Bad things happen when leaders don’t lead.
I’ve watched two young student conductors in recent weeks explore their conducting. In both cases, I watched the tempos slow down to a standstill.
This happened to me in my first time conducting – in a concert! I followed the singer and orchestra, who played behind my beat, and I followed them, slowing down in a vicious cycle.
My students need to realize that their conducting must anticipate, not follow, the people they’re leading. Only then can they maintain a consistent tempo and actually lead the singer.
So many people want to lead, but they don’t always want the weight to land on their shoulders. But leadership requires us to always be anticipating, always a step ahead of those we’re leading. Doesn’t matter if we’re tired, overworked, are mad at the people we’re leading, or any other reasons why we might want to take the day off from leading. When we’re the leader, we lead. Otherwise, the group is like the tempo of those choirs – it slows to a standstill.