Ch 3: Key Relationships
Being a Leader Worth Following
John Maxwell says, “Become great at what you do and then teach out of the overflow of your life. Competent people earn the right to speak into the lives of others.” The ability to lead others effectively requires us to live what we’re preaching. For example, it does not go unnoticed if we’re telling our musicians to dig in more with their mid-week practice yet we’re not showing up 100% prepared ourselves. We need to be the most prepared on that stage so musicians are inspired and running to catch up. This goes for every area you’re speaking into. Let’s call ourselves higher and lead by example! Words may be the currency of a new leader for the first couple of weeks, then consistency of actions quickly becomes the currency.
Building Trust With Your Team
Just as we talked about how important it is to build trust with your WL in the last lesson, it’s also as essential to build trust with the musicians you lead. This is done off-stage just as much as it is done on stage. The old adage “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” has been around forever for a reason! Get to know the musicians at your campus. Really get to know them. How can you be praying for them? What are they believing for in this season? If you’re warfaring off-stage together, it’s easier to warfare ON-stage together!
Show What You Value
An important aspect of leadership is making known what you value as a leader by what you shout out. What gets recognized gets repeated. If a musician does something you would love to see every musician do, giving them a shout-out shows what you value as a leader and inspires others to do similarly. This could be investing in their craft by buying a shiny, new guitar or as small as taking time to properly wrap/hide their cables for a cleaner look on stage. Details matter, so don’t shy away from elevating those who value excellence in details!
Observing During Rehearsal
We talked about how one of the main responsibilities of an MD is to iron out question marks into exclamation points, but many MDs end up overtalking or undertalking during service because they don’t know where the question marks are. A great MD will listen very carefully during the first time each song is rehearsed during a rehearsal to pinpoint the areas that need to be spoken into. If we overtalk during that point, we may never know where those areas are! In James 1, it talks about how we should be quick to listen and slow to speak. Let’s apply this to our MD’ing during rehearsals too!
Speaking to the Detail
Often, newer MDs feel we can't expect excellence because someone is a volunteer and is not getting paid. This couldn’t be further from the truth! We need to remember this is for Christ and His church! We are on the platform in the House of God! The world demands excellence while our God alone deserves it! This MUST be excellent, so don’t be afraid to speak into it! Remember, our goal is not just to “get through the set” with excellence; it’s to develop our musicians in the process! As a leader, we need to help our musicians identify areas where they need to grow! Remember though, as we’re giving feedback, we’re not meant to bruise who we’ve been called to build. We don’t call people out; we call them up.
We should also be thinking bigger picture when we’re developing musicians. There’s an old leadership adage that says, “How you do anything is how you do everything.” If a musician is lacking in communication, leadership, punctuality, attention to detail, etc, it’s very likely that they may be bringing that into their marriage, their parenting, their workplace, their relationships, etc. Let’s be believing that as we call our musicians higher, the lessons they learn from being on the Worship team can help unlock something God has for them in another area of their lives! Let’s steward our musicians well by developing them! Good MDs develop musicianship, while great MDs develop people!
Speaking Other Instruments’ Language
It’s nearly impossible to lead other instruments if you can’t speak the terminology of the instrument. For instance, if you tell a drummer to play “louder” or “more” at a part, that could be interpreted in many different ways. Even worse if you try to beatbox your instructions. If, instead, you tell them to start with rolling toms with kick on quarters and move into a straight eighth note build to build tension, not only do you avoid losing respect from the drummer, but by speaking the same language, you are able to communicate more effectively.
It’s also important to note how directive to be depending on the musician. Newer musicians who might not understand atmosphere as much as we do might need more specific direction like the example above. If you have a conference-level drummer on with you and something feels off, you can be a bit more collaborative in your approach by asking them what they think of your proposal or having them suggest a solution. This also gives you a chance to see how their musicianship and creativity are wired. Just be conscious of rehearsal time when you do this.
Have Fun!
As Ps Mikala Hubbard always says, rule #2 at our church is Have Fun! A prevalent theme throughout Psalms is that there is joy in the Lord! If we’re to lead our church in lifting up a joyful noise, we need there to be joy within us first! Let’s not make music a heavy subject, always burdened by the technical. Instead, let’s find the balance of also injecting joy into our teams as we prepare our hearts for celebrating our King!