Leadership Cafe

Leadership Impressions

So what's leadership all about? 

Some of my impressions:  Integrity-consistency-honesty.  Passion, hearing AND listening. Keepin' on - fortitude. Love, serving remembering. Truth-telling, caring, heartfelt sincerity.  Showing  up. 

Now connect that to improvisational leadership - a new paradigm.  Some think improvisational leadership is making do with what you have.  It is NOT. 

Improvisational leaders:

- Select the best talent.  PIck themes and rhythms that showcase that talent and also hold great appeal to the audience.

- Support the performers, but are not afraid to solo at times - as long it is supporting existing themes or...

- Change up the head (the head in jazz is the first four to eight bars of the musical theme) to challenge the other followers to new heights, new approaches.

- Are sometimes in harmony and sometimes dissonant - both are pleasing to  audience members as well as the performaners who eagerly listen and watch for what is next, where is the performance leading, where's the build, where's the crescendo?

- Are most rewarded by the excitement generated by the group - contagion among the performers and equally so among the audience.

Wow, wow, wow when it happens.  Magic!

Have you ever worked with an improvisational leader?   Remember that magic?   

Leadership Impressions

So what's leadership all about? 

Some of my impressions:  Integrity-consistency-honesty.  Passion, hearing AND listening. Keepin' on - fortitude. Love, serving remembering. Truth-telling, caring, heartfelt sincerity.  Showing  up. 

Now connect that to improvisational leadership - a new paradigm.  Some think improvisational leadership is making do with what you have.  It is NOT. 

Improvisational leaders:

- Select the best talent.  PIck themes and rhythms that showcase that talent and also hold great appeal to the audience.

- Support the performers, but are not afraid to solo at times - as long it is supporting existing themes or...

- Change up the head (the head in jazz is the first four to eight bars of the musical theme) to challenge the other followers to new heights, new approaches.

- Are sometimes in harmony and sometimes dissonant - both are pleasing to  audience members as well as the performaners who eagerly listen and watch for what is next, where is the performance leading, where's the build, where's the crescendo?

- Are most rewarded by the excitement generated by the group - contagion among the performers and equally so among the audience.

Wow, wow, wow when it happens.  Magic!

Have you ever worked with an improvisational leader?   Remember that magic?   

Yodelling Pickles: Wordless Wednesday

Flickr photo credit

Web 2.0 Leadership

Love, serve, remember....Be passionate about what you do - love your job, love your organization, love your potential.  Serve your organization, serve your customers, serve your potential .

Remember what you love.  Remember who you serve.  Remember the vastness of your potential!

How good your memory is impacts how good your leadership is!

Somewhere I recently read that

great leaders serve, love, and remember. 

Improvisational leaders serve by "comping" other perfomers.  Comping is a jazz term that denotes supporting other players - that is, supporting other players' solos by continuing the rhythm and themes even as they create new riffs and rhythms.  In organizations, improvisational leaders similarly "comp." They keep the rhythm flowing  of the organization flowing to so that their performers focus on their talent to innovate and develop new products/themes.  

Like improvisational musicians, improvisational leaders love what they are doing.  They are passionate about the mission and people in their organizations. 

Finally, effective leaders in music, business or any other endeavor remember - they remember the themes, they remember the little things - a name, a successful event, the passion of their performers. 

What do you remember?  How do you support your players?  What do you love to do and how do you assure that your organizational talent has the opportunity to do what they love?