The Theatre of Business
You can be the smartest person in the room with the most insightful ideas, but if you can't communicate in a way that engages the person to think differently or take action, you haven't really made an impact.
Business is the where people work together to make or sell a product or service.
Steve Jobs knew the power of business theatre
Theatre is a form of storytelling that uses engagement to create an experience.
Business Theatre is creating intentional leadership impact.
In every moment of business we are creating a shared experience—sometimes intentionally, most often a bit mindlessly as we go about our day checking off boxes and getting things done. For example, if I join a Zoom call late and others have been waiting on me, we have a few options, including:
1. The Center of the Universe: We join late and waste even more time explaining the details of why we’re late. “My call with client X ran over.” “I ran into the SVP, and needed to catch her while I had the time.” Here we project that we’re late because the prior engagement was more important than all of you who joined on time…or we didn’t respect the impact that our poor planning is having on others. Here the intention is, subconsciously, to show that you had no choice but to be late—and continue to waste time with the dramatic details.
2. The Hijacker: We join hurried and maybe a little flustered since we’ve been running behind all day. Here we hijack the team vibe with our rushed frustration. Here the intention is, subconsciously, to let off steam by venting a little about how busy we are. As if the others aren’t as busy?
3. The Leader: We can apologize genuinely for wasting people’s time, acknowledge everyone present with ‘hello,’ confirm we will end at the planned time, and get to the task at hand. Here the intention is intentional—to acknowledge the impact my lateness has had on others and use the remaining time respectively and productively.
#3 requires intention—being intentional about the desired experience we want to be creating in the business moment. #3 requires we be thoughtful about the desired experience, as a director would a play, and then perform that intention. Think about these various moments in business:
· Presenting a big proposal
· Hosting a town hall meeting
· Conducting a workshop to create next year’s business plan
· Job interviewing
· Meeting someone for the first time
· Giving feedback; receiving feedback
· Leading a Zoom meeting; attending a Zoom meeting
These examples vary by degree of formality, by internal vs external audiences, by how high we perceive the stakes to be in that moment. What they all have in common is that we will make an impact in each of these scenarios—but are we making the impact we intend? Our magic as leaders is creating the experience we intentionally want to share, and the best place to turn for lessons in creating experiences is the theatre.
I have a Master in Fine Arts in Acting, a three-year terminal degree. Terminal sounds like it’s fatal, and I guess in some ways it is fatal if you consider that ~90% of actors are out of work at any given time. Terminal here means it’s the highest degree achievable in its field. From the theatre field of study and work for ten years, I learned all that goes into creating the audience engagement and shared experience of a theatre experience. I’m passionate about leaders bringing the disciplines from the theatre into business to improve impact.
Consider the major disciplines that come together in a theatrical production to create a shared experience, and how those disciplines apply to business every day:
Director—the sponsor who decided why this meeting, why now
Audience—the reason this interaction exists, the people who showed up, the ones who need to absorb the key messages
Script—the key messages to be conveyed during the interaction
Cast—the people presenting, sharing the key messages
Set, Lighting, Sound—the vibe, tone that you want to establish with the physical or virtual space--the background, photos, whiteboard, flip charts, set up of the tables and chairs, etc
Costumes—the dress code
Props—materials required--are they sent in advance, printed or not, screen share, links, etc.
With a business theatre mindset, we become intentional leaders shaping the experience we want to share with others. What is your next opportunity to create business theatre?
