Aesthetic Intelligence by Rochelle Mucha

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The Leader, The Director

            Leaders in business have much to learn from leaders in the performing arts.

Susan Booth, Artistic Director of the Alliance Theatre, recipient of the Tony Award for Best Regional Theatre in 2007 explains:  "A director prepares for the conversation with the audience, harvests all the voices in the room and knows how to stand behind the cast and audience and not between".

The best directors are ‘present’, watching, listening, and expressing what is happening before them. He or she trusts the talent around them, and collects what each person brings. They give actors space to explore and own their characters; balance their need for control with empowerment, know when to get involved and when to stand back. They are authentic. Directors create a positive work environment, where everybody gets to talk and everybody's ideas are honored and considered. People are allowed to make mistakes. A rehearsal is an exploration not an exam. Mistakes are a given.

The most important thing a director does is cast the play. If you have a great play and cast the wrong people, the play will likely fall flat. In contrast, even a poor play may come alive with the right cast. After casting, a director recognizes that different actors need different things from them, and adopt their interactions and guidance accordingly. A director is a synthesizer, a sensemaker, a sculptor, who sees emergent patterns from the collective process. He or she is the eyes and ears of the group, representing their interests with others back stage. The success of directors is determined by their ability to coordinate these multiple players and create a cohesive performance.  

The adjectives that describe a good director, are exactly the same adjectives we would use to describe the model leader. A good director embodies Aesthetic Intelligence and creates an Aesthetically Intelligent environment. A good director serves as a source of insight and inspiration for great leadership in any venue.

How do you serve as a ‘sensemaker’? A liaison? A synthesizer? What parallels do you see between your role as a leader, and a typical director?

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Leaders Create Spectacular Societies

          Although the notion of a creative class, introduced by Richard Florida, may be a novel concept for business, it has existed in the arts for centuries. The Renaissance was witness to theatrical cities, emergent theatre communities set apart, on the margins of major cities, known as a spectacular society. These peripheral cultures embodied cohesion of social, artistic, and political inputs, characterized by a convergence (synthesis) of ideas.  The MacDowell Colony is a 450-acre retreat in rural New England and has served as a creative refuge to over 550 artists of various disciplines since 1907.  Designed to respect the creative process, attendees have time and space to interact in an environment free from distractions, where mingling promotes sharing. Since its onset, MacDowell Colony alumni have won more than 65 Pulitzers, 12 MacArthur Foundation “genius awards” and, claimed scores of Academy Awards, Grammy’s Guggenheims, and National Book Awards.

Synthesis is a catalyst for creativity; creativity is a catalyst for innovation. Innovation equals growth and economic gain. Talented people must be nurtured and educated. Conclusion - to achieve growth, any entity (region, company, institution) must be a place where talented and creative people want to be, a place that provides the infrastructure for learning, and welcomes and cultivates diverse ideas and people. Synthesis flows from being present and authentic (Aesthetic Intelligence). Aesthetic Intelligence characterizes spectacular societies.

Are you creating a spectacular society?

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A Very, Very, Very, Very, Difficult Employee: What is a Leader to do

Recently, while facilitating a conference breakout session, one woman passionately shared that she had a “very, very, very, very” difficult employee, and implored me for help. After being certain, I captured all her “very” statements I offered: ‘It is not about you, or your misery. The question is, have you probed to find out why this person is so unhappy’. You see from my lens, no one goes to work to be miserable, or cause misery. When confronted with such a situation, such an employee, a leader probes to find out what is behind the behavior, what is broken with the system that causes a person to be so “very, very, very, very” miserable. . This is Artful Conversation. Engaging in Artful Conversation, ensures that you will be ‘present’ ready to absorb the entire landscape before you, rather than an isolated action. Artful Conversation demands that you probe and decode till you discover root causes and golden nuggets. What Artful Conversation experiences do you have to share?

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Great Performances Require Great Connections!

Language is the conduit of our work. It is powerful, at work and play. We say what we think. We write what we think, and what we think stems from where we have been and what we believe we know. How we use language to inform communication, our conversations, has the power to create camaraderie or conflict; progress or regression; connection or abandon. Failed interactions accounts for damaged relationships professionally and personally. We have all heard or spoken the following cries of frustration at one time or another:

▪                     You don't understand!                       

▪                     You are not listening!

▪                     Stop interrupting!

▪                     Get to the point!                    

▪                     You're overreacting!  

These are the audible expressions. More devastating and equally rampant are the silent statements of disappointment, fear, omission, misunderstanding, and anger that compromise relationships on every stage. Communication need not be successful to have occurred. Just as in tennis, you may win or lose a match, but in either case, you have played tennis.  When you cry, We are not communicating! - - - you are indeed communicating. Whether we do so effectively or not, is another matter.

In this global and virtual world, communication has become a mindless habit contributing to an epidemic of failed conversation. Messages can be terse, excessive, misinterpreted, or laden with emotional undercurrents. More than ever, organizations are challenged to create  generative spaces and mechanisms that facilitate conversations which spark imagination, creativity and energy….all of which is required for collaboration and innovation essential to tackle the fast pace of learning and problem solving which defines today’s business environment.  n short, great performances require great connections and electronic, distant, immediate communication does not suffice. They do not create generative spaces.

