3 Leadership Tips from the Leader of the Band

3 Leadership Tips from the Leader of the Band - Part 3

1/24/2022

This picture brings a smile to my face. It shows some of the worship team members and friends I've had the pleasure of making music with for the past three years at my church. As a worship leader, it's been such a pleasure to serve with them!

I say "serve" because I’ve had the honor and privilege to lead them on occasions when my Worship Pastor was away. And isn’t serving others what leadership is all about?

I’m sharing this because I have learned so much about leadership through leading the band. Periodically, I love to share my lessons learned, and this is one of those occasions!

If you’d like to read previous editions, check out Part 1 and Part 2

This week I’m sharing what I’ve learned through live band leading, which I compare to project execution in the business world.

1. Scan the Room

During the middle of a worship set, it’s helpful to look around the room and see how people are responding. Are they engaged? Are they looking bored? Doing so also involves not just looking outside for clues but sensing what's happening beneath the surface. I also listen to how individual team members do during the set to provide feedback later.

Lessons Learned: As you're executing projects, your "scan-the-room" activities can involve observation of ongoing activities and asking questions of project leaders, teams, and even customers about what they are experiencing. Ask probing questions to discern what's going on at a deeper level to discover what's happening, especially in problem areas. This can often help you uncover issues before they escalate or lessen the impact of current challenges.

2. Make Mid-Course Adjustments

Next, I take action based on what I see and sense. When those in the room are engaging with the music, I might extend the song's length, giving cues to the band as I go along. If those in the room aren’t that engaged, I might end the song early.

Lessons Learned: Once you understand what’s happening beneath the surface with your project teams and even customers, make mid-course adjustments to resolve any newly discovered execution or customer experience issues.

3. Share Feedback

After the worship set, I love to encourage my team members, especially if they hit a couple of rough patches along the way. I also praise individual members for things they did well. Then, I thank all of them for volunteering their time.

Lessons Learned: Be proactive about sharing feedback with your team members. Encourage them if they're struggling and provide support to them as needed. Be sure also to praise them when they do things right. Finally, be sure to thank and even reward your customers for giving you feedback. Doing all these things consistently can lead to happier employees and customers.

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Speaking of support, I would like to thank everyone that has provided such outstanding support for Michael Cantu’s and my book, No-Nonsense Digital Transformation! It's been such an incredible journey. When we launched it, we had no idea that it would debut at the #1 New Release and #2 Best Seller in Information Technology on Amazon.

So, THANK YOU!

We are excited to announce our next leg of the journey—our paperback will be coming out in late February or early March, so stay tuned for a launch date!

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