Ep. 24 - Staff Change? Successfully Navigate Hiring For Yourself & Your Students

Staff changes are inevitable, but they don't have to disrupt your percussion program. In this episode, Doug Bush, Patricia Islas, and Zach Scheer discuss how to navigate the hiring process by first identifying what you hope to accomplish with a new hire—and then intentionally pursuing that goal. They also share practical advice for evaluating candidates, supporting new staff members, and building a culture that helps both educators and students succeed. 

Questions? Comments? - Reach out! teamislas@gmail.com

Books:
Player's Guide For The Beginning Percussionist - Beginner Percussion Book
Super Hands - Intermediate Snare Drum Method Book by Doug Bush
Momentum - Intermediate 2 Mallet Keyboard Book by Patricia Islas

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@TeamIslas
 https://www.youtube.com/@zachscheer

Socials:
Doug
https://www.facebook.com/doug.bush.31
https://www.instagram.com/teamislas/

Patricia
https://www.facebook.com/patricia.a.islas
https://www.instagram.com/babypvibes/

Zach
https://www.facebook.com/zachscheer/
https://www.instagram.com/zach_scheer/

Transcript

Speaker 2

(0:15) Greetings and salutations, friends, and welcome back to the Team Islas podcast, episode 24. (0:22) My name is Doug Bush, and today I'm joined by Patricia Islas and Zach Scheer. (0:27) And this is the podcast for anyone looking to better themselves in percussion education.(0:33) How to handle staff change. (0:35) It happens. (0:36) People move from school to school all the time in this gig.(0:39) So what are the things that you can do as a director of percussion to help with finding the next great staff member for your program? (0:47) Because at the end of the day, it's not what you're doing, but who you're doing it with. (0:51) We're going to go chronologically here.(0:53) We're going to start from the moment you hear that there could be a staff change through actually the first six months or so working with this new staff member. (1:00) So Mr. Scheer, you've just heard that the middle school band director is retiring, and we're going to hire a new middle school band director. (1:08) What do you do?

Speaker 1

(1:09) First thing I would do, and actually we didn't talk about this in our little green room conversation here, but I think it's important to honor the person who's leaving.

Speaker 2

(1:17) Yes, 100%.

Speaker 1

(1:18) I think all too often, and I've experienced this myself, I've experienced this with people I'm close to, like the second you announce you're leaving, it's like you don't exist anymore.

Speaker 2

(1:29) I am.

Speaker 1

(1:30) I mean, to a certain extent, you're on your way out, so okay. (1:35) But I do think it's important to honor someone who has done a lot of good work with you. (1:43) And that can take a lot of different forms.(1:46) That's not the primary purpose of our conversation today, but I think that's a good thing to do. (1:50) Just personally, professionally, sets a good example for the students and makes your educational environment somewhere hopefully that new person is even more excited to come and be a part of because the way the old person was treated. (2:03) But when it comes to hiring a new person, the first thing that I'm going to define for myself is what am I trying to achieve with my involvement in this hiring process?(2:19) Am I trying to be the very best advocate I can be for the competitive success of the band? (2:28) If so, then there's a certain profile that I'm looking for, for the new director that's coming in. (2:34) Am I trying to find someone who my number one goal is to find someone I really, really like to work with this person?(2:39) Then maybe I'm going to start calling my friends. (2:41) Am I trying to find someone who is the absolute best fit for my goals for the percussion program? (2:48) I think you need to, and this is all going to be very context specific, but you need to ask yourself, you need to be able to answer probably in one sentence or less, what is my goal in this hiring process?(3:00) I think that's first. (3:02) Everything else we're going to talk about is kind of downstream of that. (3:05) Your involvement in the hiring process, what you're advocating for, what you're looking for on resumes, all those things are secondary to what you're trying to achieve with your involvement in the hiring process.

