Tuesday, December 19th, 2006
On Monday night BBC 1 finished screening the three part documentary – the Choir- showing how Northolt School in north west London went from never having a classical choir to competing in the Choir Olympics in China in ten months from a standing start.
It was a fantastic tribute to the kids and to the imported temporary Choirmaster Gareth Malone and the cameras captured the drama and the tension as the 25 youngsters realised the mountain they had agreed to climb. What did it for me was the bonding and team work that gradually overtook ego and petulence.
Three quotes that show the learning journey they all undertook and resound in any organisation at any age:
First Jerry: ‘If you’ve got the bottle, the motivation and the right sort of teacher, then basically, you can do anything.’
Then Rhonda: ‘but most importantly let’s do it for ourselves.’
And finally Gareth: ‘You really bond in a way that is extraordinary; and I saw it on their faces tonight.’
Gareth taught them how to sing, but much more importantly he taught them to believe in themselves and convinced them they could take on the world.
How may employers ever try to convince their people that they are extraordinary as a team, or help them believe that they can do anything? And the few that do will make a massive difference. Whether we want it or not, we are all in one or another Choir Olympics and we had better get used to it.