Pastoral Musical Leadership Styles - Part 1 - Different Styles for Different People

Leadership styles.
There are many.
There are three I would like to discuss
in this blog.

And I would like to do this
because someone recently
challenged me on my leadership style.
While I cannot be certain
on what was going on
in that person’s mind,
I think the discord comes from the fact
that he and I have totally different leadership styles.
And because of this
we sometimes tend to view things
from different angles.

And to be quite honest,
sometimes I like it when there is a bit of friction.
It forces me to think,
forces me to articulate
what I may already know in my heart,
but haven’t yet verbalized.

Now,
this is not going to be a
Dale Carenegie or
Anthony Robbins
spewing of verbage.
These are just Random Rubi Ramblings
of thoughts
that have been dancing around in my head
for the last week and a half.

Anyhow,
near as I can figure,
there are three main styles of leadership:
The Autocrat, The Democrat, and The Delegator.

Leadership,
to me,
is about motivating people.
We have a task about us:
the music ministry.
Our purpose for being
is to provide that musical leadership
for the People of God.
My role is to direct.
“Duh,” you say?
But it’s about more than directing a choir.
It’s about providing direction.
A leader who does not provide direction
cannot possibly hope to motivate.
Without motivation
the music ministry dies.

Now,
all who are leaders
go from one style to another
as the situation and circumstances demand.
But basically,
we tend to follow one style of leadership
more than the others.

First of all,
let me say
that no one call tell you
what sort of leadership style
you should have
as your principal style of leadership.
And this is where
my momentary frustration
with the person was,
they wanted me to be something
I know I am not.
Still,
I had to verbalize for myself
what my style of leadership is.
Many of us
have probably never even given it much thought.
We just do it.

Many things may be involved
in developing your own leadership style.
Your age could be a factor.
Your life/work experience could be another.
Your education could be yet another factor.
Culture has A LOT to do with leadership style.
Men, for the most part,
tend to lead very differently than women.
And quite often,
indeed,
when what we are discussing
is a Pastoral Leadership style,
the leadership style
really depends on the circumstances.
For example,
the way I lead the children’s choir
is different
from the way I lead the women’s choir.

I know well
what my leadership style is.
But until now,
I haven’t verbalized it.
And to say I am something,
also is saying that
I am not something else.
So,
as I describe the various leadership styles
in upcoming blog entries,
please be aware
that I am about a self-description here,
writing stream of consciousness,
as I so oft do,
to release the words from my heart
and on
to this electronic parchment.

Three leadership styles:
The Autocrat, The Democrat, and The Delegator.

Can you guess
which one I claim?
And which one are you???