Imagine an office where old-school politics, driven by egos and insecurities, are a thing of the past. Imagine a team unhampered by the fear of failure. Imagine a team that thrives and celebrates together, with everyone delivering their best work.
For over 20 years, I’ve been delivering laughs through improv comedy shows. But along the way, my true mission and passion became teaching others the real power of improv.
Early on, I saw how so many people discovered their best selves after as little as five minutes of improv. An 8-year-old girl realizing she doesn’t have to be afraid to play and have fun. A 50-year-old realizing they don’t have to apologize, even after delivering the perfect word in a one-word story game. Leaders realizing they can motivate a team without being a bad boss.
In fact, I now dislike the words “manager” or “boss.” Managers just get by. Bosses demand results. Leaders, on the other hand, serve their teams, setting them up for success.
The problem is, leaders are human too. We’re terrified of losing our jobs, terrified our companies will fail. We have feelings, wants, needs, aspirations, and fears.
Overcoming Life’s Training
The true power of “Yes, And…” improv is learning to move past our life training. From early on, most of us were trained to fear, hate, and judge. They say we beat creativity and joy out of our kids by the fourth grade. A few skate by, usually thanks to privilege of birth or early recognized “Gifted & Talented” programs. Everyone else is “managed” for the sanity of the parent or teacher. This culminates in middle school, where we truly learn to hate, fear, and judge on our own.
We yell at kids to “LISTEN! FOCUS! RESPECT!” demanding results, but what we really teach is a hatred for authority. We use guilt and shame, or reward with candy. As adults, we think we’re better listeners, but most of us aren’t. So many adults are still terrified of public speaking. Many are terrified to make eye contact. Or worse, too many adults overcompensate for these insecurities with arrogance, hiding behind office politics, thriving on destroying others when they could be creating something awesome.
Improv teaches us a better way. I admit immediately, I’m no genius with words. I mess up lines all the time. But because I don’t fear failure, I don’t stop. I don’t get embarrassed. I don’t worry about consequences. I persevere. I learn from those mistakes. I repeat successes. At the end of the day, I make enough wins that no one remembers the losses. I get off stage and folks say, “YOU ARE SO WITTY!” If they only knew!
Improv is All About Embracing the Unknown
Fear of failure and stage fright, to me, are part of a much bigger category: fear of the unknown. How many of us stay at jobs we hate, fearing unemployment or a possibly worse job? How many stay in terrible relationships, fearing being alone? How many fail to act upon an idea for a new business? How many sit quietly in the corner, fearing ridicule?
The only thing worse than caring what others think is worrying about what you think they are thinking, or will think.
I have found freedom through improv. Even as an actor, singer, and comic, I suffered horribly from anxiety. I hid that better than most, and for many, self-confidence is just that—hiding our fears from the world.
Through improv, I truly learned to embrace failure. Now I say the only failure is giving up. If you learn from the mistakes, learn from the hiccups and side steps that fell short, long-term results will prove these were not failures.
This is why my #1 rule is HAVE FUN but never at another’s expense. I know, living by this mantra, I catch myself from saying a lot of mean things. Moreover, I have trained myself to be more positive inside and out. I have trained myself to be less judgmental. I have trained myself to be more about making my team look amazing, and knowing they have my back, I don’t have to worry about my own failures.
I am human. I have not conquered all fear. I have plenty of flaws. I have plenty of less-than-great thoughts.
But now I have the tools to manage those worst sides of me and let the good times roll.
The Power of Play
As a result of being a better listener, more focused as a public speaker, and unleashing my creativity to its fullest, I am able to deliver my best work on and off stage. This applies as a team member, as a leader of teams, as a teacher of kids and adults, and as the chief sales and marketing person in charge of getting dozens of actors work.
It is incredibly difficult to sell improv. It’s not easy to say what exactly is going to happen, because it’s improv; we improvise. And the fears of so many school principals and corporate project managers (you are all human too, with a lot on the line) makes it very hard to say “LET’S DO THIS.” But more and more people realize the power of improv in building a better community, at work, school, or home.
Reach out and come sit in on one of my workshops in Times Square. Let me show you how much fun we have. You won’t even realize how profoundly changed you will be, because at the time, we’re just having fun. Over time, you will realize that simply playing these games, you become more focused, a better listener, more confident, a better public speaker, better at creative and critical thinking, a better leader, a better community member, and even better at sales.
Let’s make the world a better place, one improv at a time.
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