Speaker 2

(3:17) I know one of the things that Ms. Cislas has done as part of the hiring process at Coppell, we're obviously only involved in it at a very low level. (3:27) This might be like a percussion director, assistant percussion director, something like that. (3:30) Very quickly, as soon as you start to get these names and resumes, you go to YouTube.(3:35) Do they have a YouTube channel? (3:36) What kind of things do they have that you can listen to and check out? (3:39) Then you're reaching out to any people you know that might also know this person and professionals.(3:45) The funny thing is I've heard of this going both ways, meaning Leroy Jenkins has applied for the job. (3:51) I reach out to my good friend, Mr. Y, and I respect Mr. Y. (3:57) I admire Mr. Y. (3:59) Maybe I've worked with him. (4:00) He's done good work. (4:00) Hey, what do you know about Leroy Jenkins?(4:02) Oh, I love Leroy, blah, blah, blah, all these good things about him. (4:05) Inverse, here's Mr. X. (4:09) I'm not a big fan of Mr. X. (4:12) He doesn't do great work, you know what I mean? (4:14) Maybe I don't really value that opinion. (4:18) Mr. X loves Billy McJoe. (4:22) Billy McJoe's great and wonderful. (4:23) I've heard situations where then people have been like, oh, I'm hesitant now to want to throw support behind this person because of what other people that I respect or don't in the activity have said about it and vice versa.

Speaker 1

(4:39) Yeah. (4:40) I think in all things, and in that situation you just described is kind of what makes me think this. (4:49) Once I've decided what I'm going for, whatever it is, that's up to you.(4:55) My policy is going to be to get as involved as possible and ask for forgiveness rather than permission in all things. (5:03) In that scenario, Mr. Bush, would I call someone who knows Leroy Jenkins and ask about him? (5:10) Yes.(5:11) Actually, maybe first I would just call Leroy. (5:16) I was in this exact scenario at Coppell. (5:20) I wasn't a middle school director.(5:22) I was a high school head director. (5:25) We were hiring someone new. (5:28) I was not top man on the totem pole at all here.(5:31) I was just the percussion director. (5:32) The admin, they barely even knew my name. (5:36) I didn't really ask anyone.(5:38) I just started picking up the phone and calling people that I wanted. (5:42) It was like, man, what's the dream list of people I could work with? (5:45) I just started calling them.(5:47) I didn't even know if they were interested in the job or if they even knew who I was or knew that the job was open. (5:53) The job actually, I don't think, was actually open at this point.

Speaker 3

(5:57) It was that early.

Speaker 1

(5:58) Yeah. (5:59) I mean, it was like I knew. (6:00) The kids maybe didn't even know.(6:04) Actually, I know what time of year it was because it must have been like February. (6:08) Because at TMEA, there was a person who I knew I wanted them to apply. (6:14) I just went up to them literally on the street outside the convention center.(6:22) I just said, hey, the job at Coppell is going to be opening. (6:27) I would love to have a conversation with you about it. (6:29) That's it.(6:30) They just kind of stared at me like, what? (6:33) Then we ended up meeting later and talking about that. (6:36) I would say, do not hesitate to pick up the phone.(6:42) Don't email. (6:42) Don't call. (6:44) Sorry, don't text.(6:45) Pick up the phone and call and just say, I'd love to have a conversation with you about this. (6:49) In those conversations, I can think of three or four that were just really very, very revealing. (6:55) There were a couple I had that at the end of the conversation, I knew, hey, you know what?(7:00) This person is definitely not my first choice. (7:04) They might be wonderful, but again, I made a decision about what I was trying to get out of this hire and that person just did not align with that. (7:14) That's good to know.(7:15) That helps me whittle down the list. (7:18) There were other people that I picked up the phone and called, I wasn't sure about, and they said things that really surprised me in a positive way. (7:24) I think that's great.(7:26) I don't know if aggressive is the right word, but I would be pretty like proactive is probably the word. (7:33) Yeah, absolutely. (7:34) About getting out there and just talking to people.(7:37) Yeah.

Speaker 3

(7:38) Mr. Scheer, what if I am maybe new to the staff myself or a younger teacher and I don't know a lot of people or I just, I'm tired and I don't have the time that you're talking about that we're required to sink into a project of this magnitude?

