a different answer depending on when you asked me. When I was first in my undergraduate career and eager to pursue music, I would have said that a situational leadership style suited me best. I wanted to take charge, but only in favorable situations. I was convinced that I would be able to take control of a good program and make it great, but I had little interest in serving or transforming a program myself. In hindsight, this particular portion of my music education journey was likely fueled by ego, but I recognize that this was a growth point for me in my college career. I was the first to volunteer for leadership positions; I would volunteer to run sectionals, become a student conductor, take private lessons, etc., and while these things should never be discouraged, it was in the self-serving interest that by taking advantage of these opportunities, I could ride the coattails of those who had build successful programs before me and become a leader when it suited me best. Fast forward a number of years towards the end of my undergraduate career, and my experiences had changed.

            As I moved through my musical career, I began to recognize my musical journey’s impact on my own teaching. I realized that music, as many of us know, has the power to transform experiences, life trajectories, upbringings, cultural stigmas, and as many other things that you can think of. I convinced myself that I was going to be a great music teacher and transform lives based on musical experiences. A movie that is a great reflection of my mindset, although likely not achievable, is Dead Poets Society with Robin Williams. For those unfamiliar with the movie, Robin Williams is a teacher who takes over a literature class at a school and convinces the students to reform the titular club, the Dead Poets Society, where they explore their love for literature. Williams is ultimately quite successful, although those who quote the movie often end on the part where Williams convinces his students that “medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love: these are what we stay alive for.” I was convinced that I would be a transformative figure in my students’ lives, and while this absolutely may be the case, we forget that life isn’t a movie, and the far-reaching impact of our actions is likely something that we will never see.

            All of this lands me in the current day. Ultimately, I think that I have landed in a position and mindset where a servant’s heart is what I strive for in my musical career. One of the most daunting prospects for me is playing music for weddings and funerals. The weight and responsibility that falls on us as musicians should not be understated, and it’s important to remember and to attempt to impart on our students that it is a serious subject that deserves respect, and as such, it begins to encompass the former two leadership philosophies by the nature of serving others. This has ultimately shaped my view as an educator to try to impart this knowledge about the power of not only music, but that our role as musicians within that power dynamic, and ultimately to make sure that my students understand that to an extent, we hold the ability to shape human experience in our hands, and that is a power, responsibility and commitment, all at the same time.