Dr. Jeannine Jordan“Integrity is like the weather:
everybody talks about it but nobody knows what to do about it. Integrity is that stuff we always say we want more of . . . We want it in our schools and our houses of worship . . . So perhaps we should say thatintegrity is like good weather, because everybody is in favor of it.” (Carter, p.6.)
As musicians we have been given great gifts that through work and perseverance we share with the world in a multitude of ways from teaching to performing to composing to writing. But without integrity or wholeness of character, our musical gifts will become unusable or at least less fruitful. So what is integrity?
The dictionary definition of integrity uses three words: wholeness, unity, and honesty. “When talking about integrity, we are talking about being a whole person, an integrated person, with all our different parts working well and delivering the functions that they were designed to deliver.” (Cloud, p. 31)
In their book The Integrity Advantage, Adrian Gostick and Dana Telford identify ten “integrity characteristics.” Let’s examine how these “integrity characteristics” can be integrated into the life of the whole musician—the musician with all the different parts working well and delivering the functions that they were designed to deliver to students, colleagues, and audiences.
1. You know that little things count. If you don’t lie or cheat on the small things, you are not corrupted by larger temptations.
The popular expression “Don’t sweat the small stuff” is poor advice for the musician of integrity. As teachers, performers, and church musicians our lives can become singular as we hone our craft alone in a practice room. Yet as practicing musicians we constantly are called to interact with the public. Each of our “small” actions is open for scrutiny. Have you ever been tempted to make a “quick copy” of a piece of music for a student or choir member knowing that you lack copyright permission to make that copy?
2. You find the white (when others see gray). You don’t make difficult decisions alone. You receive counsel and take the long- term view.
Several years ago the church where I was teaching initiated a room use fee. This fee was going to greatly increase the expense to my organ studio. Instead of merely announcing to my students that a room rental fee would be added to the following semester’s lesson fees, I asked for counsel from my students and sought other alternatives. We took the long-term view by carefully weighing the convenience of the present teaching space, the type of organ, and the ability to reserve the space not only for lessons but student
concerts as well. In the end, through the counsel of my students, I made the decision to remain at the same church and add a room use fee to the lesson amount. The students, because of their buy-in, understand the addition of the fee and are satisfied with the studio location.
3. You mess up, you ‘fess up. You disclose both good news and bad. You acknowledge mistakes, apologize and make amends.
I recently had the humbling experience of having to reschedule an entire week of lessons. I “messed up” and scheduled lessons for a week I would be out of town. I had to “‘fess up” and disclose the news that no matter how carefully I had planned the summer
lesson schedule, it just wasn’t going to work. I apologized and asked to reschedule the week’s lessons. Thankfully, most of my wonderful students changed their schedules to accommodate mine.
4. You create a culture of trust. You develop a work environment that will not test the personal integrity of your students or your colleagues.
I am privileged to have a studio of nearly twenty adult organ students with whom I share a culture of trust. Some of my students have played for churches for years and are studying to enhance their service playing skills while others are pursuing playing the organ as a new avocation. Together we have created a wonderfully trusting and supportive community where ideas and performances are shared freely and easily.
5. You keep your word. You act with integrity to gain trust.
If I tell my students we are going to have an opportunity to play the outstanding pipe organs at Mt. Angel Abbey, it is not a whimsical idea. I know once such an opportunity is presented to my students, I will have to follow through. By working through the myriad of details necessary to make that performance and learning opportunity a reality, I continue to build trust with my enthusiastic group of students. “In the end trust is about the heart, and someone making an investment in you from his or her heart. If you gain people’s trust, their heart, then you also have their desire and passion. Good teachers capture the other people’s will, their true desire, through connecting with them first. “ (Cloud, p.53)
6. You care about the greater good. You make decisions that will benefit the entire organization.
Caring about the greater good means providing community building opportunities such as Play-Ins, recitals, and music-sharing days for my students; working to choose, prepare, and share music that will enhance worship for my church’s congregation; presenting concerts that will advance the value of music making in society; and supporting the professionalism of my musical colleagues.
