Bagpiper Models Leadership

A recent trip, almost post Covid, took us to hear a bagpiping band; a combination of pipes and drums. There are enormous moving parts in such a band and it was unclear how all would be coordinated, where they would stand, what they would play, what the harmony would be and what the timing would be for the drums

Then I saw the leader. Since this is a key interest of mine, I watched the leader to see if there was something we could learn in the “non bagpiping life”..

For one thing, she kept the beat by marching in place…and all the drummers and pipers watched her….and of course followed suit. She made eye contact with each member of the band smiling as much as she could while she was pumping the bag and playing the pipe.

When it was time to stop she raised her head stepped forward and signaled STOP. And all came to a surgical stop with only the notes wafting in the room. If you’ve ever heard pipes playing Amazing Grace you know what I mean.

Then she clapped for all of them making eye contact with each player. At the break she checked in more deeply with the players and at one point tuned an out of tune bagpipe. She seemed the most cross competent in the room.

The respect for her was visible and palpable.

And though I know her job was multifaceted; a lot riding on it, she looked like she was having fun…..a leader having fun!

I wonder what we could learn from this inspiring show of leadership.

Though many qualities come to mind the following rose to the top.

The leader demonstrated Caring, Connection, Competence and Celebration. These qualities go a long way in a work environment. People want to know that they are known and cared about, that they have a strong connection to the mission of the company,(the why) that they have the tools and competencies to do the job and that there will be celebrations of achievements on a regular basis.

Which leads me to the competency of the leader. Yes to be a competent role model (but also to demonstrate caring and connection), letting the employee know how their work makes a difference and finally to celebrate with day to day feedback and with regular celebrations.

This points to the fact that satisfaction is more than bricks and mortar and equipment. That is the what of satisfaction. It is the how that yields the stronger return for retention. Its about the leader promoting belonging, connectedness, caring and valuing of employees. That’s what the pipe band leader was doing for the players.

And finally, inject good fun into work; it goes a long way toward better retention. And if you are stumped in a given situation, you could march to keep the beat (or at least tell your employees the bag pipe story and see what they think).