You are my hero!
Amidst all of the extraordinary challenges, I have been blown away by the resilience, innovation, and fortitude of music students and teachers like you across the country. In 2020, students and teachers found new ways to connect, grow in musicianship, and rise in leadership, demonstrating that music education is more important now than ever. Thanks to you, I have learned these 5 Leadership Lessons from 2020:
1. Challenges are opportunities to grow and innovate. When a challenge gets in your way, build a bridge to get over it, a tunnel to go under it, or create a whole new pathway to go around it. From struggle and crisis comes innovation, creativity, and hope.
2. Your attitude determines your response. You choose your attitude in any situation, and your attitude determines your response in a crisis. How you choose to respond reveals the pathway forward.
3. We need to connect to thrive. When people are physically isolated, leaders take the first step to reach out and connect with others. Leaders view reaching out as their responsibility to maintain the ensemble spirit of togetherness.
4. Taking personal responsibility is key. Leaders take personal responsibility for their decisions. When you are not together physically because of virtual instruction, you have to be self-directed, organized, and proactive to stay on top of things.
5. Sharing appreciation goes a long way. Focusing on gratitude allows us to notice what we do have and what we get to do, as opposed to obsessing over what has been lost. Sharing gratitude for others makes the person who receives your thankfulness feel uplifted and the bonus is that it makes you feel better, too! I applaud you for caring so much about your music program during these difficult times and for facing adversity with a can-do attitude.
The Upbeat Team and I look forward to continuing to support you as you settle in for Winter Break and gear up for 2021. Wishing you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!