Your program won’t automatically stay in the lane you choose.
There are as many successful ways to run an institution as there are leaders. Ensembles, 9-12 music programs, music departments, nonprofits. There’s not one right answer, and it’s a gift that you get to choose.
But even after you choose, you have to keep steering it. If you want to change lanes, you can; but if you don’t, you have to actively stay in the lane you intend.
Because drifting happens.
I’ve seen it more times than I can count – an organization chooses, and then over time, there’s mission creep, an accidental change in how much time they’re putting in, how they’re interpreting their goals, how many projects they’re sponsoring, how much they’re rehearsing, how much they’re charging.
If you aren’t intentional, you might wake up one day to find you’re driving on a completely different highway, let alone lane. It’s only with intent that you can keep the job, the ensemble, the organization going where you want it to go.