We’re on to Part Two of Dare To Lead. “Living Into Our Values” is about distilling our values and practicing them as leaders.
This article will unpack the chapter, discuss its implications specifically for choral leaders, and then ask you the questions I’ve been asking myself as I read.
“We Don’t Shift Our Values Based On Context” (187)
“We are called to live in a way that is aligned with what we hold most important regardless of the setting or situation.” (187) Is that necessary? Yes, because “in addition to rumble skills and tools, [daring leaders] always carried with them clarity of values.” (186)
As choral leaders, we are responsible for both living into our values and helping our students to shape their own values as they develop. Vulnerability is more essential and more deeply felt in a choral rehearsal than in the typical work situation that Dr. Brown might be considering…all the more reason for us to live into our values.
Only Two
“If everything on the list is important, then nothing is truly a driver for you. It’s just a gauzy list of feel-good words.” (187)
I found the process of selecting my two core values as really enlightening – tracing the source of the values that stood out to me until I found the strong sources that supported them all. This applies to more than values, too – if we push our chorus in too many directions, have too many goals, we cannot properly serve them.
Empathy Seats
“The most important seats in the arena […] are reserved for empathy and self-compassion. In the empathy seat, or seats, we just need one or two people who know our values and support our efforts to put them into action.” (195)
Finding one or two people who know our core values and can support us in implementing them (and provide feedback and empathy) can be a challenge in our world. Choral leaders are often the only ones in their class building doing the work they do. Most of their colleagues simply don’t understand the nature of their day-to-day work, or how living into their core values could look. One more reason to forge and nourish those professional relationships that are beyond the walls of our buildings or districts.
Engaged Feedback Checklist
As choral leaders, we are constantly delivering feedback to our singers. Dr. Brown says that “one of the biggest challenges we face […] is staying aligned with our values when giving and receiving feedback.” (198) Daring choral leaders need to be mindful of this checklist. I highlighted #1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 as being particularly consequential to choral leaders.
Operationalized Values
In addition to your core values, your choir should have some values that the singers are all called to live into. And we can’t properly live into them until we can turn them into actionable skills. “Operationalizing values also forces us to get clear on the skills or combination of skills that undergird values.” (213) “Operationalized values also drive productive decision making.” (212)
I think this business model can be perfectly applied to the choral rehearsal – your ensemble’s core values might not match mine, and until we both get clear on those skills, we cannot really live into them in the best way.
Living BIG
Boundaries. Integrity. Generosity. That’s how Dr. Brown codifies the “assumption of positive intent” with which she closes the section. She says, “Daring leaders work from the assumption that people are doing the best they can; leaders struggling with ego, armor, and/or a lack of skills do not make that assumption.” (215)
The assumption of positive intent has been a big driver in my own work as a choral leader, and more generally as a human being. I was encouraged to find her focusing at some length on this skill as vital to becoming a daring leader.
Questions
“What did you discover to be your two core values? (197-198) Do you find that your choral leadership aligns with those overarching values?
Review the Engaged Feedback Checklist (198-201). Which of these ten would most significantly alter the way you offer feedback in the choral rehearsal?
As we get better at giving feedback as choral leaders, how can we empower our singers to get better at receiving and acting on feedback? (202-205)
What are your choir’s core values? Can you operationalize them into behaviors? (210-211)
Can you remember a situation as a choral leader when you found it difficult to maintain an assumption of positive intent? How would you approach that situation differently with Dr. Brown’s tools?
There are only two more parts in Dare To Lead. Look for Part 3, “Braving Trust” on July 29.