January 2006

Executive Leadership Development Process
By Harriette Walters, Education Coordinator Region 15
Director Education Coordinator, Certified International Faculty, Master Director

The lyrics to the song Something’s Coming (West Side Story) reflect how I feel about leadership today. Effective leadership in Sweet Adelines International is a necessity. It ensures the health, success, and well-being of our choruses, directors, and members. People are our greatest assets, and their personal growth and development is paramount to this organization. We nearly always benefit from any leadership development program, but finding just the right one has often been the challenge.

Educating our leaders is the key to reaching our members and truly understanding their needs. Being a good leader is an art and can be learned through desire and with the appropriate motivation. Those that choose to be in leadership roles have the responsibility of educating themselves and others, so all may excel in their positions. It is essential that we cultivate people and processes to ensure the desired results. This, along with a vision, and the establishment of critical success factors, are necessary to achieving the goals set.

Understanding our personal and organizational values is as important as embracing the challenges of effective leadership development. Our core values influence the way we lead and affect our members. Without realizing it, we expect our members to know what drives the leadership, both musically and administratively, in our choruses. Discussing, establishing, and agreeing on the core values simplifies everything we do in our choruses. If our core values are not aligned throughout every aspect of our organization, there will be deviations between the goals set and the goals met. The significance of this is huge, and once understood and embraced, the core values become more important than ever. Decisions for the chorus can be made more easily and outcomes become apparent for all the right reasons, eliminating many of the struggles we face on an ongoing basis. With this foundation, it becomes easier to prioritize, and differences in philosophy do not exist. This substantiates why consistency in leadership is so important to outcomes. Establishing core values and incorporating them into all processes and procedures is critical. All members must become responsible for andbe held accountable to driving these processes into everything we do. The synchronization between core values, and the processes that develop from the core values and vision, must exist at all levels.

I learned about a unique Leadership Development Organization, Paradigm Associates, LLC (“Paradigm”). What makes Paradigm unique is that they specialize in strategic and executive leadership development services at all levels. I recognized that this training could be invaluable in our attempts to ensure continued growth and success in our choruses.

Paradigm’s CEO and founder, Doug Brown, and Regional Leadership Advisor, Mark Paul, are both active members of the Barbershop Harmony Society (formerly SPEBSQSA). From the start, they could understand the needs of Sweet Adelines choruses and our leaders. This familiarity enables them to customize programs that specialize in areas that expand leadership development and ultimately affect the success of each chorus.

Paradigm concentrates on developing all levels of leaders, working with them to create winning organizational strategies and methods of implementation. They assist in establishing a process that drives strategic goals down through the organization in such a way that all members, at every level, know what the goals are, and know their own role in helping to achieve those goals by effectively participating in the process.

So, a pilot program began in Region 15, and two two-day workshops were planned so the leaders of each chorus in the entire region could participate. The Leadership Development Workshops consisted of the following components:

The Challenge
Transforming the Organization
Formal Leadership
Goal Planning and Achieving Systems
Turning Goals into Sustained Success
Building Teams
Collaborating for Results

Our regional chorus leaders were excited to take part in these two-day workshops where they learned to embrace the challenges of good leadership, and understand how core values truly do influence the way we lead and affect our members. They were also provided with various tools to help in understanding various personality types and characteristics, as well as ways and means to be effective at reaching the different personality types, encouraging buy-in and commitment to higher levels of participation and accountability. Throughout the workshops, we were reminded that this is an ongoing process and should be embraced as an enjoyable and growth-filled part of our overall journey.

Now back to the song, “Something’s coming……maybe tonight”! Here is where we realized the payoff. For years, I have had the reputation of being a strong technician in the barbershop style. I wanted to find a way to transcend the technique into artistry, naturally. After participating in the workshop, as Education Coordinator and Musical Director of the Greater Nassau Chorus (“GNC”), I began working with the GNC Management Team, and the entire chorus, in the process of identifying and establishing our core values. Although we are in the beginning stages, I can see firsthand a difference in how we are leading and the positive effects it is having on our decision-making, and thus, the health and welfare of the chorus as a whole. I view leadership differently now. Everyone can now feel the passion in our music and community, as some of the details of administration fade, due to the alignment of goals and philosophies. This passion has led to excitement, energy, drive, and unity. With these factors in alignment, anything is possible! Those feelings of possibility permeate everything we do. From a director’s viewpoint, it has enabled me to find the “artist” within, allowing the technique to be intact, while we explore artistic presentation together. While this may sound simplistic, the results of the process are quite profound, even in the most initial stages.

The passion I feel for this process and what it can do for us is largely due to the fact that I feel there is something very unique about it, something has reached me in a very different way. We have all utilized numerous approaches to leadership development and training in the past, with varied levels of success. This process, when fully understood and administered effectively by our leaders, leads us to success. When that kind of success occurs, it should be shared freely so we can all have the opportunity to enjoy our music and harmony, without the continuous trials and tribulations of unsuccessful attempts at leadership and training. I do not see this as the end of the story, but as the very beginning.

“Who knows? Maybe tonight…………..maybe tonight…………..maybe tonight!”

A wider band of eyeliner is appropriate for stage. Dark brown, black-brown, or black are most commonly used. For those with small and/or deep-set eyes brown or deep gray may be best. Black-brown seems to work well for most people. It gives definition without being too harsh. To avoid the raccoon look, use a lighter line on lower lids. Remember, it’s the eyes we want to see, not the makeup.

Black mascara works well for everybody.

Now about those false eyelashes. I stand out on a well-supported limb with a number of others who do not believe false eyelashes are necessary. Here’s the deal. If you choose to wear false eyelashes, you made a good choice. Buy black ones that are lacy or wispy, lashes that allow the light to come through so the eyes are seen. The heavy, fuzzy ones, or the ones banded with rhinestones call attention to the lashes rather than the eyes. If, however, your goal is to accessorize a particular costume, the “fuzzies” or rhinestones may be appropriate.

If you don’t wear the false eyelashes. Simply use heavy eyeliner on the top lid and add about 3-4 coats of lash-lengthening mascara. Several top-level choruses have successfully chosen this route.

Choose a blush color that compliments the costume color, eye shadow, and foundation. Accent the “apples” of the cheeks and blend, blend, blend outward toward the hairline. Practice application.

Clear, bright, red lipstick is nearly always your best choice, no matter what color the costume is. Lipsticks with a lot of blue in them may become harsh and dark under stage lights. Orange reds tend to fade. Try them out with the costume color, eye shadow, and blush. Lip liner in a darker shade is a good choice for additional lip definition.

Nail polish is your choice. Wear it or not. If you do, everybody should wear the same complimentary color. With so many people wearing acrylics or some other version of fake nails, you may choose to go with white tips. Uniformity and appropriateness to your costume style is the ticket.

Whatever combination of makeup you choose, try it out under stage lights, if at all possible, or brightest daylight, in the costume (or with a large swatch of fabric) to see how it all works together. We don’t need any nasty surprises after purchasing a lot of expensive makeup.