Speaker 1

(7:58) Great question, Missy Sloss. (8:01) I think, so first of all, I'll say first, if you just feel like you're new and you're inexperienced, I think it helps to think of yourself as the position, not as you personally, like I'm the percussion director here. (8:15) I'm doing the job that a percussion director does.(8:18) I'm advocating for percussion. (8:20) Think of yourself as the job, not the person. (8:22) That's number one.(8:23) Like even if it's your first year as the percussion director, you have some responsibility on this process. (8:29) But number two, if you're just overwhelmed and you're tired and you're just like, I don't know that I really want to start calling people at seven o'clock at night. (8:37) I think there's a lot that can be done and should be done internally, especially with if you cannot get a seat in the interview, which I think you can try.(8:48) We can talk about that in a minute, but let's say you can't. (8:53) I think you can do a lot of work and this can be done during the school day to talk to the people who are the decision makers. (9:01) I think there's a very good chance that if these are non-musical people like principals or admin, they can look at two resumes that say very different things to us as music educators, but they just might not, they don't know that these resumes two very different things.(9:17) I can make a resume of saying I got first place at all these competitions and a music educator might look at that and go, oh, okay, these competitions, maybe they're not the most rigorous competitions in the world, right?

Speaker 2

(9:31) And then I could- Marty B's talent show.

Speaker 1

(9:33) Right, right. (9:33) Yeah. (9:34) Jim Bob's talent show, we won nationals at the whatever, right?(9:39) And then I could look at another resume that says like, oh man, we went to Midwest and we were honor band and we won BOA grand nationals, you know, like those, there can be first place all over both of these resumes. (9:49) An admin person is not going to know the difference, but you can help kind of translate some of that for them. (9:53) So I think that's maybe a less time consuming and easier path is to try to be an advocate and maybe just a helper in the process to try to translate some of these things.(10:04) Now, I don't think that gives you quite as much personal control. (10:08) But if you're just maybe not as like zealous to get in there and get after it, then that might be a good path for you. (10:16) Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2

(10:19) So the individual, you go through the audition process, right? (10:24) You're, I'm sorry, the interview process, right? (10:27) And hopefully you're involved at that at some capacity or you've been able, regardless, you know, the selection gets made, right?(10:35) And man, unfortunately, this wasn't your number one choice. (10:39) You know, they heard that the gig at Wanakee middle school opened up and they took that as a prestigious institution, right? (10:46) And then your second choice, you know, also didn't work out.(10:51) Third choice moved to the Bahamas. (10:53) So fourth choice got the gig, right? (10:55) And now you're working with this person.(10:59) What's the next step here? (11:01) Like, so the decision has been made. (11:02) We're going Leroy Jenkins.(11:03) What do you do?

Speaker 3

(11:04) I think the next step, the second you find out who this new person is, is reach out to them, right? (11:11) There's going to be an opportunity somewhere along the road that you will be introduced to them or meet them. (11:17) You know, obviously at some point they're going to be (11:19) on your team, but if you can do that early on, if you can take initiative to do that (11:23) and have control over your mental headspace and make it an environment, potentially like (11:32) a coffee shop somewhere, or even at the school, but at a time that's more comfortable and (11:36) not stressful, then the likelihood of having a really great first impression for you and (11:42) for them is much higher than if it's like right in between band classes, the first day (11:47) of school or during band camp when things are falling apart and you've got a million (11:52) problems to solve and you're not in the best mood. (11:54) And then you introduce yourself to this person and then all of a sudden they don't know you at all, but they have a sour impression of you. (11:59) That's going to be something that you're going to have to fight through for a long time.(12:02) So instead, take it upon yourself, reach out to them, be warm, be inviting, just like you would if you were meeting someone that's going to be new to your family or someone who's a new neighbor. (12:12) You want to make sure you put your best foot forward and leave the impression through your actions that you're already on their team.

