The Sacred Music Coach » leadership

The servant leader

Carl — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:45:03 +0000

You might have heard the notion of leader as servant. I imagine that it might be based in the model of Christ as servant of His people, I’m not sure. But I have some experience with the idea that I might like to share.

Here’s the core of the idea:

The group is the ones who deliver the value of the organization, much more than the leader personally.
The leader can have the most impact by helping his people to deliver that value, removing obstacles and facilitating action.
Therefore, the leader can be most valuable by thinking of himself as servant of the group.

But this is just the starting point, there’s more to the story.

Let’s look at Jesus Christ as humble servant.

Interested in this idea? I wrote more about it from a secular point of view on my business blog.

It’s important to note that Jesus didn’t take this idea of service to mean that nobody is providing leadership, or that everybody leads in their own direction. Instead, He provided incredibly strong direction, even when that contained messages which were hard for people to accept.

He also didn’t shy away from distinguishing between good and bad behavior, from articulating right and wrong. But He always kept this in the context of the big goal, the salvation of His people.

So as a leader and servant of your volunteer group, of your workteam, of your family … what does this mean? What are we to learn?

For me, it comes down to some key shifts in your mindset:

As leader, you have some specific jobs you need to do, the same as anyone else in the group. That includes leading the charge on promoting a common purpose and direction, stepping up for the tough decisions and tradeoffs, and letting people know how well they’re doing.
As servant, you should always be asking yourself: “What am I doing today to help this group be the best they can possibly be?”
This should all be done with an attitude of loving support, clarity of purpose, and the inherent value of each person.

Your group will see a big difference when it’s more about getting useful things done together than about your own ego.

Revitalize!

Carl — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:04:22 +0000

I’m really enjoying God’s gift of yearly cycles. During the summer, especially, is my time to refresh, re-energize, and re-commit. This is possible because so many things slow down during this season as people focus on vacations and family.

Sometimes the summer “break” feels a little weird because our kids are grown up and I’m running my own business, but that’s a topic for another day.

For the last three years, I’ve gone to the Sacred Music Colloquium. It’s totally consuming and draining, but my spirit is renewed for the coming year. I’ve been able to work with so many deeply talented and spiritual people, and have ideas I can take back to my parish.

It’s also a time to connect with each member of our Schola one on one, to see how things are going for them. Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to call this week, though, as most people were out in connection with the upcoming holiday. That’s OK – we’ll connect over the course of the coming month.

I’ll be looking at doing another parish chant workshop this year, as that was so well received last summer and helped double the size of our schola. I’ve got some wonderful ideas to work with that came from the instructors and attendees at the Colloquium.

It’s also a time of reflection and planning for our upcoming RCIA year. I’m excited that we’re going to take a day to focus on this next week, to see what needs to be adjusted. We’ve been doing this during the summer for many years, and it’s always a great exercise to get the RCIA team aligned and focused on the most important thing: Bringing people to God.

What could be more important?

Refresh and renew

Carl — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:18:31 +0000

Colorado's state flower

Summer is my time to reflect and renew my commitments for the coming year. I talked about this some last June, when I was struggling with whether our schola would achieve critical mass. Looking back on the progress, we now have grown to a dozen loyal and talented members, now including women as well as men.

We really are quite blessed. Despite challenges and frustrations, it’s wonderful to be bringing this traditional music back to our parish.

As I head to the 2010 Sacred Music Colloquium, it’s a great opportunity to build my own energy and bring new ideas back to the schola. As in past years, I’ll meet with each member individually when I return. The purpose of this is to help give voice to people’s celebrations and concerns in a confidential setting, which helps me to lead us in a direction that most people can get excited about. It also helps each individual to test and rebuild their own personal commitment.

I’m thinking that I might repeat the workshop I gave last August, since that was so successful in bringing in new members. It sure changed the energy of the group, and has been a real gift to me as well.

But first – first! – off to Pittsburg for a week of joyful learning and singing!

Remember why we do this!

Carl — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:08:46 +0000

One of my other roles at church is to help out with our parish’s RCIA program. Yesterday, despite a somewhat tenuous weather situation, we all traipsed down to the Cathedral in Denver for one of the Rite of Election services with the Archbishop. As always, he was a wonderful Shepherd for his flock, helping our RCIA Candidates and Catechumens to realize the magnitude of their life-altering decisions.

