A chazan was studying the machzor before Rosh Hashanah, preparing the melodies and tunes of the tefillos. Rebbe Mordechai of Nadvorna zt'l told him, "The machzor is the same as last year. Instead of looking into the machzor, I advise you to look into yourself to see what needs improvement."
The Beis Yisrael of Gur zy'a related the following mashal:
The lion, king of the jungle, became angry at the animals of his kingdom and wanted to punish them. All the animals gathered and sought a way to appease the king, but they didn’t know what to say or do. The fox spoke up, "I have three hundred mashalim (parables) that I can tell the king to explain our situation and our point of view. He will certainly be appeased. Come with me."
The animals were relieved that the fox had a solution, and they all went together to the lion, the king of the forest.
After walking for some time, the fox told the animals, "I forgot one hundred parables. But do not worry. I still have another two hundred parables." They walked on.
A mile later, the fox said, "I forgot another hundred parables, but there's nothing to worry about. I still have one hundred parables to tell the king."
When they arrived before the lion, the fox whispered to them, "I just forgot the last one hundred parables. It is now up to us to cry and beg the king for mercy."
(The clever fox never had anything to tell the king. But he realized that their only hope was to go to the lion and plead, to arouse his compassion. Therefore, the fox told the animals he had three hundred parables so that they would follow him to the lion. And then he told them that it was up to them to do whatever they could to save themselves.)
The Beis Yisrael zt'l explained that chassidim go to their rebbe for Rosh Hashanah and rely on their rebbe to help them in their judgment. But the rebbe may tell them, "I am at a loss. I don’t know what to say to Hashem, to pardon our sins, or how to earn a good year. Now it is up to you to pray and to do whatever you can to appease the King."
As a side note: Reb D. Shariro zt'l (quoted by Reb Chaim Palagi zt'l in חי לכל מועד) tells a segulah that on erev Rosh Hashanah, one should read the first section of parashas Ki Savo (Devarim 26:1-11, until the words בקרבך אשר והגר). Then Hakadosh Baruch Hu will announce, "This person paid up all his debts, and all his sins are forgiven."
It states in halachah (581), "You should be cautious to choose the best, and most appropriate shaliach tzibur you can find, someone who excels in Torah and good deeds, that he should be the chazan for selichos and the yamim noraim..." It is also brought in the poskim that the chazan and the one who blows shofar should prepare for three days before Rosh Hashanah, checking their deeds and doing teshuvah because the community relies on them to plead on their behalf.
The Chasam Sofer z'tl says that in our generation, tzaddikim aren't as great as they were in the past, and we can't rely on the chazanim as much as people relied on them in the past. Therefore, in our times, everyone should consider himself the chazan, and he should be occupied in teshuvah so he will be worthy to plead for himself, his family, and Klal Yisrael.
