Last night, Sarah and I and Caleb had the privilege of attending Cirque du Soleil's opening night performance of "Corteo" in Calgary. Thanks to the generosity of Sarah's parents who bought the tickets, Mom & Dad Hunt, Sarah and myself, Cameron & Beckie and Jon & Kim took up one row of the show. Lois, we did miss you! And Mom & Dad Ibbotson will be very glad to know that someone else succeeded into getting some "arts and culture" into their son. It was an interesting performance and thought I'd share some initial "leadership observations" about the evening.
1) Trust - all sorts of easy examples of the need for trust in your teammate in a production/performance like this. Yes, they are professionals and yes, they practice a lot, and have all the necessary safety precautions, but still... you've gotta trust the people catching you or guiding you or... in order for the show to go on. A pretty basic (and obvious) leadership concept: If you don't trust your teammates in an organization, you really don't have anything to build on.
2) Practice - again, pretty obvious and basic to a performance of this caliber, the participants have practiced their individual skills over and over and over again and then practiced repeatedly the various sections of the program as they work together.
In terms of leadership, if you are going to be excellent, you have to practice some skills (and talents) over and over and over for them to develop well... and some of those activities/skills are pretty mundane at times. Similarly, experience is important in leadership... its not the greatest necessity, but its important because it shows a track record of faithful performance... something that it is vital for leadership.
3) "Don't judge a book by its cover" - I suspect that some of the men who went into "dancing" classes got a few jabs from their macho friends... but there was nothing un-manly about the men who were swinging, jumping, lifting, catching and throwing the women artists last night. They were pretty good physical specimens, even if they were short in stature. Likewise, a couple of the "short people" (politically incorrect=midgets) who were likely considered "handicapped" played a significant and entertaining role in the production also! And I would imagine that they are compensated decently for the unique contribution they can bring to such a production.
4) Live like you may attend your own funeral - "Corteo" was the story of a clown/circus performer and dreams that he is attending his own funeral... and he reminisces about all the excitement in his life and all the people he has met. In graduate school, one of my classes with Dr Char Bates included the assignment of writing your own obituary. A great assignment and really makes one focus on what s/he values and what s/he wants to be remembered for. It also gives a person a good focus when little details in daily life seem so onerous or frustrating.
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