Corps leadership and what Josh wrote

[xandandl]

Often debated and discussed on DCP is why certain corps do well, what admins and staffs are successes on and off the field with their units and the activity, why kids gravitate to one corps or another. Usually the discussion focuses on the negatives and deficiencies. Here for once is an article written by one of DCP's own Josh Clements which highlights some of the positives of leadership among the mms and within the line.

In light of several of the threads most currently, this positive approach to leadership and where the activity is headed seems an apt ground for discussion among all decades of DCI and pre-DCI membership.  What resonates with your experience and your hopes for the activity?

https://www.musicandmarching.com/blog/2018/6/29/humans-of-drum-corps-sara-bowden-7jxgl

[mfrontz]

Bump. Really inspiring article.

[mjoakes]

Glad you posted this @xandandl, since it really is a nice, positive piece. It's inspirational, as @mfrontz notes. In fact, I think these kinds of pieces are helpful primarily from an inspirational perspective. That's especially important given what his still largely a formative age for so many in the activity.

Sara's emphasis on working with new members, or struggling members, to help them succeed is one of the good take-aways.

I don't think we learn much about the fundamentals of leadership. Not at all a ding to the article. It's just that getting at those fundamentals is really tough. Being positive is obviously a good thing. There might be contexts in which it isn't, however. There might be situations in which taking a leadership role in part requires being a candid critic. (If there isn't very good critical thinking about things, someone deciding to stand up aggressively to the GH issues - a few years ago, say - might have been viewed as one of those negative voices that were harming the organization. Individuals and the organizations they serve can waive the "be positive" flag, at times, as a weapon against those pushing for much needed change.)

Commitment and a sort of stick-to-it-ness is also really important - and really noble of all this year's Cadets. But then there are also times when the right thing to do might be to step away from an especially bad or toxic situation. Or even short of bad or toxic, when a situation just isn't suitable personally.

I won't go on. Leadership and good management generally can be pretty fuzzing things. I appreciate when people do either one very well in large part because there doesn't seem to be clearly documentable fundamentals. The mess-ups are important as transparent reminders of just how tough it is.

I admire Sara and those people running The Cadets who are managing things well enough to keep someone like her on track and dedicated. I hope they have a great tour.