A Rock in the Hand
Julie Brinks
As a freshman entering high school, auditions for the marching band started with band camp in the heat of August. As an oboe player, I was a leader. The entire orchestra tuned their instruments to me. In the marching band, however, double reeds were relegated to flag duty or to the percussion section. A flag girl I was not, so I agreed to wield a big sideways piano played with a mallet called a glockenspiel. On the first day of camp, all of the freshmen were gathered into a group to begin to learn the marching maneuvers. That was when the terrible reality came out. I....the queen of the music world....was direction-ally challenged. I literally didn't know my right from my left. A glockenspiel colliding with a slide trombone on the field was a surefire disaster.
Mr. Scheidel, our music director, had apparently dealt with this particular challenge before. He came over and placed a rock in my left hand. He then said, "Every time you hear the drum major say flank left, turn toward the rock." It worked. Not only did it work, but by my senior year, I was the drum major and was also writing charts for the field formations that the band would perform each week. The secret to my success was that I still carried that rock in my left pocket during every performance.
Challenges can often be overcome by a slight shift in perspective.
But was it my perspective that shifted, or was it that of my music director? You see, he recognized that I was not going to respond correctly to the instructions by purely an aural cue. In my case, I needed to connect the verbal command to something physical in order to perform. As leaders, a significant part of our role is to effectively guide indivduals on our team to overcome challenges. By recognizing which types of cues they respond to best - pictures, words, experiences - then adapting our teaching moments to their learning style, we can help accelerate them toward great performance.
Is someone on your team having a performance challenge? Do they struggle with something that seems easy and natural to everyone else? Are you??
During many live newscasts I have heard the control room director tell the camera operator to "pan left", and then heard them relay the command again as "your other left". Listen closely….observe fully. Perhaps they just need you to give them a rock in the hand.
Throughout her career, Julie Brinks has naturally migrated toward challenging and complex senior leadership positions in the broadcast industry, successfully bridging technology , content, marketing and business roles. Regarded as a turn around specialist, she serves as a business consultant and executive coach with a focus on helping leaders overcome obstacles and achieve their goals.