In high school - I was the band's drum major for 3 years. The drum major is not the baton twirler. They are the conductor of the band.
That's me - in the yellow uniform and the cool shako - leading the band. Giving them directions, telling them what to play. You get the idea.
I was elected assistant drum major at the end of my freshman year. The senior who was drum major had her locker next to mine and she suggested I try out. I was elected. It helped that I was friends with a lot of the seniors as a freshman.
It was also probably important that the previous drum major - was also female - so I had a female leadership role model. I was either assistant drum major or drum major from my sophomore to senior year.
What I learned - mostly - besides how to wrangle a group of 100 teenagers to cooperate on a project was how to work in a team to get things done. I learned this because our band director was ALWAYS absent. He was a professional touring musician with a big band and he was tour, a lot.
Because he was absent a lot - for anything to happen (like music chosen, and copies ordered, scheduling and things like that - everything a band requires) the band president, treasurer and me had to work together to make it happen.
It was up to me to teach the band how to march. It was up to me to help them learn the music. But I didn't have to do it alone. I worked with my fellow students on the band executive team to pick out music, designed the shows, teach them, rehearse them and more. Oh - we also fund-raised on our own to afford the things we needed.
I wasn't just out there - marking time, which was the core part of the job. I was part of a leadership team that kept the band functional because our band director - was mostly absent.
One year we organized our normal band camp at the end of the summer (to teach incoming freshmen how to march and to start work on the half time shows). The band director had no part in this. I doubt he even knew we were doing it. At the time, my mouth was wired shut from oral surgery. I couldn't talk or give people directions. My friends and team members - covered for me to get the work done and the music and formations learned. We did such a good job that some members of the band didn't even know I had my mouth wired shut until a month later when the wires came off and I could speak again. That's what team work can do!
Learning #leadership at an early age - what I learned is that leaders aren't alone. You can't lead by yourself. Leadership is collaborative. To do it well - you have to make space for others to lead and take on responsibility. It may look to outsiders like the drum major is ordering people about. But the reality is - the performance is a collaboration between all the members of the group.
Note: I don't want it to see like our band director was bad. He was pretty awesome. I adored our band director. He opened up so many musical opportunities to me and introduced me to so many really amazing musicians. He recruited me to play in a big band with him actually and I spent most of my teen years - playing professionally at gigs several nights a week with adult professional musicians. Heck - I got to meet Frank Sinatra Jr! And Jack Wheaton (who was Stan Kenton's protoge!) Some of my fondest memories are playing next to him in the big band while he's making jokes with his hand while while playing his tenor sax.
I learned so much from him. He mostly taught through the experiences he provided us. His absence at school created experiences that his presence would not have. It gave us the space and necessity for me and my friends to step up into leadership roles. And it opened up some amazing musical opportunities. So while at the time it was kind of absurd that our band director was - usually absent - we just dealt with it and learned from it and from him.
What I learned about leadership from my absent teacher - was that if we collaborate - we can accomplish - anything.
That's me - in the yellow uniform and the cool shako - leading the band. Giving them directions, telling them what to play. You get the idea.
I was elected assistant drum major at the end of my freshman year. The senior who was drum major had her locker next to mine and she suggested I try out. I was elected. It helped that I was friends with a lot of the seniors as a freshman.
It was also probably important that the previous drum major - was also female - so I had a female leadership role model. I was either assistant drum major or drum major from my sophomore to senior year.
Because he was absent a lot - for anything to happen (like music chosen, and copies ordered, scheduling and things like that - everything a band requires) the band president, treasurer and me had to work together to make it happen.
It was up to me to teach the band how to march. It was up to me to help them learn the music. But I didn't have to do it alone. I worked with my fellow students on the band executive team to pick out music, designed the shows, teach them, rehearse them and more. Oh - we also fund-raised on our own to afford the things we needed.
I wasn't just out there - marking time, which was the core part of the job. I was part of a leadership team that kept the band functional because our band director - was mostly absent.
Learning #leadership at an early age - what I learned is that leaders aren't alone. You can't lead by yourself. Leadership is collaborative. To do it well - you have to make space for others to lead and take on responsibility. It may look to outsiders like the drum major is ordering people about. But the reality is - the performance is a collaboration between all the members of the group.
Note: I don't want it to see like our band director was bad. He was pretty awesome. I adored our band director. He opened up so many musical opportunities to me and introduced me to so many really amazing musicians. He recruited me to play in a big band with him actually and I spent most of my teen years - playing professionally at gigs several nights a week with adult professional musicians. Heck - I got to meet Frank Sinatra Jr! And Jack Wheaton (who was Stan Kenton's protoge!) Some of my fondest memories are playing next to him in the big band while he's making jokes with his hand while while playing his tenor sax.
I learned so much from him. He mostly taught through the experiences he provided us. His absence at school created experiences that his presence would not have. It gave us the space and necessity for me and my friends to step up into leadership roles. And it opened up some amazing musical opportunities. So while at the time it was kind of absurd that our band director was - usually absent - we just dealt with it and learned from it and from him.
What I learned about leadership from my absent teacher - was that if we collaborate - we can accomplish - anything.
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