Speaker 2

(12:20) Yeah, absolutely. (12:22) I can remember when at Coppell the fine arts director position was created and Mr. Miller got that position. (12:28) So then there's a vacancy for the head band director and it ended up being Ms. Shuttlesworth and we had not met her and we didn't know her. (12:38) We just knew her through positive reputation and she was not aware of us. (12:43) But I'm trying to remember who it was. (12:46) I don't even remember if she reached out to us or we reached out to her.(12:49) But somehow long before the first day of school, hey, the three of us should meet. (12:55) Let's meet at one of our favorite boba places. (12:57) And we're meeting for the first time and she puts her phone down and her screen saver has a Boston Terrier and we have a Boston Terrier.(13:02) And so before the conversation even started, I was like, who is this? (13:05) Oh, this is Pumpkin. (13:06) Oh my gosh, I love Pumpkin.(13:08) And it very quickly just went into, okay, what are you wanting for percussion? (13:14) What are your thoughts? (13:15) And I remember that being such just like a really positive conversation and it felt like everybody was on the same page in the same team before we even got in front of the kids the first day.(13:25) And I feel like that trajectory has really helped propel us through. (13:31) It's been maybe like five years now, right? (13:34) But I can still remember the kind of like that initial meeting, the importance of that, like getting everything kind of established on the same page.

Speaker 3

(13:43) I was just going to say, that's such a critical memory. (13:47) I also share a really strong memory of what the day looked like and the restaurant we were in and what I ordered even. (13:56) And there are so many details to that that have stuck in my memory because it's a moment that is so integral into our relationship, our working relationship with us and Kim.

Speaker 1

(14:07) You guys both used a word that I think is really important to identify and define, which is team. (14:15) I think the beginning of a good relationship is to define like, what is this relationship? (14:21) And I'm a fan of the word team.(14:24) I think it's the appropriate correct word for our colleagues we work with. (14:28) Although this word gets used a lot, I don't think it's as accurate and that is family. (14:34) Like a lot of times we refer to like, this is a family or the band feels like a family and that's fine.(14:41) But I actually don't think it's accurate or helpful when we're talking about working relationships because those working relationships are not going to fill maybe what you need personally from a family. (14:54) And if you go into that expectation, you're setting yourself up to be disappointed because those are misaligned expectations.

Speaker 2

(15:01) Yeah. (15:02) And to piggyback on that a little bit, one of the things too that I think is important that you touched on that is just in terms of professionalism here is, and more of a family setting like me and my aunt can have some disagreements on something, whatever. (15:18) And we still love each other because we're still family, right?(15:21) Team-wise, Leroy comes in and he wants to switch the middle school snares to traditional grip for his concert band and whatever. (15:31) And so we might have these things that we disagree on. (15:35) But the professional course of action is to have these conversations away from the students and come to an understanding.(15:43) And then whoever's call it ultimately is, once the decision has been made, you support that individual, right? (15:49) So for you as the percussionist, maybe it's like, hey, no, we're going to go match grip. (15:54) I'm not telling, I'm not getting in with the music selection for the concert program or the reads that the clarinetist, but I am, again, this is my job, right?(16:03) And this was high four and this is a through line through the whole thing, right? (16:08) And so then I need to advocate for the percussion and then Leroy needs to be in my corner. (16:13) But conversely, right?(16:15) If he makes a decision on this or that, whether I agree with it or disagree with it, like when I'm in front of the students, like I am on team, Mr. Jenkins, and this is the way it's being done. (16:24) And I'm fully supporting that.

Speaker 1

(16:26) Yes, absolutely. (16:27) You know, another thing I was thinking, going back to like, okay, new person has just been hired and I was thinking this and this would help that situation you just described Mr. Bush. (16:38) Yes, I'm going to reach out to them.(16:39) I'm going to try to get to know them in a professional way. (16:44) I'm also going to support them to the students. (16:48) Like I'm going to, especially when they are not there, I'm going to say positive things about them to the students.(16:55) I'm going to tell the students, Hey, you know, Mr. So-and-so who just got hired here probably doesn't even know where the bathrooms are yet. (17:01) So like Give them some grace. (17:03) You know, if they be a helper, be, I'm going to tell these things to the students, you know?

Speaker 3

(17:08) Why Mr. Sher?

Speaker 1

(17:10) Why?

Speaker 3

(17:10) Yeah. (17:11) Why is it worth my time?

Speaker 1

(17:13) Why is it worth my effort to do that for that new person?

Speaker 3

(17:15) Yeah.

