In the last and final article of this series, we’ll explore how the three themes I’ve discussed in previous articles––commitment, connection and congruence—work in dialectic relationship to transform people’s understanding of themselves and their capabilities, and thus encourage them to develop of leadership qualities. The themes seemed to be quite naturally intertwined in the thinking of my research participants as they spoke of their singing experiences.
For instance, Lisa first tells what her voice represents to her, then evokes the confidence gained from public performance and describes how that motivated her to continue to study and perform.
“It’s represented what my unique gift is. . . . I think that the more I’ve sung, and the more you get outside acknowledgment that you have a good voice—that they want to hear you sing more—that makes you want to study more. That makes you want to apply that discipline and step out on the ledge again.”
The implication here seems clear. Aspects of commitment and connection foster each other and in turn foster aspects of congruence, which then fosters more aspects of commitment and connection, and the cycle continues.
Jane sums it up succinctly, “Once you do that and you discover you can do that, it opens up a host of other possibilities for taking risk.”
This applies not only to singing but to taking on challenges in other areas, including leadership. I asked my respondents what qualities they feel characterize their leadership practice. In naming their individual leadership qualities, words and phrases such as “preparation,” “emotional connection,” “openness,” “discipline,” “persistence,” “communication,” “vision,” and “self-acceptance” surfaced. Almost all agreed that participation in singing might have informed their leadership practice. Many of the respondents talked about how their experiences learning to sing and singing in public developed in them the self-awareness and confidence to feel that they could take on a leadership role.
As Susan said, “There’s a sense of accomplishment and empowerment in getting up and singing and doing those things . . . it made me feel more confident in forging forward with the things that I wanted to do in other areas. ‘Wow, I can walk on the stage and do this piece and work with this conductor. I can get up and talk to people about donating to this organization.’ It made me feel comfortable about that use of my voice.”
Participation in singing required a significant commitment of time, energy, and effort from my respondents. Learning to sing is a form of experiential learning, so it required total involvement of mind and body. Author Peter Vaill, in his book Learning as a Way of Being, calls this “expressive learning.” He uses the example of performing artists to illustrate the value of expressive learning,
“I can suggest that performing artists have an additional experience that is highly instructive for learners of managerial leadership. They learn their art through performing it. They discover new depths in the soliloquy, the cadenza, the pas de deux, by performing it. Yes, by reflecting on it (reflexive learning); yes, by experimenting with it (creative learning); yes, by repeating it over and over (continual learning). But all these ways of learning presume that the performers are doing the activity in the first place—which is expressive learning.”
Through expressive learning my respondents became increasingly aware of their abilities to pursue and achieve a sense of mastery. Their ideas of what they could accomplish changed, enlarged, and transformed. They learned that they could. They could be disciplined. They could persevere. They could focus intently. They could figure it out. They could connect with and feel a sense of ownership over their bodies. They could feel the growth and power of their voices. They could risk and experiment in order to learn. The habits they adopted and applied toward singing were habits that then turned into situated behaviors, ways of thinking and being that these women carried into their work lives, ways that continue to influence their approach to all kinds of challenges they meet.
Participation in singing caused a transformation in my respondents’ understanding of themselves and their capabilities. In developing their voices, they developed aspects of themselves, aspects of their individual identities and awareness of their individual capacities. Linda Coughlin, a leader of a Fortune 150 travel and real-estate corporation, says unequivocally that “there is . . . no substitute for the power that comes from self-awareness.” Self-awareness leads to personal leadership and is the first step in learning to lead others.
Further, as my respondents studied and performed they developed a sense of efficacy around singing, a sense of “I can,” that enabled their “I can” attitudes in other areas, including leadership.
Leadership researcher Diane Ketelle, writing about the importance of self-efficacy for leaders, cites research on how “personal efficacy influences people’s choices and goals, their hopes and aspirations, how much effort they exert and how long they will persist in the face of difficulties and disappointments. . . . other studies in the self-efficacy literature that suggest leader self-efficacy perceptions contribute to leader success.”
So what does this all mean? I go back to Ann Karpf’s quote, which I used in the second article of this series: “Finding one’s voice . . . is a powerful experience, with the capacity to alter one’s view of oneself and one’s place in the world.”
Susan battled with stage fright, but she was motivated to continue singing as a soloist because of the sense of accomplishment she felt from performing. Each time the audience applauded her voice, it affirmed and enlarged her sense of herself. “It made me feel comfortable about that use of my voice,” she says.
Comfort with her voice translated to comfort with herself, and the belief that she had the ability to take on other challenges.
“Things that you initially think are not achievable that can be, and to always have that open mind about it, that ‘Yeah, I can do that,’ because of the things that I’ve done musically and the opportunities I’ve had, and what I’ve put myself into . . . and walking away saying ‘Wow, I didn’t think I could do that and I did it! Wow, I want to go try this.’”
Like all of the women in my study, Susan dared to fail openly, dared to risk public vulnerability by sending her voice, and thus herself, out into the world for all to hear, assess, and scrutinize. “Great goals are never reached until you decide to dare to fail,” wrote Joe Batten, author of The Master Motivator: Secrets of Inspiring Leadership.
Others dare to fail in other media, but singers dare to fail, in full public view, through the medium—voice—that is so integrally linked with identity and self-knowledge. Why is this so important? Because the empowerment that results from such an act is what fosters identity. In other words, to have voice is to have identity. To have voice is also to have the potential to lead.
My research advisor and I were talking about this in her office one day. At one point she said that she thought the link between voice and leadership is identity. After I left our meeting, I pondered this idea. “Maybe,” I thought, “or maybe the link between identity and leadership is voice.” Then I realized it is both. Voice is central to identity. To truly know your identity, you must know your voice. Conversely, to be able to communicate with a genuine voice, you must be secure in your sense of self. Your literal and your figurative voice—how you convey your values, what you stand for, how you are in the world—are the core of your identity, and thus are central to becoming an authentic leader. Author Sharon Parks underscores this when she writes that leaders “have to convey the integrity of an authentic, congruent self.”
Leaders who truly help others to create change are those who lead from within. Their habits of mind and ways of being secure their individual sense of self, their sense of purpose, commitment, confidence and personal congruence. The women in my study seem to embody such qualities and have indicated that their participation in singing helped foster and reinforce these qualities. Through singing, they took the time to develop their voices and themselves to fullness. Their habits of mind and ways of being blossomed over time, within and without, as they practiced and mastered singing. They learned about themselves and their capabilities, thus transforming and enlarging their individual sense of self, and encouraging congruence. They then appropriated these qualities and capabilities in service of their work as leaders.
Whatever your future holds, if you are to be successful you must take a leadership role in determining the path of your career. I hope you realize now that by the very acts of studying and performing, indeed by doing what you most love to do—singing—you are developing the qualities and habits of a leader. You are, in short, developing the leader in you.
