Leadership Lessons I Learned from Singing in a Choir

If you know me professionally, you likely see my technical, scientific side - working with software and a background in math. What you might not know is that I also have creative side, one example of which is that I’ve been singing in choirs for over 35 years.?Although I did paid gigs for a few years, I’ve always preferred singing in a choir.?There’s nothing like being a part of a group of singers, joining voices together in a way that is both very personal and yet individual, to create something much greater than the sum of the parts.?While rehearsing for a concert performance of Handel’s Messiah, with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and my chamber choir Cappella Festiva, I was struck by the leadership style of our director, Dr. Christine Howlett.?I was so moved, I made two pages of notes of the leadership lessons I have learned from her and from the simple act of singing in a choir. I'd like to share a few of my favorite lessons with you.

Breathe when no one else is breathing.

Many times, the choir breathes together but sometimes a musical line needs to continue much beyond how long a singer’s breath will last.?That’s the beauty of choir singing.?A composer can write a longer line of music for a choir without a breath than they can for a soloist.?We do this by staggering breaths, ensuring there are always enough singers to keep the line going.?The trick is to ensure that you breathe at a different spot than the people around you.?But it can be hard sometimes because, even in a longer line, there are natural spots at which you instinctively want to pause.?As an experienced choir singer, I always make it a point to breathe at an inconvenient spot, because I know that the less experienced singers will gravitate to the natural break points.

Leadership Lesson: As a leader, I try to breathe when no one else is breathing.?Sometimes on a long-planned project, people start to get tired.?We all need to take a break and breathe.?Depending on the project, it might be best to breathe together and take a week off or put the project aside for something different for a while.?But sometimes, you don’t have that option and you need to ensure the project is constantly moving forward.?That’s when I try to see the natural spots when people will want to breathe and I make sure I’m resting before or after.?People will naturally want to rest at key transition points (between dev/test or after planning the conference).?It’s those points when I try to (not always successfully) get things cleaned up and reorganized for the next step.?Let other people take their breath, while the leader makes sure everything is ready for them when they’re back.

The conductor is the least important person during the performance.

Although all eyes are on the conductor during the performance, in actuality, they are the least important person on that entire stage.?The conductor’s real job is in preparing the choir and orchestra.?She interprets the music and sets the vision of what our performance should say.?She communicates that interpretation and guides rehearsals.?She is a diagnostician, listening to the rehearsals and helping us understand what’s wrong (“the tenors are flat”, “your eight notes are a bit too short”).?I personally think figuring out what’s wrong and helping us fix it is the hardest part of her job.?On the day of the performance, her job is to start us off and keep the beat.?She occasionally has to step in if we get off track (usually by signaling we’re off a bit – eyebrows up means we’re flat, a more deliberate beat means we’re off tempo).?Dr. Howlett makes notes in her score for weak spots to look out for – she can’t focus on every section and instrument at the same time.

Leadership Lesson: As leaders, it’s important to remember that our role is to prepare the team, but the real work is on them.?They need to execute, and our job is to make sure they will be successful.?That doesn’t mean prepare them and walk away.?We still need to be there for the performance just in case something goes wrong, but we should always remember to let them do their thing with minimal interference.?I know that Dr. Howlett has often seen us go off the rails a bit and she decided to let it flow.?During performances, she carefully picks the moments that are most in need of correction.?We would all do well to remember that same lesson.?Not everything needs to be fixed immediately.?Related to this is focusing attention on the most critical activity at any given time.?Just as Dr. Howlett may focus on the violins when the part is easy for the choir, we need to learn to focus measurements and monitoring for the most critical components of the project at any given time.

Mix things up to strengthen skills.

One thing Dr. Howlett does periodically is mix the choir up.?As a second alto, I usually sit near the tenors and I note “touchpoints” in my score to make sure I’m on pitch relative to the tenors.?But when we’re rearranged, I must learn how my part connects with the basses or the sopranos.?Whenever this happens, I find I’m forced to learn the music better and I gain more strength and confidence in my own musical skills.?During rehearsals, it’s not unusual to mix us up thoroughly so I am completely surrounded by other voice parts, and I have no altos nearby to keep me on track.?It’s a nerve-wracking experience, and you definitely learn quickly where you need to skill up!

Leadership lesson: For a team, it can be good to switch roles, or tasks, or work on new projects with a completely different group of people.?You might call it “getting out of your comfort zone” but it’s about more than that.?It’s taking your core skills and testing them in new ways.?You’ll find weak spots and improve them, just as I found places in the music I needed to learn better.?Practically, this can be as simple as asking someone to handle a purchase order instead of always going to the same person or asking a developer to write a blog.?As leaders, it’s so easy to hand work to the obvious people because they’re so good at it and they’ve done it for so long.?It can be challenging to find ways to help people try new things without sacrificing the project, but that’s where a small little “mix things up a bit” can help.?Not only is this strategy good for the individual, but it’s also important to ensure the organization is more resilient with a bench of people able to cover for each other.

Don’t make a passion for the music greater than your passion for the musicians.

This last lesson is one I think is the "one lesson to rule them all".?Don’t let your passion for the music be greater than your passion for the musicians.?After years of musicians being asked to work “just an extra 15 minutes” every rehearsal, the union instituted rules requiring rehearsal time to be strictly managed.?Rehearsal time is very clearly announced and breaks are required.?Any overtime must be agreed by all participants.?These rules came about for a reason.?Musicians are very passionate about the music and it’s too easy for conductors and the musicians themselves to rehearse no matter how long it takes to “get it right”.?The union rules protect the musicians from passionate conductors, and themselves.?Although our choir is fully volunteer-based, and we don’t have to comply with union rules, Dr. Howlett always ensures that she is very clear about the time required, and she sticks to her promises every time.?But her passion for the musicians goes even beyond respecting our time – she brings in treats to start the season, and again for the final dress rehearsal.?She makes time in rehearsal for each of us to introduce ourselves and share our stories, especially during Covid, bringing us together as a community, not just a choir.

Leadership lesson: As leaders, we need to remember to always put our team before the mission.?I tend to be very passionate about the mission but even more so about the people helping to achieve it.?My father, a submarine commander and a great leader, once told me “get good people, and the rest is easy”.?Getting good people comes down to more than just hiring good people, it’s about nurturing them, helping them grow, giving them time to breathe and always putting them first.?Yes, the project needs to get done and we will occasionally need to work overtime to accomplish the mission but taking care of the people makes success even more likely. Finding the balance between the mission and the people is the greatest challenge leaders face.

Being Vocal About Leadership

It is often said that leadership boils down to influence: the ability to influence others. So it should be no surprise that good leadership is a skill that transfers across domains, whether you are planning a major project at work, or rehearsing your next choral concert. I hope you’ve found these lessons valuable.?I know it’s been helpful for me to think them through and write them down.?Please share your thoughts in the comments.?I’d love to hear your own leadership lessons, from wherever you’ve learned them.