Speaker 1

(17:16) Yeah. (17:16) Okay. (17:17) Number one, that's what you would want if it were you.(17:21) Number two, I think it sets a good example for the students. (17:26) Uh, you know, we're always talking as band directors about how really, you know, we're teaching band, but we're actually just teaching these life skills and things like that. (17:35) Well, here's a good example of how to do that.(17:37) Um, number three, if I'm just going to get real practical here, um, if we're trying to like, maybe you are a program that's really trying to win some trophies and stuff. (17:46) Well then I need this new person to get in and get with the program as quick as possible. (17:50) And if the kids are on board with me helping that happen, then that's going to help everybody get to our goals as fast as possible.

Speaker 2

(17:56) Right. (17:57) I could be wrong, but I think our first episode was like literally on culture or developing cultures.

Speaker 1

(18:03) Right.

Speaker 2

(18:03) And that's the reason why, you know, you do, you do the right thing. (18:07) Uh, and you set that example for the kids. (18:10) One of our most recent episodes was like, it's not what you're saying.(18:13) It's what you're doing. (18:13) Right. (18:14) You know?(18:14) And so you are actionably doing things to show this, to create this environment. (18:20) You know, I mean, I was going to save this for maybe a little bit later. (18:23) I'm not trying to put Mr. Shear on the spot here too. (18:26) It's a little bit, it's tangentially related, but, um, you know, talked about the importance of like honoring the person, uh, when they've made the decision to move on. (18:36) I think, you know, Ms. Eastloss and I, a lot of younger people might only associate us with Coppell, but over half of our career was with several schools in the area, like, uh, with several different educators, several different levels of success. (18:53) However you view success.(18:54) Right. (18:54) And they were all wonderful learning experiences. (18:56) So we have seen a lot of turnover where maybe someone has developed a really strong percussion program and won a bunch for, you know, three, four years, and then they leave.(19:05) Right. (19:05) And the new person has to come in, but Ms. Eastloss and I are still there. (19:08) So we've seen that.(19:09) Right. (19:09) And, um, Mr. Shear did such an incredible job of, uh, you know, the students were of course, heartbroken to lose such great educator here, but he did such an incredible job setting up for the new person for Ms. Chernow when she came in, like, like, Hey, this is how you're going to, uh, continue with rehearsal. (19:27) This is the standard.(19:28) This is your, she's going to change some things and you're not going to fight her on those changes. (19:32) You're, you know, she's the right person for the job. (19:34) That's why she has the job.(19:36) So on and so forth. (19:36) And then beyond that, uh, I remember how much you empowered Ms. Chernow and I, and I can remember with Mr. Rieberg, same thing with Mr. Rieberg of just like, um, you know, she would reach out with all these questions and you were always there. (19:49) And that made such a different, that helped maintain such a positive, strong culture, uh, for all of us that were still involved.(19:57) And I mean, the results are, they, they speak for themselves, but I mean, I can remember when Ms. Chernow first got there, I mean, she was working with a drum corps at the time even, but she was just flabbergasted how well the kids rehearsed, how well behaved they were, how well the equipment was taken care of, like all these things. (20:13) She was just like, I've never been in front of a program like this before. (20:16) Right.(20:17) And it very, very, very easily can be soured. (20:20) You, you, you, you know, you can, it could very easily go the opposite direction. (20:24) Right.(20:25) So I think that's, uh, culturally something to be mindful of in these situations of staff change.

Speaker 1

(20:30) Thank you for that, Mr. Bush. (20:31) You know, uh, I have to give credit where credit is due, uh, because, uh, this is another podcast, but like, there's something to be said here about, um, having a mentor and learning from people who have done things before you. (20:45) I, I had a great example, um, earlier at Coppell when Scott (20:50) Mason, um, left, uh, he was the head director and he, um, was, uh, sick and had to step down (20:58) and Jerry Miller came in, but I'll never forget Mr. Mason at the band banquet, like in May when (21:04) he knew he was leaving and we knew Jerry was coming in almost in hit as only he can do almost (21:10) kind of chewing out the band kind of at the band banquet, but about like almost kind of chewing them (21:16) out about how well they need to treat the new guy, you know, and it was like, you better treat him. (21:22) And when he does something different than me, he's probably right.(21:25) And I'm wrong. (21:25) You know, it was like, um, uh, and so I had a great example of, of how to do that. (21:31) Um, yeah.(21:32) And I, you know, a couple other things here. (21:34) Um, we talked about support them with the students. (21:36) Also, I think just with you and them personally, like maybe when you meet them at the coffee shop, like Missy's last talked about just, I think in any new relationship, uh, a phrase, I didn't come up with this, but try to be a, there you are instead of here I am person.

