In my leadership work, I group skills and strategies into the four areas above. First, Foundations give the leader the clarity to know how to lead the team because the final result in clear; second, build and maintain effective relationship to assist in getting to the vision; next, develop effective systems allowing each team member to excel and to work together efficiently; and finally, create balance in work, in life, and between work and life.
The format for this year consists of interviews with Christian leaders from many different types of leadership styles and perspectives - some pastors, some musicians, some lay leaders, some Christian business professionals, and more. This month’s edition of
Monday Morning Email's “Leadership Tools” is an interview with
Dr. Tim Sharp, who is Executive Director of the
American Choral Directors Association, the national professional association for choral conductors, educators, scholars, students, and choral music industry representatives in the United States. Sharp represents choral activity in the United States to the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM), and appears regularly as guest conductor and clinician. As an active conductor, researcher, and writer, he has balanced his career with positions in higher education, recording, and publishing. Prior to his leadership of ACDA, Sharp was Dean of Fine Arts at Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, and earlier, Director of Choral Activities at Belmont University, Nashville, TN (USA). Tim’s nine books and numerous published articles focus pedagogically in conducting and score analysis, and other publications betray his eclectic interests in regional music history, acoustics, creativity, innovation, and aesthetics. Dr. Sharp is also Artistic Director/Conductor of the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Tulsa, Oklahoma (USA), Now in his third season in Tulsa, critics have taken note of Sharp’s interpretive work with the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus and Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, characterizing performances with reviews of “stunning power” and “great passion and precision.” Prior to coming to Tulsa, Sharp was conductor of the MasterSingers Chorale and Rhodes Singers, Memphis, Tennessee. In Memphis, his choirs toured domestically and abroad, singing in the world’s premiere concert and acoustic settings including St. Mark’s Cathedral, Venice; Washington D.C.’s National Cathedral; St. Paul’s Cathedral, London; and New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Sharp has conducted four major performances in New York’s Carnegie Hall through MidAmerica Music’s Carnegie Hall Series. In 2003, Sharp’s conducting of Puccini’s
Gianni Schicchi won an Ostrander Award, Memphis’ Annual Award for excellence in theater performance. Before coming to Memphis, Sharp was conductor of the Belmont Oratorio Chorus and Belmont Chorale, Nashville, Tennessee, with choral credits on the Grammy Nominated and a Dove Award winning recording,
A Glen Campbell Christmas.
INTRODUCTION
Hugh Ballou: Tim Sharp has demonstrated the effectiveness of choral conductor as transformational leader in his work with ACDA. As you will discover in the interview below, Tim does not need a lot of works to get his point across. He is direct and to the point.
The major message I champion, is that the skills of a musical conductor can be applied very effectively to non musical activities without any fundamental change in the skill or application of that skill. It is mostly a reframing of the skill to fit the situation.
At the end of this interview, there are links to his books and "Sharp Notes" blog.
FOUNDATIONS
Ballou: Tim as you know, I teach Transformational Leadership. The perfect example of this style of leadership is the choral conductor. What advice do you have for the church musician as Transformational Leader in creating and communicating a clear vision for their goals in church music ministry?
Sharp: My primary advice is to let the clear vision one has for their goals to permeate every aspect of their work. Too often, statements become bylines for stationary, bumper stickers, or slogans. My advice is for the church musician to stick to the message, repeat it often, and make it an ongoing part of every rehearsal, presentation, tour, meeting, and other aspects of public display. I think too many people think if they say it once or twice, write it on the wall, and perhaps include it in a newsletter, that is enough. That is not enough. It needs to be mentioned every time there is a display or working out of some aspect of that vision, as if to say every time, “this is what I mean by the vision statement.”
Imagine if a prophet of old said, “Here is where we are going”, and then in a year said, “Now, this is where we are going.” In three years, people would be going in circles. The temptation is to think a new vision is needed every year…this is not the case. What is needed is an ongoing, visible display of the working out of the vision, and a regular repetition of the vision and goals of the vision. True, goals can be modified, but rarely does that change. What happens is people lose sight of the vision, and must be reminded verbally, but better yet, visually by the working out of statement.
