{"id":41631,"date":"2025-04-11T16:16:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T23:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=41631"},"modified":"2025-04-11T16:16:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T23:16:57","slug":"what-do-you-hear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/what-do-you-hear\/","title":{"rendered":"What Do You Hear?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was introduced to peer evaluations while attending the United States Military Academy. As a nineteen-year-old, I didn\u2019t glean much from the experience. However, I distinctly remember the results and my follow-up discussion with our tactical officer. We were asked to rank our classmates from our company (floor) and identify five who we would qualify as the top leaders and five who would qualify as the bottom leaders.\u00a0 Reflecting on Kahneman\u2019s Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em>, I realized that this type of activity had cognitive bias fingerprints written all over it.\u00a0 While I can\u2019t tell you who I placed in the top five, it was more than likely my closest friends.\u00a0 The bottom five were likely those individuals I knew less about or was not interested in seeking and learning more about.\u00a0 Those in closer proximity would be at the top of the scale.\u00a0 All the names were kept anonymous.<\/p>\n

During my follow-up meeting, Major Baldy, a 10-year career officer, shared the results with me. I was nervous as he said, \u201cMike, you did well in your peer evaluations. Eight of thirty-two of your peer group selected you in their top five.\u00a0 Overall, you were in the top 20%, and that\u2019s solid.\u201d\u00a0 That made sense, and I was a bit relieved, and then he continued.\u00a0 \u201cHowever, one individual ranked you in their bottom five.\u00a0 What do you think about that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Completely stunned, I tried to dismiss it as a mistake or a statistic: \u201cSir, I imagine some of my peers don\u2019t know or interact with me.\u201d\u00a0 It was a complete misperception on my part.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have the maturity to respond well to the question and was trying to shrug it off.\u00a0 I could not effectively listen to his input and hear his follow-up message, even when coming from a seasoned and objective leader whose sole purpose was to develop young leaders.\u00a0 \u00a0The sound was pure noise to my ears, and I did my best to drown it out and move on.\u00a0 I could not discern a critical voice in my young leadership journey.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

What Is That Sound?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Jules Glanzer\u2019s The Sound of Leadership<\/em>, he introduces us to his Do-Re-Mi framework for leadership.\u00a0 This Christ-centered framework asks servant leaders to view leadership through an artistic and musical lens.<\/p>\n

Glanzer outlines the framework for leadership with the following tones: Listen, See, Learn, Do, and Love.\u00a0 These words are the scale from which all leadership happens.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

As an operations leader, I have infrequently used the imagery of an orchestra and the combination of unique and harmonious sounds to produce a musical masterpiece within a warehouse environment.\u00a0 All employees participate as different sections but blend in ways where the result is a precise, beautiful, and extraordinary service for the customer. \u00a0While an operation like this requires incredible effort, time, dedication, and commitment, the result can appear quite effortless to the casual observer.\u00a0 It is powerful, inspirational, and motivational for all engaged participants.\u00a0 Glanzer expresses a similar format as a leader practicing the acoustical art of leadership seeking to fine-tune the sound for a more harmonious rendition.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Putting the Sections Together<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reflecting on my interaction with Major Baldy and my peer evaluation, I realized I missed the mark as an incredibly young leader in training. The opportunity to seek out, listen to, and understand what my peers had to share instantly would have complemented and completed the musical script. Instead, that orchestra section was completely missing, and I was left with the same comfortable section of horns delivering a familiar sound. That missed experience could have proven invaluable.<\/p>\n

As I have matured and continue to rely increasingly on God\u2019s voice, I have worked diligently to listen more frequently and objectively while inviting other unique or disparate voices to the table as situations dictate. Over time, those voices have transformed from initially what might have been pure noise into a more positive sound. I intentionally allow these sounds to invade my psyche and reverberate to inspire and equip me to be a better leader.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Glanzer\u2019s complementary emphasis on incorporating solitude and silence as a regular discipline also encouraged me.\u00a0 He shares that in today\u2019s environment, \u201cThe noise, hurry, and the crowd’s voice easily keep me from leading from a divine center.\u201d[5]<\/a>\u00a0 I need to lean into this practice and become more balanced.\u00a0 I have taken advantage of these moments during job transitions but must regularly apply them in my leadership practices.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Glanzer, Jules. The Sound of Leadership: Kingdom Notes to Fine Tune Your Life and Influence,<\/em> (Plano, TX: Invite Press, 2023), 12.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Glanzer, 2.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Glanzer, 72.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Glanzer, 89.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Glanzer, 115.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was introduced to peer evaluations while attending the United States Military Academy. As a nineteen-year-old, I didn\u2019t glean much from the experience. However, I distinctly remember the results and my follow-up discussion with our tactical officer. We were asked to rank our classmates from our company (floor) and identify five who we would qualify […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3464],"class_list":["post-41631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp04-glanzer","cohort-dlgp04"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41632,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41631\/revisions\/41632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}