What does this have to do with Sacred Music?

Well, it’s really all part of the same tapestry of religious life. We spend lots of energy on instruments, techniques, musicality, and so on. Fine.

But in the end, the point is to help bring souls to God. This is the most important thing I can be doing with my life.

I have to remember that the rest of it all really is just ways to achieve that. So let’s not confuse the fifteen interpretations of the ictus with the Truly Important Work. Which is whether we are able to help people find God.

Stepping back and taking this perspective helps me, at least. It also helps me to remember that I’m not really in the driver’s seat. This is about service for God.

We can be powerful without being perfect

Carl — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:14:16 +0000

My colleague Tony made this observation in a discussion last week:

“We can be powerful without being perfect.”

It really struck me as an important concept, one that I need to constantly remember on my journey of life.

Like everyone, I think, I get hung up on the idea of achieving perfection. Nothing wrong with that – it’s what we’re here for. But somehow the concept of being imperfect has been linked with powerless.

And when I think of it, the logic is obviously flawed. The people who have had the most impact on my life have been far from perfect – and in fact, their imperfections are often a reason why they’ve affected me so much.

And the people who are most powerful in the world, in society, in any group you can think of – they’re nowhere near perfect either. They have certain attributes that I may want to model, but perfect? No.

So, when you get depressed on how your flaws seem to be holding you back:

You don’t have to be perfect to be powerful.

Thanks for that, Tony!

Living life as it is

Carl — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:19:17 +0000

“Life is not about avoiding broken eggs. Life is about presence (broken eggs and all)” – Terry Hershey

There’s so many problems, so many things to be fixed. We live in fear of what is and what’s to come. And meanwhile, we spend our lives constantly focusing on the future.

Here’s the deal: Your presence is in the present. And if you can’t enjoy and appreciate what God has given you in the present, you will reside in constant misery.

The challenge is to appreciate the present, imperfections and all. Sure, the broken eggs may be a mess, but God’s love is most important when we’re in disarray. That’s also the time when we can recognize our fragility and reliance on others.

Here’s the long picture: You’re born. You do stuff. You die. Everybody goes through this cycle and it never changes.

Depressing, huh? When you look at the rest of your life – you “do stuff” and then you die – it seems almost pointless. Clearly the meaning of life isn’t there.

Where is it, then? In relationships. In the impact we have on others. In how we are able to help each other on our intertwined journeys.

And our journeys are messy. I happen to believe that this is exactly God’s design, because it’s only through the messy parts that we experience why love is necessary. Although it seems paradoxical, glory is revealed through hardship. Why would you have any need to be lifted up if you hadn’t fallen?

Through our relationships, each of us is put here as a gift for each other – not to avoid difficulty, but to experience difficulty and help each other through it. That’s the glorious work of God.

Honey or vinegar

Carl — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:49:09 +0000

A colleague today raised an interesting question which caused me to start thinking pretty deeply. Here’s the problem: How do we get someone to fix something that they’re satisfied with, but we’re not? If they have control of the situation, and they’re satisfied with it, it’ll take a lot of concerted effort to get them to change.

This can be especially true in a church context, because there are significant power relationships at work, and deep emotions. Both of these are even more exaggerated for church musicians.

So let’s start off with that well-worn phrase, “it’s easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar.” It has a core of truth, which is that people are more likely to cooperate when you’re creating a cooperative relationship rather than confronting them.

But it’s more than that If someone is satisfied with their situation, then it’s difficult to give them enough “sweetness” to want to change. So here’s where a deeper truth enters in:

People want help, not barriers.

Let’s say that you’re dissatisfied with the music in your church, but aren’t in a direct position to change it. That’s a situation that many readers can relate to.

What does the pastor, or the director of music, need help with?

Picking music that people don’t complain about
Fitting music to the liturgy (but there are many different views about what this means!)
Finding talented and spiritual musicians to play and sing
Complying with guidance of church hierarchy, liturgical committees, and so on
Doing all of this, regularly, week after week, year after year, in addition to all the other tasks

These are not insignificant issues! So the leaders need help, and here’s the trick. Help them to address the needs they know they have.

