On a personal note, I happened to catch up briefly this morning with my dear friend Marian Rich and I wanted to share a bit of our history with you. Marian and I "came around" together (as we say) to the development community in the mid-eighties. Michael Jackson, compromised/ failing marriages, the end of the left as we knew it... Well, you get the picture!
Marian and I persevered. That's our trademark.
And I was inspired when I read her latest entry today on her website, I thought that Congress could take a note from Marian. Not that they are listening... But maybe someday, somewhere....
If you haven't already, please do subscribe to Marian Rich Musings on business leadership and performance. I highly recommend this new performance-oriented blog that offers fresh, innovative and practical advice and philosophy about navigating today's world.
Marian -- thanks for all you do!!
Marian Rich is President of Career Play, Inc. - executive coach, trainer, researcher, recruiter and performing artist. Grounded in an innovative performance-based approach to human development with over a decade of experience as a retained executive search consultant, Marian has unique experiences in building and growing innovative, out-of-the box organizations. She is an Artistic Associate of the Castillo Theatre, where she regularly performs musical improv comedy with The Proverbial Loons.
Here's her latest:
Improvisational magic
Not surprisingly I am an improvisation advocate.
This week I had a series of conversations with a diverse grouping of
executives, friends, and colleagues about various life challenges. In
almost every case I found myself advocating on behalf of the basics of
improvisation:
Say yes
Actively listen
Focus on the ensemble and/or the other
Stay postive
Cooperate
Build and create with others
I've been reading a few articles this week that brought improvisation to mind. One article in the HBR this week -- How to Really Listen by Peter Bregman http://bit.ly/pAiXop
-- has much to say about listening that I agree with. Sadly Bregman
leaves out play, performance and improvisation and offers readers a
cognitive behavioral approach to developing better listening
capabilities.
One thing that Bergman wrote in this article jumped out at me and it is this simple statement:
Listening, it turns out, is magic.
I think there is a magic that comes with creating conversation and a
key ingredient is active listening. This made me think of the wonderful
work that my colleague, Cathy Salit the CEO of Performance of A
Lifetime, does with corporate executives. Cathy is an expert at helping
people actively listen and create new conversations. Here's a
wonderful excerpt to an interview Cathy recently gave with Michelle
James on her blog, The Fertile Unknown http://bit.ly/pXag1w
What mindsets and behaviors do you see as essential for effectively navigating the new work paradigm?Cathy: Improvise. Perform. Relate to every conversation, meeting, and interaction as an improvisational scene in which you are a performer, writer and director. Break rules and make up new ones — not just in coming up with ideas, but in how we organize what we do together and how we do it in the workplace. Become a creative artist whose medium is everyday life.
We can all become a creative artist "whose medium is everyday life" -- now that's magic!
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