When you look back at your career, what has brought you the most joy, the most satisfaction? I recently completed a work experience timeline and reflection going all the way back to my first job at age 14. I gained two insights from this exercise.

• The high points of my career, irrespective of my role, have this in common – strong, stable leadership and a culture where I felt like part of a tight-knit ensemble, like being in a band.
• I feel the most satisfaction from empowering teams through transparency, tactfully unearthing issues, and influencing processes in a way that leads to better outcomes.
  

This reflection, recent conversations, and karaoke (yes, sober & virtual) with colleagues sparked this blog post series inspired by my beloved band geek days.

B: Lanessa, hope you don’t mind, but I’ve been stealing a phrase you use a lot because I like it.
Me: (smiling) Oh yeah, what’s that?
B: The same sheet of music.

Photo by Sarah Dao on Unsplash

Early Leadership Illuminations

B is right. I say this frequently, “…so that we are all on the same sheet of music.” Music became an incredible force early in my life. In the 4th grade, I learned to play the clarinet & began to thrive in my “band family”. It’s where I discovered flow state and first experienced sound as both color and texture. I learned how every individual part mattered, and I felt deeply how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I saw the generative power of diversity on a team.

At age 16, in my first year as drum major, I lit up in band leadership camp sessions in Wisconsin with Tim Lautzenheiser. He illustrated the concept of servant leadership — what I knew concretely through my own experience — that leaders, especially those formally titled, are not at the top of the proverbial totem pole. Rather, they are at the foundation to provide a stable base and to be force multipliers, amplifying the abilities of everyone on the team. Leaders create the atmosphere for good work to happen.

At age 12, participating as a rookie member of the marching band, I observed that even in bandmates who were not titled “section leaders” in our 150-member ragtag ensemble, I felt their influence through actions. The older kids who spoke up if someone was being bullied. The older kids who made sure they knew my name and treated me with respect. The kids who gave us clear direction, timely, honest feedback, and also encouragement. I felt seen and cared for, even when the care came in the form of tough love.

The Contrarian: Music to my Ears

Today, when I say, “on the same sheet of music,” I mean collectively communicating and looking at processes in textual and visual format together so that we invite one another to poke holes in things, raise questions, or say “Yes, this will suffice for an MVP version.” We look at the figurative staff, the horizontal lines on a sheet of music, and we all understand what we are doing, how the parts, our individual notes, fit together and support one another for the outcome we aspire to — for the experience we need to deliver.

The most exciting part for me about looking at any “sheet of music” together, though, has always been creating an environment that invites people to speak up and share a perspective that may be perceived as being out of tune or “contrarian.” What about this spot, this bar here, what happens if…?

Generative Power

When people are afraid to speak up, employee engagement suffers, and organizations lose access to valuable information — information flow that provides creative engagement, improved decisions, enhanced outcomes, and risk mitigation in dynamic environments.

Parting Thoughts

In my current role as a program manager, I think back to the 16-year-old Lanessa drenched in sweat under the South Alabama sun, coordinating, conducting, smiling at the pit crew jamming on the tympanies and the xylophones. Sometimes clapping as we practiced our drill moves on the marching band field sans sound over and over and over until the moves became automatic. Sometimes jumping off the podium to run our collective grueling laps around the field as punishment for some mistake the band director called out. Sweating it out together & laughing together – sharing the pain & joy of being part of a tight-knit team.

That’s my wish for you, Dear Reader, the joy of being part of a tight-knit team in a space that amplifies your natural gifts. We need your voice in the world.

Attributions

• Thank you to Esther Derby, for your expertise and generosity in holding space.
• Thank you to my peer BT, a product & technology leader, an incredible artist & deft deliverer of constructive golden sideways feedback. -by “Sideways,” I mean “Peer.”
• Thank you to my “bandmates” who included me in the virtual group karaoke of “Bohemian Rhapsody” during last week’s standup meeting. You guys rock.

Today’s Musical Accompaniment: Caamp’s “By & By” [YouTube], [Spotify]