Revisiting my why - our work matters
Did you know that according to a study, job satisfaction rates for orchestral musicians ranked below that of prison guards?
We musicians believe we are special and lucky because we love what we do. But we are not immune to feeling lost or unfulfilled in our profession.
Having been a cellist, I know that musicians complain about conductors. As a conductor, I also know that conductors complain about musicians. It's just the way it is. We think in terms of us versus them: leader vs. group, expert vs. novices, teacher vs. class, and conductor vs. ensemble. Musicians hold the burden of pleasing conductors, and conductors hold the burden of asserting their ideas on others. The truth is that we are all scared.
Musicians are scared of making mistakes. Conductors are scared that the musicians won't come along. We all wonder: what if they don't like me? What if I do something wrong? What if it doesn't work? We are all scared, and we all want our work to matter.
Imagine conductors and musicians on the same side. We can stand up for each other, work together to solve problems, understand we can't accomplish anything without each other, and above all else, trust each other. In that world, we'd feel safe taking risks - to make our art better than we could ever imagine. We'd feel trusted to speak up about things that need to be fixed. We'd feel empowered to have opinions. We'd feel like our work matters.
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When we want our work to matter, we try so hard to serve our paying customers - our audiences. But by doing so, we actually neglect the people who serve those customers - the musicians on stage.
Musicians all love concerts, but rehearsals often feel like a chore. Music that was once a deep passion for us becomes merely a job--clocking in and clocking out, off to the next gig. We start feeling lost and unappreciated, and stop knowing why we're showing up in the first place.
Imagine what it would feel like to want to go to rehearsal, to know why we're there - beyond the paycheck and not for a vague purpose like let's have a great concert, but for a cause, something worth fighting for. What if the person sitting next to you shared your fight? We'd feel like our work matters.
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So my question to you - conductors, musicians, and arts leaders: would you want to feel like your work matters?
If so, let's commit to taking care of the people who take care of the customers.
We can feel safe to take risks to perform better than our best because our work matters.
We can feel trusted to speak up about what's holding us back because our work matters.
We can show up every day fulfilled with purpose because our work matters.
Nobody is stopping us.
I invite you to join me - in starting conversations with your friends, colleagues, and with yourselves to make our work matter. Share this blog with someone you love, someone who cares, someone who'd want their work to matter.
My name is Tiffany Chang and this is Conductor as CEO. I imagine a world where conductors make artistic organizations great like CEOs make businesses great--first by being of service to its people so that they feel their work matters.
Thank you.
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