We all know that as leaders we have a responsibility to help those we lead develop and grow. More often than not, our lessons just happen. We may have no idea that we are teaching something until the new behavior manifests itself. Last week, I had the pleasure of seeing this in action at my son’s guitar recital. His instructor primarily teaches piano, so when she arrived at the venue to find a strategic piano key broken, she was quite upset. Her students range from the very young performing for the first time to high school students ready to study music at the university level. She was uncertain whether they would be able to have the recital.

Just before the recital was to start, the teacher spoke with her students and their parents to see what they wanted to do. Everyone agreed that they should proceed. My wife is a pianist, and she said that this type of problem can be so disruptive as to make some pieces unplayable. For several students with pieces like this, the instructor offered them the option of not playing. Every student played on, and they all took it in stride. Some played through as best they could. Others played parts that were less affected by the malfunction. One particularly resilient young man started playing the piece as he had learned it. When it became unplayable, he shifted down an octave. When it was still unplayable, he shifted down one more octave. Nothing was going to stop this kid from playing the song that he had practiced so hard to learn.

I doubt the instructor ever intended to teach her students to be resilient, but she did. I also doubt she thinks of herself as a leader, but she is. Leadership isn’t about the title we carry or the position we hold. As leaders we are constantly teaching and helping others grow, but we may never realize what those lessons are until we see them in action.