A clear vision creates the magic: leadership lessons in violin making
I fulfilled a dream this summer: to go on a summer violin making course. As an amateur violinist, I'd always been fascinated by the violin maker I visited frequently, sitting with such concentration and focus in his workshop making tiny adjustments on my loved and fragile violin.
Learning to make a violin took me to the Cambridge Violin Making school. We started fairly early in the morning, sitting on woodwork benches with other more experienced amateur violin makers, a few weeks or years ahead. Stopping for tea, biscuits and a quick morale-boosting chat with my colleagues became a high point of the day. Otherwise we were deep in our own projects: sawing, chiselling, shaping and the violins were taking shape.
Each session followed a regular pattern: a quick demonstration by the teacher on my instrument, I did my best to copy and do the other side (great that violins are symmetrical), the instructor came back and "rescued" whatever was required.
I asked one of the tutors, a violin maker for many years, what the secret of a good violin maker was. His answer surprised me.
"Obviously the skills are important, but what makes a great violin maker is their vision of what they want to create. Look, just here, I want a beautiful curve there, so I'm going to take off a tiny bit there."
He reached for my scroll, did a couple of nifty swishes with a small tool and suddenly it looked a lot less "rustic" and actually beautiful!
The same is true in leadership.
The skills are important, but having a clear vision of what you are wanting to create is where the magic happens. Going through the motions will only get you so far. Tap into your values, know why you're in that role and bring others with you in a way that empowers and you will see a difference. The vision is crucial.
Take time to create your vision.
And your vision will start to create itself.
A quick word on time: making my violin is going to take at least 3 years! Likewise with leadership development, it takes time, we need to copy and learn from others, ask for help and keep taking steps forward. Building in the morale-boosting chats is also key!
If you're interested in violin making in Cambridge: https://lnkd.in/eU7n9b9H
By the way, the photos are my actual violin in progress. No apologies for being proud of my efforts although I must acknowledge my daughter, who is working on the same violin with me, and apparently had the hardest bit to do. Teamwork makes the dream work...!