This summer was interesting for me. While I am the COO at Comprise by day, each evening, I played M’Lynn Eatenton in “Steel Magnolias” at a community theater in Walker, Minnesota. If you are familiar with the 1989 movie, I played the same role as Sally Field, a woman who keeps it together for everyone … until she can’t.
Joining this cast was a wonderful experience. It allowed me to let out some emotion — IYKYK — but, more importantly, challenge myself. After 35 years since my last stage production, could I even memorize lines anymore? Would I enjoy the process and the team I’m working with? But what I really LEARNED centered around leadership and how those lessons translate to the office. Hint: It turns out it’s not all about bringing the drama.
Leadership Lesson #1: How To Take Criticism — and Constructive Feedback — Like a Champ
In our play, we all received one common bit of feedback: PROJECT YOUR VOICES! In a live performance, you need to be heard. When we see a Broadway or traveling show, those performers have microphones. We did not. Specifically, the director told me I was unusually quiet during the show’s final scene (pouring your emotions out will do that to you), and I needed to be louder. This critique makes sense when you look at it from the audience’s perspective: If they can’t hear me, it doesn’t matter how well I memorized my lines or if I was “in the moment.” I kept the valuable, constructive feedback to SPEAK UP in the back of my mind during my performances.
Our agency constantly collaborates with one another and our clients. Feedback is inevitable, no matter how great a job you’re doing. Whether it’s written content, an administrative or project management style, or logo designs, our customers have “notes” for us. We need to listen to what the feedback tells us. Perhaps it is about a deliverable’s tone. If that’s not mastered, our content won’t resonate with the target audience. When a client complains about logging in through her personal Gmail account to view our files, likely, the client’s firewall doesn’t allow them to access Google Workspace, and we need to implement an alternative solution to simplify this.
Taking a moment to learn from constructive feedback and adjust our activities or behavior demonstrates that we’re open to growth and development. This is an example of leadership that colleagues will notice.
Leadership Lesson #2: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
This summer, the cast of six and our director worked closely to develop our Southern accents, find our costumes and get the rhythm down on certain dialogue. But we only had limited time for our tech/dress rehearsals (that’s when the whole show is done from beginning to end like an official performance). It was clunky at best. From missed lines and awkward pauses to pictures on the set crashing to the floor (and improvising cleaning that up while the play kept going), late sound effects and missed props, we hadn’t worked as a team enough to endure the unexpected and trust each other to have our backs. As we practiced more and the performances began, the execution got so much smoother. We knew what to expect from one another and that we would get through it together.
Integrating our teams — where we often collaborate across PR, creative and content — early and often also supports success at the office. We set internal expectations that, whether developing a sales pitch to a prospect, conducting offsite training or working on a fully integrated communications campaign, the full team must be involved for input, deliverables and rehearsal (if needed). Everyone comes with their own skill set and works together to achieve the goal and delight the prospect or the client. The more we do it, the better we get at it!
As Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
Leadership Lesson #3: Individual Accountability
And teamwork always leads to the importance of individual responsibility.
As mentioned earlier, one of my biggest concerns in the play was whether I could even remember that much dialogue anymore. Getting “off script” was critical to advancing to the next step of being on stage. Once you’re on stage, holding a script becomes awkward, and being “in the moment” is hard. To ensure I would work well off script, I spent countless hours running lines with my husband, handwriting difficult sections of the script (this tactic worked very well) and racing the recording of the play to “beat” my lines during morning walks (if you don’t “beat” your lines, the recording is feeding you your lines, which is not helpful). If I weren’t accountable for my part (or if someone else wasn’t accountable for theirs), the whole show would be off. Someone once said a chain is only as strong as the weakest link, and that’s what I’m describing here.
Owning your sh*t is essential in a work environment and a vital part of leadership. Being self-aware about the role you play with a team and accountable when something goes wrong are qualities of a good leader. You want your colleagues to think, “I really respect that guy,” or “How she handles herself at work is very cool. I want to be like that.” Failing to follow through on commitments or, worse, throwing others under the bus, is not leadership, but it does say a lot about a colleague’s integrity.
“Accountability means responsible behavior. Means ownership. And it is fully required at every single organizational level.” Source: 5 Rules Followed by Accountable Leaders, Forbes
From the Stage to the Office: My Lessons in Leadership
I certainly learned a few things during my recent theater experience. Yes, I can still memorize lines, and I can also leverage my personal background to bring out some serious emotion. Most of all, I still enjoy being involved in theater. However, I was surprised to find these lessons in leadership and how they parallel with the business world.
In my role these days, I don’t interact with clients as much as I would like. However, I still strive to practice Comprise’s core values in my daily work. While having a genuine interest in our clients, their industries and communications innovations helps us prosper together, my curiosity extended to engaging in this passion project to learn how I do my part to both execute my role better AND grow the team.
