OP-ED: How can a band director run a hospital?
When I became CEO of a hospital in the same area where I had been a school band director, the question that I heard most often was “How can a band director run a hospital?” Sometimes that question was from genuine curiosity, other times it felt like a mixture of horror and disbelief. I wasn’t exactly performing surgery.
Look, I get it. On the surface, being an instrumental music director and a hospital administrator might seem like the difference between a xylophone and an otoscope, but they share similarities in leadership, coordination, and unity-building-skills that work in a hospital and a band room. Both require emotional intelligence, technical know-how, and the ability to inspire teams to achieve sometimes magical goals.
Hey, I went back to school for an additional master’s degree, multiple certifications, and a fellowship. But if you didn’t know that, just seeing a trumpet-playing band director as the president of a hospital might have seemed like a bad idea . . . like putting a drummer in charge of noise control.
At the center of both jobs was leadership. As a band director, I had to help guide the musicians to create the very best sound they could. Similarly, as a hospital administrator, it was imperative to ensure all the departments worked together to deliver quality care. That meant maintaining a clear vision while adapting to the day-to-day dynamics of both organizations and understanding their strengths while aligning policies with organizational goals.
Speaking of coordination, both jobs involved managing complex systems. In band, I had to make sure the brass section didn’t overpower the woodwinds-while still letting them do their thing. In the hospital, it was about making sure the clinical staff collaborated effectively. The idea was to prevent any situations where one team was running off with all the power and attention.
Emotional intelligence was a must, too. In the band, I had to read the room-sometimes literally. I could tell who was struggling with the music, who wasn’t practicing, and who was having personal problems. In the hospital, I also had to understand the staff’s frustrations, navigate egos, and deliver empathy to my co-workers, patients, and their families. Let’s face it: understanding complex interpersonal dynamics was critical.
Both roles also required skills in conflict resolution, but that’s an entirely different article.
Whether it was a rowdy percussion section or a difficult staff issue, staying calm under pressure was crucial. A music director has to react to mistakes in performances in real time. Even though the stakes are much higher, as a hospital administrator, I had to respond to crises-of all kinds without running out of patience or patients. That required thinking on my feet while guiding my teams through very high-stress situations.
Working in hospitals and schools also required creativity. In music, I was working with a tight budget for instruments, sheet music, and transportation. At the hospital, I was doing the same thing-except now I was in charge of millions of dollars for staffing, equipment, and the buildings’ maintenance. One key was always working to try to have the right people in the right places. That meant having a good feeder system, a major challenge for either.
Managing balance was key. In music, it was figuring out how to bring my artistic vision to life while dealing with practical limitations and real-world constraints like rehearsal time or missed practices. In the hospital, it was about balancing innovation with regulations and financial realities. But both required keeping hundreds of people happy while still shooting for excellence.
In the end, the band inspired students and audiences, while the hospital worked to improve community health outcomes. Both contributed to the well-being of people.
On particularly rough days, our chief operations officer would chuckle and say, “Nick, it’s junior high band out there.” And you know what? Sometimes, it really was.
Nick Jacobs is a Windber resident.