LEADERSHIP (/LEADERSHIP) 9/08/2014 @ 6:46PM 16,632 views

5 Leadership Lessons From The MormonTabernacle Choir

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If you’re like many business leaders, you feel the pressure to produce measurable results.

But what if you had to do it in a conspicuously public way? And on a relentless schedule that never,ever, accommodates pesky little things like holidays or other forms of time out?

What if your efforts were showcased every week on more than 2,000 radio, television, and Internetoutlets all over the world?

And what if your team consisted mostly of volunteers? That’s right, unpaid volunteers!

Rodger Dean Duncan (http://www.forbes.com/sites/rodgerdeanduncan/) ContributorI cover leadership issues that make or break your workplace experienceOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

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That’s the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org), one of the most recognizable“brands” on the planet. And all this magic is pulled off by a leadership team that includes a retired elementary schoolprincipal, an ex Procter & Gamble marketer, and a former human resources chief for a large food wholesaler. Expertsin arithmetic, soap, and groceries can apparently combine for great music. Who would have guessed?

The Choir performing in its 21,000-seat Conference Center in Salt Lake City.

Originally established in 1847 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the MoTab, as it’s affectionatelycalled, is an international phenomenon. Its weekly broadcast, launched in 1929, is the undisputed longest running,uninterrupted program in radio history.

The Choir has done more than 200 recordings and won countless awards including Grammys and Emmys. It’sperformed at 13 world fairs, at the inaugurations of ten U.S. presidents, at the Olympics, and at concerts in 28countries. Its non-denominational worldwide audience is in the tens of millions.

So, how can all this be pulled off with mostly volunteers?

The formula is fairly straightforward. And to a great extent, much of it can be adapted in atraditional business environment.

1. Embrace an engaging cause. While the notion of “engagement” is a favorite focus of today’sorganizational experts, the Tabernacle Choir discovered it a century and a half ago. Trueengagement, they’ll tell you, is a function of discretionary effort. People don’t become engagedbecause they’ve been ordered or compelled to. They become engaged because they deliberatelychoose to invest their energy, ingenuity, gifts, and passion in a cause that has meaning and value tothem.

The Tabernacle Choir’s cause is simply to give voice to the hopes, joys, trials, and triumphs ofpeople around the world. Yes, they are unflinchingly devoted to their Christian faith. But theirprimary purpose is to uplift and encourage, not to proselyte.

“A key to this organization’s longevity as well as its enormous success is its culture of commitment,” says Ron Jarrett,president of the Choir. “When people are zealously devoted to a cause bigger than themselves, there’s really no limitto what they can accomplish.”

The Mormons call it consecration. But by whatever term, the fervor with which they embrace their mission producesremarkable results. The Choir includes academics, executives, homemakers, scientists, engineers, and people whowork in sales, law, health care and several other disciplines. But whatever their “day jobs” may be, they investhundreds of hours per year in rehearsals, recordings, and broadcast performances. Tours, which can be grueling foreven the most seasoned traveler, are done while they’re on vacation from their paying jobs.

“Aside from all the marvelous technology we use for our recordings and broadcasts, the ‘people factor’ is always thebottom line,” says Jarrett, who was an elementary school principal for 22 years. “Having gifts or talents is not enough.Sustainable excellence is a matter of the heart as well as the head.”

Or, as a behavioral scientist might put it: action without passion will not endure, nor will passion without action.People must find meaning in the work they do.

2. Insist on sky-high standards. President Ronald Reagan referred to the MoTab as “America’s Choir.” Famed

orchestra conductor Erich Kunzel said the all-volunteer Tabernacle Choir is the most professionalchoral group in the world.

That kind of praise comes at the price of uncompromising rigor.

Similar to major league baseball’s use of “farm clubs” to assess and develop players, the TabernacleChoir has its own talent appraisal program. It’s called the Temple Square Chorale. Tryouts involvethree steps. An aspiring member first submits a demo CD or tape. This is followed by a two and ahalf hour written exam to assess music skills proficiency. Candidates must score 80% or higher.Step three, for those who make it that far, is an in-person audition with Mack Wilberg, the Choir’sfamed music director. He focuses on things like vocal range to size up a candidate’s fitness for thebig leagues.

But that’s just the beginning. Singers who endure the first three tryout phases earn a ticket to run inthe marathon. That’s a four-month regimen of twice-weekly rehearsals and training sessions in subjects ranging frommusic skills to deportment for television. Attendance requirement: 100%.

Does successful completion of this endurance test get you a seat in the MoTab? It gets you a place in the queue. TheChoir has a roster of 410 singers, but no more than 360 perform at once. The “bench strength” is maintained toaccommodate retirements (required at age 60 or after 20 years of service, whichever comes first) or the occasionalresignation when someone’s family moves to another area.

Similar discipline is required of the 85-member Orchestra on Temple Square that performs with the Choir.

Can you imagine how a typical business could benefit from a screening process this laser-focusedon excellence?

3. Be of one voice. Music director Wilberg, a coal miner’s son with a University of SouthernCalifornia Ph.D., is admired worldwide for his compositions and arrangements, publishedexclusively by Oxford University. He’s also known for his no-nonsense insistence on excellence. Innormal conversation he’s quiet, genuinely humble, almost bashful. When he steps to theconductor’s podium the metamorphosis seems instantaneous: he leads with the tenaciousconfidence of Gen. George Patton. If any of the 360 choir members is out of sync (yes, he really cannotice an individual in the crowd), he’ll halt a rehearsal in mid lyric and announce something like“There’s a tenor sticking out.” If the singer continues to freelance, he may stop again and say “Getwith the rest of us or I’ll need to call out your name.”

With this leader, there’s nowhere to hide.

Humble perfectionist: Director Wilberg is quick to praise top performance.