If you try to convince them they have NEW needs, you’re just adding more work – that’s not helping. What you want to do is to reduce their works by addressing their needs.

So first, you must find out what they think their needs are. You might have your own opinions, but they’re probably a bit different than the way they understand the situation. The fact that you’re dissatisfied probably means you don’t fully understand their needs and the way they think. Almost certainly there’s a disconnect of some sort. So ask. Listen. And learn without judging.

Then, only then, you can start to figure out how you can help them address those needs. And if you can truly help them, without creating new problems, they’re much more likely to accept your help.

Sure, it’s work. Yes, it can be painful. It doesn’t always work.

Humans are like that.

But many times it does work, and can lead to glorious, creative solutions.

“Pro” – really??

Carl — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:17:42 +0000

I had the opportunity to sing Compline with the schola from another parish last night – a wonderful and prayerful experience. But earlier in the week, the director tangentially referred to me as “the professional.”

Say what? I mean, I’m a neophyte at this chant, and have only been working on it for a few years. No college training in music.

That exchange got me thinking about what it means to be a professional at anything. “Amateur” derives from the sense that you’re doing something because you love it (amor), but that’s not exclusive of being professional.

There’s two ways to define “professional”:

One who makes a living from a certain field of work;
One who develops deeper expertise in a field of work.

I guess the second might apply to my situation, as I do take Sacred Music quite seriously and endeavor to constantly learn more and develop expertise. I don’t see myself ever getting paid as a musician (despite occasional high school fantasies) so the first definition isn’t going to apply.

What does it take to become an expert, the second kind of professional?

Pick a particular area for your expertise, even if it’s not (yet) an acknowledged Profession.
Continue to learn and gain skills in that area
Share your expertise with others to establish your leadership

In a way, I guess, I’m moving into this with Sacred Music. But I feel like such a newbie!

The economy of volunteerism

Carl — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:41:11 +0000

Here’s an interesting idea I get from Clay Shirky’s video above (if you can’t see it, try this link): Many useful things these days are being done purely by volunteers.

That’s a huge change from the way we usually think. We tend to focus on what organizations do through their employees, and by money changing hands. But in fact, the new economy is doing more and more based on volunteers.

Let’s think about this for a moment. You spend, say, 40 hours a week doing things that someone pays you for. That’s 24% of your 168 available hours in the week.

Let’s say you sleep 8 hours a night – that’s another 33%. So this means that 43% of your time during the week – 72 hours – is available for doing things that nobody’s paying you for. And because we’re massively connected, you can make a difference to people who are anywhere in the world.

Presumably much of your time is spent on contributions to your family and maintaining your mental, physical, and spiritual health. But for the remaining time you have, here are my questions:

Who do you want to make a difference to?
How will you connect with those people, so that you do in fact make a difference to their lives?
Who will you build upon, and partner with, in order to make a difference in the world?

These kinds of questions can help you to put some laser focus onto your precious discretionary time and effort. And when you team up with others who share similar goals, amazing things can happen. World-changing things.

I love the vibrant sacred music community over at www.musicasacra.com because they’re focused on achieving amazing things for the Catholic Church – almost entirely just building on each others’ volunteer efforts.

And when you’re a volunteer, you get to make the contribution that you decide is most important – unconstrained by the power of the paycheck.

Trusting the Holy Spirit, big time!

Carl — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:36:53 +0000

Last time I talked about the upcoming big chant gathering we have next Sunday. Well, we had our practice yesterday, and finally got a chance to meet and find out what we’ve learned, and whether it was the same thing.

I wasn’t surprised to find a lot of little details which we had different – a couple words here, a dotted punctum there – but it was quite a few. You’d like to think that the basic chants are exactly the same from one book to another, but they’re not.

I was really glad that everyone had such a sense of humor and an extra dose of patience. There’s still some details yet to be resolved (one of the schola directors was out with swine flu yesterday) but we’ll get there.

And it will be glorious, because this is about God, not us. This takes deep trust.

That’s what we’re praying for.