What Kind of Caller Are You?
Check out Seth Tepfer’s quiz for contra dance callers: What Kind of Caller Are You. While it’s written for contra callers, I’m sure you square dance callers can make suitable substitutions and interpretations.
In the discussion, Seth talks about Servant-Leaders as opposed to Performers.
Performers:
A performer is there to entertain the group; the group is an audience; passive; consumers of a prepackaged product the performer is offering. Success/failure is based solely on skill of the leader. Although the performer protects and takes care of the group
, the focus is on the performer, not the group; material is drawn from performer’s strengths.
Servant-Leader:
The Servant-Leader engages the participants and highlights the group. The group is active; helps to create the activity the servant-leader presents to them. Success/failure is based on participants. Group development is based on what the participants want to do. The group tells the servant-leader where to lead; material is based on group’s strengths.