Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • December 2015
7
Randy T. Gilmore, Owner/President, Marching Show Concepts, Inc./Center X Productions, Inc.
It is commonly believed that our
students are enrolled in school to
learn life skills and to build a wealth of
knowledge to become productive men
and women in society. Undoubtedly,
math and science, history and language
classes provide that knowledge and
develop skills that can be applied to
everything from a meal preparation,
banking and purchasing, to working
at any number of professions. Less
often however, is a student confronted
with his/her skills to be an effective
leader, or trained to become an
entrepreneur or CEO. Where is the
student encouraged to think outside
the box, taught how to delegate, or
lead a group of peers?
Most of us know the answer
to that question but still band is
often considered dispensable to the
educational system, as budget cuts
and scheduling dilemmas attest. Too
often those not involved in the band
activity consider this elective to be
simply about music and nothing
more. Though awareness is growing
and statistics increasingly confirm the
extraordinary opportunities music
education presents for students to
excel in life, it is often overlooked
or marginalized under the weight of
more traditional subjects. However,
to those familiar with the activity,
band is known to be an exceptional
proving ground for strong leaders of
the future.
Even though relatively few high
school students go on to become
musicians or music educators
themselves, virtually all of them
become well acquainted with the
inner drive and learn how to harness
its power to achieve individually and
as a meaningful member of a group.
Leadership opportunities in band are
plentiful and provide a significant
platform for personal growth and
development.
Many of you have experienced
great success and have obtained
many awards for having exceptional
programs. However, the true success
is holding fast to the belief that it’s
all about developing students today
to become highly competent and
honorable citizens tomorrow.
So the
question is:
What are we teaching?
Success can be obtained by teaching
life skills first and technical skills
second. They are like the two wheels of
a bicycle. Both are virtually important
to the success of each individual and
your program as a whole.
If you want continued success in
developing these leaders you have
to have a plan (or map.) Consider a
scenario where two people are dropped
(separately) into the wilderness and
told that there is a town thirty miles
west of them. Now imagine that one
has a map and the other has nothing.
Who do you think will reach the town
first? The man with the map of course.
Why is that?
The person without the map could
easily determine West by the setting
sun, but without landmarks to guide
him he could easily miss his/her goal or
he/she might struggle with self-doubt
as the time passes without reference to
the distance they have traveled.
If you are just plodding along
(Westward bound) on a day to day
basis with your program, how can you
ever expect to find your destination?
Do you even have a destination?
The best way to make your map
is to first locate your destination.
Then it is helpful to consult a person
that has already traveled your path
and let them give you landmarks to
achieve. This is the process by which
successful band programs operate.
Below are four questions which will
help you to locate your landmarks
on the path to success on which you
should focus your energies.
1. Goals.
What targets and incentives do you
have in place to ensure that you blast
through your program goals?
2. Recruiting.
What are the top three recruiting
strategies that you are going to use in
order to build your program?
3. Relationships.
What is your plan to identify the key
characteristics of your key student
leaders and then adjust your plan to
be a magnet for more of them?
4. Teamwork.
What is your plan to make sure that
your students are loyal and aggressive
in achieving their goals?
Bravo to the band directors, musicians
and advocates who have embraced the
challenge to take on the daily grind
of music education and translate it
into something much more significant
and meaningful. Giving students the
opportunity to take responsibility, to
lead, perform and succeed, continues to
make the band activity a vital part of the
educational process.
Developing the Leaders of Tomorrow