RELATIONSHIPS
Ballou: Now that the leader has a clear vision, what about relationships make it possible to achieve that vision. What advice do you have for church musicians in creating and maintaining important relationships?
Sharp: Collaboration is the key to making relationships align toward the accomplishment of a vision. Motivational forces drive everything we do, and to achieve a vision, these motivational forces must overlap. For example, businesses are motivated by profit; educational institutions, at their core, are motivated by the search for truth; faith communities are motivated by a core belief; sports teams are motivated by a scoreboard. All of these entities are motivated by a different driving force, and sometimes, those driving motivations can be at odds with each other.
However, with hard work and patience, a common thread can usually be found that intersects the various motivational forces. When that happens, a powerful engine is created. It is rarely discernable at first, but once found, will propel initiatives forward. Also, once found, it will take work to sustain the relationship, but sustaining the relationship is not as hard as working to find the overlapping thread of opportunity, and therefore, well worth the effort.
SYSTEMS
Ballou: Having attended many bad meetings in my life, what ideas do you have for choral conductors to transfer their skills in planning and conducting effective rehearsals to systems such as conducting meetings?
Sharp: A simple metaphor for the choral conductor would be the musical score. If a meeting received the same planning as a musical score, there would be form, structure, motives, and development. There would be a definite start, and a definite conclusion. There would be room for theme and variation. Conductors are very comfortable with the musical score, so the first advice might be to treat the meeting like a rehearsal, but make certain there is a score in hand that is as precise and nuanced as a good musical score.
The second piece of advice would be to listen more than you talk. A good rehearsal takes place when the conductor uses listening skills, and then applies knowledge to what is heard. A bad rehearsal takes place when a conductor talks a lot, and leaves less room to listen to what is being produced. And finally, a really good rehearsal takes place when the performers/singers/instrumentalists are prepared and practice their own part outside of the group rehearsal. If participants in a meeting come prepared, the meeting can be an exchange of ideas, rather than an exchange of ignorance. But, it is the conductor’s task to give them something to prepare. The same is true for a good meeting.
BALANCE
Ballou: Finally, how do you suggest the keep it all balanced? With multiple priorities in the church and in balancing life in general? Working in a church can be a never ending job. What suggestions do you have for creating balance in the life of a church musician?
Sharp: Balance is truly a matter of allotting time. There are 24 hours in a day. If you sleep 6-8 of those hours, then there are 16-18 usable yours in a day. At ths point, you have to do the math. If you are spending 10 hours per day working, this leaves you 6-8 hours a day for family or other priorities. I start with the math, and make certain I have my priorities aligned with the hours I truly have to spend. Secondly, I have learned that I have to spend time, purposefully, on the goals and visions I have outlined (back to your first question), or my time will be spent on someone else's vision and goals. If everything is important, then the immediate will always win out over everything elso. I do not let that happen.
I purposefully spend time every day working on pieces of the vision and goals i have outlined for my life and work, and I let the immediate fit into this priority decision. I find that it is best for me to quantify just about everything. For example, I read 400 pages each week. I don't worry too much about what those 400 pages are, but by setting this goal, I achiever a higher priority for myself, which is to keep current in my field, to feed my imagination, to learn new information, and to enjoy being human.
Ballou: Tim, do you have a parting thought to share?
Sharp: For me, the important and positive transitional moments in my life and in my work have taken place at the moment when preparation intersects with the right opportunity. Opportunity is always in a moving continuum, and if opportunity is important to a person, then a person’s preparation must also be on a similar spectrum. Opportunity and preparation will occupy the same orbit. The intersection is the illusive part, but the important aspect of this relationship is that they are in the same orbit. If preparation is also a joy, then opportunity is only a delightful consequence of the intersection.
RESOURCES
Tim's Blog: Sharp Notes on ACDA
Tim's Books on Amazon: by Timothy W. Sharp (Sep 2005)
Jubilate, Amen!: (Festschrift Series) by A Festschrift in Honor of Donald Paul Hustad, Paul A. Richardson and Timothy W. Sharp (Apr 1, 2009
Precision Conducting: Seven Disciplines for Excellence in Conducting, by Timothy W. Sharp (Sep 2003)
Precision Conducting: Achieving Choral Blend and Balance, by Timothy W. Sharp (Sep 2005)