7. You’re honest but modest. You let your actions speak louder than words.
I frequently talk about and write about the two “P” words--Practice and Performance. However, it is important that I do more than talk and write about this subject; I also practice, create and perform new programs hoping that my example will encourage my
students to work toward their practice and performance goals.
8. You act like you’re being watched. You make sure your integrity is passed along to future generations through your example.
As musicians we are always being watched or listened to in one way or another. Barbara Killinger in her book, Integrity, presents advice for musicians quoting a song by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine from their insightful musical, Into the Woods:
“Careful of the things you say,
Children (students, congregations, audiences, colleagues)
will listen.
Careful of the things you do,
Children (students, congregations, audiences, colleagues)
will see
And learn.
Children (students, congregations, choirs, audiences,colleagues) will look to you
For which way to turn,
To learn what to be.
Careful before you say,
‘Listen to me.’
Children (students, congregations, audiences, colleagues) will listen.”
9. You hire integrity and you promote those who show an ability to be trusted.
Fill your musical lives with those colleagues and students who have integrity. Share ideas with them, learn from them, listen to them, interact with them, and encourage them to
grow in their professional competencies.
10. You keep on keeping on. You have ethical consistency and predictability.
The anecdote, “The Gifted Musician” from Hidalgo’s writing, encourages us to consistently and predictably practice not only our instrument but also integrity in our musical life: “Most people only enjoy listening to music, but some people also enjoy creating music. Some musicians are good, some are better and then there are those who are exceptionally good—considered to have the “gift” of music. But even they have to practice. I attended a concert recently where a fan of the featured musician walked up
to his favorite performer and said: “You’re an outstanding musician!” The artist replied saying: “Thank you, I appreciate you saying so. I practice everyday.”
Just as we as musicians must practice every day to maintain a high level of artistic talent, so too must we practice implementing integrity every day in our musical lives.
everybody talks about it but nobody knows what to do about it. Integrity is that stuff we always say we want more of . . . We want it in our schools and our houses of worship . . . So perhaps we should say thatintegrity is like good weather, because everybody is in favor of it.” (Carter, p.6.)
As musicians we have been given great gifts that through work and perseverance we share with the world in a multitude of ways from teaching to performing to composing to writing. But without integrity or wholeness of character, our musical gifts will become unusable or at least less fruitful. So what is integrity?
The dictionary definition of integrity uses three words: wholeness, unity, and honesty. “When talking about integrity, we are talking about being a whole person, an integrated person, with all our different parts working well and delivering the functions that they were designed to deliver.” (Cloud, p. 31)
In their book The Integrity Advantage, Adrian Gostick and Dana Telford identify ten “integrity characteristics.” Let’s examine how these “integrity characteristics” can be integrated into the life of the whole musician—the musician with all the different parts working well and delivering the functions that they were designed to deliver to students, colleagues, and audiences.
1. You know that little things count. If you don’t lie or cheat on the small things, you are not corrupted by larger temptations.
The popular expression “Don’t sweat the small stuff” is poor advice for the musician of integrity. As teachers, performers, and church musicians our lives can become singular as we hone our craft alone in a practice room. Yet as practicing musicians we constantly are called to interact with the public. Each of our “small” actions is open for scrutiny. Have you ever been tempted to make a “quick copy” of a piece of music for a student or choir member knowing that you lack copyright permission to make that copy?
2. You find the white (when others see gray). You don’t make difficult decisions alone. You receive counsel and take the long- term view.
Several years ago the church where I was teaching initiated a room use fee. This fee was going to greatly increase the expense to my organ studio. Instead of merely announcing to my students that a room rental fee would be added to the following semester’s lesson fees, I asked for counsel from my students and sought other alternatives. We took the long-term view by carefully weighing the convenience of the present teaching space, the type of organ, and the ability to reserve the space not only for lessons but student
concerts as well. In the end, through the counsel of my students, I made the decision to remain at the same church and add a room use fee to the lesson amount. The students, because of their buy-in, understand the addition of the fee and are satisfied with the studio location.
