I first joined my church choir about five years ago playing the trumpet. That didn’t work out so well, partly because I’m not very good, and partly because it just didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the instruments (guitar and piano). I still wanted to remain an integral part of the choir, so I began to sing instead.

When I first started singing, I remember the choir director would always tell me to sing louder. I always got a bit irritated, because I thought I was singing pretty loud. Of course, the reality was that I was only singing as loud as I was comfortable with – which means, loud enough for myself to hear, but maybe not loud enough for everyone else.

One thing I did notice though, was that when other people started singing louder, I didn’t mind singing louder myself – it was if I felt safe knowing that my voice would be blanketed by everyone else’s. It’s quite a common phenomena among new choir members who are afraid of hearing their own voice – singing is good when the leader sings, but singing becomes scary when the leader doesn’t.

As time went by, I became more and more comfortable with my own voice and other people hearing it. Now, I am one of the lead singers in the choir, and also sometimes direct the choir when the normal choir directors aren’t available. And from this position, I myself have seen other choir members dealing with the same experience – wanting to sing, but only when everyone else, particularly the leader, was singing.

This is why leading by example is so important. By being a leader who participates (and not just directs), you make those around you feel more comfortable getting involved. The more you do, the more motivated other people become, and the more comfortable they become doing it. Hopefully, one day, your team will have developed the confidence to begin leading by example on their own.

Sing loudly, and your choir will sing loudly with you.