Speaker 3

(21:51) Right.

Speaker 1

(21:51) So when I meet this new person, my goal, my focus and my conversations with them is them. (21:58) Yeah. (21:58) Listen, let, listen, like ask some questions about them.(22:05) Try to keep track. (22:06) I try to do this sometimes and it's scary. (22:08) Uh, try to keep track of how many times you say I or me and you'll hear yourself say that a lot.

Speaker 2

(22:17) Yeah. (22:18) And I'm, and I'm, I'm scared that I even have to mention it, but working with younger, younger people, I do put the phone away. (22:26) Oh my gosh.(22:28) Like do not be checking notifications or silence the watch or whatever. (22:33) Yeah.

Speaker 3

(22:33) You might not realize it. (22:35) It might seem just like a nothing thing, but anytime you look at your watch or your phone in a conversation, especially if it's one-on-one, you are directly telling the other person they are not important. (22:45) And that's the last thing you want to do if you're trying to build a positive relationship with someone.

Speaker 2

(22:50) Literally every interaction with this person will be building a positive relationship or, or the opposite. (22:56) Right.

Speaker 1

(22:56) Um, I think another just good phrase thing to do to keep in mind all the time is stay in your lane, stay in your lane. (23:06) Um, uh, again, same, same scenario. (23:09) And when Jerry Miller and Adrian, um, Caswell came to Cup Hill, uh, they had like a thing they had done at Wakeland.(23:15) That was a very Wakeland thing that was different from what had been going on at Cup Hill and more power to them. (23:21) They, they, they did their thing very well. (23:23) They came to Cup Hill and they, they started changing some things as they should.(23:26) Cause it's their program. (23:27) Now I remember a conversation with them one time where they were kind of explaining their thought process at a certain thing. (23:35) And it was almost the exact opposite of what my thought process would be, but it was not an area where I, it was not my lane.

Speaker 2

(23:43) Right.

Speaker 1

(23:43) And I was like, great, cool. (23:46) Like that's you guys go for it and you have my support. (23:50) Absolutely.(23:51) Um, there were other times later on where we might have had a professional disagreement about something that was in my lane. (23:59) And I felt like I was able to have a much more effective position advocating for what I wanted to do because I didn't come in there and fight on other things that were not pertinent to me. (24:13) So I think it, um, uh, you don't want to be the band director who cries wolf, you know, who's like is out there trying to fight over every single thing.(24:20) Then you're just not gonna get listened to, you know? (24:23) So I, I think that's important. (24:24) And I, and I will say, you know, when it comes to like listening and gathering information and then thinking very carefully about what to say and when to say it, Ms. Islas, you are the master of this. (24:37) I, um, almost, I say this with love almost to the point that after so many years, I'm like, careful what I say, I'm like, she's going to use it. (24:45) She's going to use that against me later on, you know? (24:47) But like, I can think of so many times actually, Patricia that like, um, you, it's like, so such a pleasure to work with you because you do listen so well.(25:00) And then you obviously think for a long time and very well about what you want to say and how you want to say it number one. (25:07) So it's effective, but number two, so it is like kind and, and even when you come in hard on some things, which you've come in hard on some things on me before, but like it's, um, it's professional and it's kind and it's well thought out and it's at the right time.

Speaker 2

(25:22) And, um, and it's not emotionally driven.

Speaker 1

(25:25) No, it's not.