3. You mess up, you ‘fess up. You disclose both good news and bad. You acknowledge mistakes, apologize and make amends.
I recently had the humbling experience of having to reschedule an entire week of lessons. I “messed up” and scheduled lessons for a week I would be out of town. I had to “‘fess up” and disclose the news that no matter how carefully I had planned the summer
lesson schedule, it just wasn’t going to work. I apologized and asked to reschedule the week’s lessons. Thankfully, most of my wonderful students changed their schedules to accommodate mine.
4. You create a culture of trust. You develop a work environment that will not test the personal integrity of your students or your colleagues.
I am privileged to have a studio of nearly twenty adult organ students with whom I share a culture of trust. Some of my students have played for churches for years and are studying to enhance their service playing skills while others are pursuing playing the organ as a new avocation. Together we have created a wonderfully trusting and supportive community where ideas and performances are shared freely and easily.
5. You keep your word. You act with integrity to gain trust.
If I tell my students we are going to have an opportunity to play the outstanding pipe organs at Mt. Angel Abbey, it is not a whimsical idea. I know once such an opportunity is presented to my students, I will have to follow through. By working through the myriad of details necessary to make that performance and learning opportunity a reality, I continue to build trust with my enthusiastic group of students. “In the end trust is about the heart, and someone making an investment in you from his or her heart. If you gain people’s trust, their heart, then you also have their desire and passion. Good teachers capture the other people’s will, their true desire, through connecting with them first. “ (Cloud, p.53)
6. You care about the greater good. You make decisions that will benefit the entire organization.
Caring about the greater good means providing community building opportunities such as Play-Ins, recitals, and music-sharing days for my students; working to choose, prepare, and share music that will enhance worship for my church’s congregation; presenting concerts that will advance the value of music making in society; and supporting the professionalism of my musical colleagues.
7. You’re honest but modest. You let your actions speak louder than words.
I frequently talk about and write about the two “P” words--Practice and Performance. However, it is important that I do more than talk and write about this subject; I also practice, create and perform new programs hoping that my example will encourage my
students to work toward their practice and performance goals.
8. You act like you’re being watched. You make sure your integrity is passed along to future generations through your example.
As musicians we are always being watched or listened to in one way or another. Barbara Killinger in her book, Integrity, presents advice for musicians quoting a song by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine from their insightful musical, Into the Woods:
“Careful of the things you say,
Children (students, congregations, audiences, colleagues)
will listen.
Careful of the things you do,
Children (students, congregations, audiences, colleagues)
will see
And learn.
Children (students, congregations, choirs, audiences,colleagues) will look to you
For which way to turn,
To learn what to be.
Careful before you say,
‘Listen to me.’
Children (students, congregations, audiences, colleagues) will listen.”
9. You hire integrity and you promote those who show an ability to be trusted.
Fill your musical lives with those colleagues and students who have integrity. Share ideas with them, learn from them, listen to them, interact with them, and encourage them to
grow in their professional competencies.
10. You keep on keeping on. You have ethical consistency and predictability.
The anecdote, “The Gifted Musician” from Hidalgo’s writing, encourages us to consistently and predictably practice not only our instrument but also integrity in our musical life: “Most people only enjoy listening to music, but some people also enjoy creating music. Some musicians are good, some are better and then there are those who are exceptionally good—considered to have the “gift” of music. But even they have to practice. I attended a concert recently where a fan of the featured musician walked up
to his favorite performer and said: “You’re an outstanding musician!” The artist replied saying: “Thank you, I appreciate you saying so. I practice everyday.”
Just as we as musicians must practice every day to maintain a high level of artistic talent, so too must we practice implementing integrity every day in our musical lives.