Enter, Artful Conversation. Artful conversation is emergent and begins with listening. Instead of preparing our response, we are present, absorbing the complete landscape: self, others, movement, tone, surroundings. Probing decodes the true message, encouraging a present and authentic response, in lieu of automatic responses. Synthesis weaves the facets of our experience and ensures action in real time. Artful Conversation reflects one’s ability to be present, authentic, and to synthesize - - - the fundamental elements of Aesthetic Intelligence.

How Artful is your conversation?

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Leaders Cannot Dictate Emotion

Often, I hear leaders exclaim, “Be motivated! Get excited! Act with Passion!; Trust me!” They are visibly disappointed when I tell them that they can’t say those things.  I explain, these are emotions, and you cannot dictate emotion. What a leader can do is create an environment where motivation thrives, excitement is generated, passion is ignited, and trust is earned. The key term here is “create”, and the key implication, is “organizational culture”. Culture is the energy that moves people to act. Culture is a key input that defines how an organization works  An Aesthetically Intelligent culture embodies, encourages, and executes the collective energy and focus of its members.  And, more than anyone group, leaders define organizational culture. In what ways would you as a leader create a culture characterized by motivation, excitement, passion and trust?

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Bookmarks of Leadership

David McCullough, author and historian, has frequently referred to history as a human story. And as we know, history repeats itself for better and for worse. Sometimes ‘we’ learn and do things differently. Sometimes we repeat the ills of the past, fooling ourselves by disguising our actions with modern attire. With this metaphor in mind, it is an easy leap to say that as individuals, as leaders, we are authors of our own leadership story and the impact of that narrative will depend heavily on your authenticity. Authenticity is a core element of Aesthetic Intelligence. When you reflect on your career, what are the bookmarks, the forks in the road, the key catalysts from which your story has unfolded? And what wisdom would you pass on to those first embarking on their journey?

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Familiar and Timeless, Peter Drucker’s 5 questions

The nature of organizations has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Today, employers and employees both understand few show up thinking they will collect their ‘gold watch’ after 25 years of service. Instead, individuals are responsible to carve and erect their career paths. Individuals need to keep themselves engaged in a work life that might span more than 50 years. And, to do this requires a deep understanding of self, and understanding of self is a cornerstone of Aesthetic Intelligence. Peter Drucker said, “Only when you operate from a combination of your strengths and self knowledge can you achieve true and lasting excellence”. This familiar but timeless wisdom holds true today. So, let’s revisit Drucker’s 5 questions first introduced in the article, Managing Oneself, HBR, 1999:

• What are my strengths? (how do you know, what do you do to strengthen them and how do you use this knowledge to establish, and manage relationships?)
• How do I work? (how do you learn? are you a reader or listener? do you prefer solo to groups?)
• What are my values? (and are they consistent with your organization’s values/)
• Where do I belong? (is my role the optimal, the best fit for me?)
• What can I contribute? (how will I use my self-knowledge and strengths to make a difference in my organization, community, society?)

Without these answers, most people waste time improving skill areas where they have little competence, or try to modify ‘personality’ traits that cannot be changed. Drucker and authors that are more recent advise us to play to our strengths. What do you think? What stories can you share?

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Mangled Words

More often than not, our intentions and outcomes do not match. Most of us, leaders at any level, ‘mangle’ our words from time to time. If “to err is to be human”, then to ‘mangle’ is to communicate. The real question is whether we are astute enough to notice, or prefer to ignore the nonverbal and verbal responses that tell us, we were off the mark. Do we ignore? Rebuke? Excuse? Or do we acknowledge and try to get it right? The recent political noise over the word, “bitter” is a case in point. Back away, apologize or continue to use the term, purposively reframing it with the original intention. Artful Conversation holds the possibility to move from ‘mangled’ words and interpretations to intentional connection. What is your experience? Your commentary?

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When you look in the mirror, see glass

I love to include quotes in my work, words spoken together that capture powerful emotions and messages. Last week, while facilitating a session, a participant asked me about one specific quote: “When you look in the mirror, see glass”, Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz. I explained as best I could, that the author said those words to encourage congregants to see beyond themselves, to see those in need, to listen to others, and to work for outcomes that touched many outside our normal view. I included the quote because I believe that this way of thinking defines leadership. To see beyond oneself, and deep listening also define Presence, a critical element of Aesthetic Intelligence. What do you think? Do you see reflection, or do you see through the glass?

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Rehearsal Can Make For More Effective Leadership

One of the great prevailing myths in the workplace is that our time is actually planned. In truth, our day is a series of interruptions and surprises. The best-laid plans give way to spontaneous conversations, debate, and decision-making. Unanticipated external influences demand adaptation. Simply, we are improvising much more than most of us realize. Rehearsal offers an ongoing process of continuous improvement, iterative actions of observation and reflection, strengthening our ability to be authentic with intention even in the midst of unpredictable events. Rehearsal makes for “disciplined practicers” whether you are a performing artist or a business leader. Rehearsal is one powerful means to enhance our behavior, and consequently, our impact. Not rehearsal in the colloquial way we may think of it as an intense preparation time before opening night, but rather as cultivating a daily habit of reflection of our activities.Did that meeting go well?  Did that conversation yield the intended results or a surprise? What worked and did not work? Was I present? When did I respond mindlessly, from habit? What would I do differently if I could rewind the tape? What did I learn about myself, and others, because of that interaction? Answers to these and other questions deepen self-awareness and inform future interactions.