Speaker 3

(25:27) And that's, yeah, that's the tactic of, of listening is you're going to learn so much more about the situation if you just stop and not spend time thinking about what you're going to say next. (25:38) That's not listening. (25:40) If you actually truly engage in what the other person is saying and also try to empathize with the position that they're in, especially if you disagree or you have an opinion that's different than what theirs is, um, listen to what they're saying.(25:57) Think about maybe why they're saying it. (25:59) Uh, and then make sure that you give yourself some time to react and ensure that it's not coming from an emotional place. (26:07) So many people will have a gut reaction to something that said from someone else on their team and there's a lot of stress around it and they're tired and then they will just immediately like lash out or be really aggressive.(26:20) And in hindsight, they probably wouldn't have said it that way or it went in that tone or can see, Oh, I can see where the other person was coming from. (26:29) You know, if you just stop and listen for a minute, uh, you might get to that realization before it even ever happens. (26:35) And so then the action, the interaction can be so much more, uh, collaborative than offensive.

Speaker 1

(26:42) Yeah. (26:43) I would also add, we, we said this earlier before we started recording, but like, um, we teach band, there are no emergencies or tragedies.

Speaker 3

(26:52) Yes, absolutely.

Speaker 1

(26:53) We teach band. (26:54) No one is going to get hurt. (26:55) No one's going to die.(26:57) This is not surgery. (26:58) No one's going to bleed out. (27:00) If we make a mistake, a plane is not going to crash.(27:05) So if you find yourself, um, with this new person coming in and maybe it was your fourth choice and you don't agree and whatever, but like you find yourself really becoming emotionally distraught, uh, that might be more revealing about you than it is the new person. (27:20) And that's, and that's a good, I, I, and I say that as someone who's been there, you know, we've all been there, right? (27:27) You might need to check yourself and say, maybe something's going on with me, you know?

Speaker 2

(27:32) Yeah. (27:33) I could not agree more. (27:35) Yeah.(27:36) I have a very, very, very, very bad habit. (27:39) And maybe, maybe some of our listeners will be able to relate of what I believe Jocko Willink calls Mikey and the dragon. (27:45) If you haven't read that children's book, uh, I highly, highly recommend it.(27:48) But this concept of like, I will doomsday the worst scenarios. (27:53) It's like, Oh no, we're losing this middle school director. (27:55) Oh my gosh, this guy's, this other guy's going to get the gig and he's going to run.(28:00) I'm never going to be able to order a Remo head again for the rest of my life. (28:04) It's all aquariums for now. (28:05) Or what?

Speaker 3

(28:05) You know what I mean?

Speaker 2

(28:06) Like I build up these, um, fictitious, uh, negative scenarios and then try to, you know, uh, as opposed to like misuse, lots of saying like, um, kind of detaching, right. (28:15) Focusing on the things that are within my control. (28:17) Um, and then, uh, addressing things for how they actually are in the moment, as opposed to, uh, having them colored with all these preconceived notions.(28:26) Yeah.

Speaker 1

(28:27) Uh, I'll just add one more for the sneaky percussion directors out there that are really trying to get something going. (28:34) I have gotten away with more in my career. (28:39) Uh, the times I've gotten away with the most are when there was potentially a head director change head directors, please stop listening at this point.(28:47) But like, you know, if there was like maybe some like equipment that I wanted to switch out or some extra money that I wanted to spend or some shenanigans of, I want to do some extra rehearsals or whatever. (28:59) And that had directors on their way out. (29:01) Boy, I was getting in there, you know?(29:03) So again, I, you know, if anyone repeats this, I'll deny it. (29:07) But I think that's also just a little bit of an opportunity. (29:10) If you're one of the more sneaky percussion directors to get in there and, and also the new person, I'll just say this and then I'll stop.(29:16) The new person doesn't know what the expectations were. (29:20) So maybe again, if you're a percussion director trying to do some things, you can kind of take a couple steps forward without being noticed your control or whatever.

Speaker 2

(29:29) And, and as, as people that have been on both sides of that scene, this Kurt, like the inverse is true too, that if, if, if you are a newly hired percussion person, right. (29:39) If, if, if, uh, if you don't spend the money, it will be spent on something else. (29:44) If you do not come in and advocate for these things, you will lose these things.(29:50) Right. (29:50) Um, so yeah, I think that that's a really good, really good point. (29:55) Um, Hey, thanks for hanging with us today, friends.(29:57) If you have any questions for the podcast,