I graduated college 30 years ago (that’s a statement that forces introspection!). I’ve spent 26 of those as a second chair leader and four of those with much less input into decisions. Now, I’m a first chair leading BSP full-time.

Whether first or second chair, leaders want to lead. Leaders want to make hard decisions. Leaders want to chart the course.

These leadership traits can often foster discord when you report to someone else. That means your supervisor may ask you to own a decision you don’t agree with, set a direction you would prefer be different, or put a decision on your plate that you wonder if you have the authority to make.

On top of that, the levels of trust, authority, responsibility, and accountability can shift from season to season. While an Executive Pastor, I learned a helpful framework for clarifying each of those with my supervisor. It’s rooted in five categories of decisions.

1. Decisions I make that I may never report. This is the day-to-day, run-of-the-mill, minutia that affect a small group of people and have minimal consequences. Decisions you have already decided how to make, or that have a tried and true process behind them, often fall in this category too. In other words, the framework for making that decision is established and understood, so most could easily guess what the outcome would be.
   
   This may be you choosing the blue shirt instead of the black shirt. You bought brownies instead of cookies. You moved the event to this room instead of that room. You asked that employee to make a slight change. You approved the tweak of a process. Your leader may find out about them or he may not.
   
   The key is having a shared understanding that you are free to make these kinds of decisions and having at least one conversation to clarify what they are.
   
2. Decisions I make that I need to report. There are some areas of your leadership that your supervisor is going to want to know. This may be the second greatest area of frustration for supervisors who do not receive good communication from their second chairs (see below for the first). First chairs are often (but not always) wired to want information.
   
   Think of serving your first chair well. If he knows what’s happening and what decisions have been made that affect others, he will be in a better position to stand in your corner when some form of opposition comes. But if he’s blindsided by information you should have told him, trust will erode. If you are waffling between something being a 1 or a 2, make it a 2 until your supervisor frees you to make it a 1.
   
3. Decisions I should own but require my supervisor’s weigh-in. You can’t pin every hard decision on your first chair. That’s not fair and it dismisses your responsibility to take as much leadership load off him as possible. Sometimes, though, you want to be sure you are in sync with him and you need his perspective.
   
   After receiving it, make the call, communicate it, and own it. Don’t say, “Well, Jim really wanted it this way, so that’s what we all need to do.” I’ve found that strong leaders often have a difficult time owning something they see differently. Becoming comfortable with that grows out of humility and an appropriate sense of deference toward others. It also comes with perspective. Unless you are asked to carry out something unbiblical, immoral, or unethical, set aside your preference, be a joy to your leader, and own the decision with a smile.
   
4. Decisions the supervisor should make but I should communicate. A second chair taking too much initiative and owning a decision that should have been their boss’ is perhaps the greatest place of frustration for first chair leaders. There is a line that a second chair can cross that quietly whispers, “Mutiny,” if he is not careful. Turn a four into a two very often, and you should probably pack your bags – or ask the Lord if you need to be in the lead seat in your next role.
   
   When communicating this, you can breathe a sigh. This wasn’t your call, but you should never say that. Communicate it. Advocate for it. Support it. And enforce it. Your team should see you and your first chair operating as one ministry mind.
   
5. Decisions the supervisor should make and communicate. The consequences (both positive and negative) for some decisions are so monumental that they need to come directly from the man at the helm of the ship. You will be out of line if others hear it from you before he has the opportunity to address it or cast the vision himself. Still, ask your leader how you can support it, what language he will use, and who will know first. Advise him so that he doesn’t step on land mines.

Practice this framework, and you and your first chair leader will have a partnership marked by trust, effective communication, clear expectations, and efficiency.