Ramona Wis The Conductor As A Leader

In her book “The Conductor as a Leader”, Ramona Wis outlines many idea and concepts regarding how to be an effective leader. Many of her ideas seemed particularly profound to me as I read, but a small list seemed to stand out above the others. These points stood out to me often because I could relate them to experiences in my own life and conceptualize how their application would have changed an experience for myself.
The first point, and the most foundational to the book, was the entire notion of the Servant Leader. Though I had heard of the servant leader before, I had never taken time to study leadership styles or philosophies. Any ideas I had regarding leadership came from watching other leaders around me and that I operated under. Most
This came back to bite me later in high school. By my junior year, I was a high-ranking officer in the school orchestra program. There was a particular day we were setting up for our Christmas party and my parents had come to bring some food to the party. As a result of the circumstance, my father got to see me acting in my position of leadership and I remember how pulled me aside and explained to me how I was failing everyone I was supposed to be leading. I, like those I had learned leadership from, was deriving my power from my title within the orchestra, barking orders and functioning in my dictatorial way. My dad, who is captain at his fire department explained that if he were to treat his crew the way I had treated my crew, it would result in a revolt and in no way produce an effective fire-fighting
This is a crucial step in becoming an effective leader but also in staying that way. From my leadership experience, I remember constantly evaluating and reevaluating my subordinates, trying to determine who would be the next individual to take the next leadership position. As a section leader, I was constantly doing the same trying to determine who to ask to play certain events with me, who’s advice I might seek if I looked for advice, etc. but as a leader, I seldom took the time to reevaluate myself. I can’t help but wonder how much more effective I could have been by my senior year when I had been in leadership positions since my sophomore year? As we age, as we garner experience, we gain better insight and greater wisdom. Greater wisdom will always result in growth. How ignorant must we be to not apply the wisdom we gain to ourselves? In my case, it was the ignorance of a high schooler. Later in the book, Wis mentions uses the example of Benjamin Zander who is constantly accepting feedback from those whom he leads to better himself. While I see the value in this now, and intend to always try and collect feedback from those whom I am privileged enough to lead, I can only wish I had seen that value earlier in high