“We try to operate on the principle of E Pluribus Unum,” Wilberg says. “We have hundreds of very talented people.But the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. True excellence is a product of synergy.”

Many leadership coaches use the metaphor of a choir director or orchestra conductor. Mack Wilberg personifies themetaphor.

And as it turns out, the metaphor of “oneness” is apparently literal. A study published by the journal Frontiers inPsychology confirms that choir music has calming effects on the heart. In fact, the study shows, singing in unisonproduces synchronized heart rates among the participants.

So the teamwork cliché about “let’s lock arms and sing Kumbaya” may have merit after all.

Unified focus on core principles and practices is seen in a range of environments, from the worldclass medical care provided by Mayo Clinic to customer-centric cultures at Disney and SouthwestAirlines to the unrelenting emphasis on safety at nuclear power stations. Harmony can take manyforms.

4. Think globally, act locally. While tending to the big picture of international audiences,MoTab people have made a science of “the little things” that are woven into a marvelous operationaltapestry.

Take travel, for example. A Choir tour resembles the deployment of a small army. Transportinghundreds of singers, scores of orchestra members, and dozens of support staff requires threechartered airplanes, 11 buses, plus multiple semi-trailer trucks to haul sound systems, lights, risers, wardrobe, choralshell and other gear required for a performance.

Much of the planning falls to Barry Anderson, whose official title is administrative manager but who’s generallyknown as the MoTab’s logistics wizard. Anderson spent 26 years at grocery distribution giant Fleming Companies,working in senior roles that included human resources and customer service. That background serves him well today.

“My job is all about simplification,” Anderson says. “We have hundreds of gifted volunteers, and I want to enablethem to do their work without the nuisance of distractions.”

Distractions can come in the form of travel hassles. So the logistics wizard and his team developedsystems that rival the most attentive concierge. For example, when the MoTab tours, charteredbuses are parked on the airport tarmac ready to transport Choir members to their hotel. Specialtrucks, manned by professional (volunteer) drivers, haul the personal luggage. The bags are thenhand-delivered to the appropriate hotel rooms. Nobody stands in registration lines. In fact, there’sno need ever to step into the hotel lobby. Every detail is managed quietly and seamlessly“backstage.”

On the credenza in his Salt Lake City office Anderson keeps a small sign held over from hiscorporate days: “No excuses. No surprises.” That mantra is reflected everywhere in theorganization. A team of volunteer seamstresses and tailors design and construct costumes. Men’ssuits are purchased hundreds at a time to ensure consistency of fabric dye lots. Four volunteerlibrarians manage a collection of 1.6 million pieces of music. They’re assisted by 32 volunteer“section librarians” assigned to different portions of the Choir (altos, tenors, baritones, etc.). If theChoir and orchestra are going to perform “wet” music, meaning it’s been freshly composed orarranged, it’s the librarians who must quickly print and distribute the scores.

The takeaway? Find simplicity in the face of complexity. Replace clutter with simple resolve.

5. Adapt or die. As Army General Eric Shinseki put it, “If you don’t like change, you’ll likeirrelevance even less.” Just ask veterans of General Foods, PaineWebber, MCI, Montgomery Ward,or any other outfit that failed to keep up with the times.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, now in its 167 year, manages to be hip while staying loyal to its historic roots. Guestnarrators and performers have ranged from historian David McCullough and actress Angela Lansbury tosongwriter/singer James Taylor and, recently, stage performer Santino Fontana, who provided the voice of PrinceHans in Disney’s mega-hit “Frozen.”

“Our repertoire ranges from Bach to Broadway,” says general manager Scott Barrick. “You’re just as likely to find ourwork on your nephew’s iPod as in your grandmother’s record collection.”

Barrick, with a Harvard MBA degree, spent his earlier career managing brands like Zest and Mr. Clean at Procter &Gamble, then pet food for Mars, then checking services for a large California bank. In 2001, while serving as bishop ofhis local Mormon congregation, he came across a flyer that mentioned a job opening for business

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manager with the Tabernacle Choir. His wife pointed out that if he took the job he would earn afraction of his former salaries while likely doing the work of several people. “It’s perfect,” theyagreed.

There’s that consecration thing again.

“With the Choir, I’m really a product manager,” Barrick says. “This is one of the best-known brandsin the world. It needs to be managed carefully.”

One of the first things he did was help establish the Choir’s own recording label. Since 2003 alone,the Choir has produced 29 CDs, 15 DVDs, and eight books. All are distributed by Church-ownedDeseret Book.

To help keep himself sharp, Barrick works with his own personal coach, consultant Roger Connorswhose bestselling book The Oz Principle focuses on—guess what—getting results through individual andorganizational accountability.

In addition to its relentless quest for excellence, the Tabernacle Choir takes advantage of every tool to stay relevant. Ithas a growing presence on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. And who manages thesocial media outreach? Again, razor-sharp volunteers like Joe Conrad, a retired Hewlett-Packard division head, andGeorge Kovac, a former Armed Forces controller and inspector general.

“We don’t compromise on anything,” Barrick says. “Whatever it takes to advance the cause, we’ll do it.”

Pioneer trailblazer Brigham Young would be pleased.

Rodger Dean Duncan is the bestselling author of CHANGE-friendly LEADERSHIP: How to Transform GoodIntentions into Great Performance. (http://www.amazon.com/Change-Friendly-Leadership-Transform-Intentions-Performance/dp/0985213507/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_har?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405719666&sr=1-1&keywords=change+friendly+leadership) Follow him on Twitter @DoctorDuncan(https://twitter.com/doctorduncan)

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Rodger Dean Duncan (http://www.forbes.com/sites/rodgerdeanduncan/) Contributor

I cover leadership issues that make or break your workplace experienceOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.