Thursday, 2nd August, 2012.  It’s a date that members of the London Symphony Chorus have been urged to earmark.  It’s a date that some have been waiting for.  Simon Halsey, recently confirmed as Chorus Director for both the London Symphony Chorus and the London Symphony Orchestra, is due to address members of the chorus.

I come to the meeting with both excitement and trepidation.  I am excited because I remember the standard of the chorus when I first joined and yearn for a return to the same high standards.  I am trepidatious because I am not as young as I was when I joined the choir in 1986/7 and I’m wondering if I have what it takes to commit – this is both about the “will I pass my reaudition?” question (and in my case, “should I be moving to sing with the altos?”) and about the time and commitment the choir has demanded.  It’s quite something to sustain this level of commitment year after year after year.

Starting at 6pm, Simon addresses the choir for about half an hour before taking questions.  He sets out his stall in terms of aspiration – in summary, that the Chorus under his leadership will be a world class choir that consistently produces staggeringly (I think the word was staggering) good performances.  He has also anticipated questions, and lays out his stall in terms of how he thinks we might get there – this is not the time for the big cull, but rather, a time to invest in voice coaching and careful preparation.

This doesn’t mean that every question has been answered.  So, when it comes to the question that is on many lips (reaudition), Simon is candid in saying that, whilst he has yet to agree an approach to reauditions with the Chorus’s council, he won’t be reauditioning existing members of the chorus until he has worked with them for a number of months.  He talks about the approach he has taken with other choirs and also about the principles which underpin his approach.

Listening both to his speech and to his answers to questions, I notice that I am excited and reassured.  I have such a sense of relief that our new Chorus Director has aspirations for the chorus that take us beyond our (albeit rather good – at times) current standards.  I am excited when I think of the possibilities that this opens up for us and I am excited about the possibilities for me.

There’s also something else going on for me, remembering the many leaders I have interviewed over the years who have started their tenure in a new role or organisation with the ‘big speech’.  Halsey is continuing a long tradition which embraces leaders of all kinds, from teachers in the classroom (“when I tell you to put your pencils down, I also want you to stop talking and listen to what I have to say”) to the CEOs of significant organisations and yes, to men and women who have made history.

The big speech is not about charisma or grand, sweeping gestures – it’s about substance.  It’s about setting out a vision for the future which engages and a way to get there.  It is an invitation to sign up to a clear direction or to notice that this is not your path – to commit or to stand down.  It says things are going to be different – and this is how.

Of course, as such, the vision is the beginning of a journey.  Its impact depends on the leader’s commitment to making that journey.  Ahead lies the difference between real progress and “we’ve heard it all before”.

I am looking forward to making real progress.