Leadership can be a powerful expression of your own vision and creativity. Leadership starts from clear perception: you must shed pre-conceptions – about yourself and others – in order to see clearly. Our customized Authentic Leadership Development programs bring you to the core of leadership, and offer you the tools – seeing, hearing, and perceiving in the moment – you need to be an effective leader. Each of us has a unique leadership style, specific needs as a leader, and an individual aesthetic or vision. All elements of your personal leadership – your style, your needs, and your individual aesthetic – are addressed, explored, and internalised.

Integrating the experiential approach of the theatre with the analytical and theoretical underpinnings of recent work in positive organizational psychology, through on-going discussion and hands-on experience, you investigate the connection between vision, creativity, relationship and leadership.

This work can be tailored to meet individual and group needs in both residential and short-course settings.

In ancient Greece, an actor was a “pleader of causes before a tribunal”. The essence of effective “pleading” is understanding what you want to cause. Our speaker development work, drawing on principals of the dramatic arts, is about the foundations of relationship that lie beneath simple presentation “skills”. We help you understand and harness your personal vision and voice so you have a real impact on your audience. We help you:

• Build content delivery so you convey clearer messages with greater impact.
• Develop stronger relationships between you and your audiences.
• Develop new approaches to current and perspective clients.
• Communicate with greater vitality and passion.
• Heighten your confidence and motivation.
• Renew commitment.
• Strengthen your sense of integrity through articulation of true values and vision.
• Fully experience your own authority and ownership.
• Focus on presenting ideas in greater depth versus breadth.
• Expand your range of expression demonstrating flexibility, humor and humanity.
• Improve your listening skills.

Individual programs are tailored to your own needs and schedule, usually involving monthly sessions over a year or more.

Brilliant corporate strategy springs from visionary and creative thinking. Its implementation depends on outstanding leadership.

We collaborate with strategy teams and their leaders to reach beyond conventional thinking and solutions. We work with teams together, and individually, to provoke and challenge thinking from the unique perspective of the theatre – where true creativity springs from the strength of the relationship between the actor and his audience. This is not about “theatre games”, but the intense collaboration and focus required to truly push the boundaries of your thinking.

Our experience has shown us that brilliant ideas are those that emerge in that “space” in a relationship – “the bit in the middle”.

A client said to us recently: “Forget the rest – it’s ALL about relationships.” He’s right. Effective client development is primarily a consequence of quality relationships. Our coaches focus on preparing individuals and teams to be highly effective communicators and relationship builders.

In theatre, the essence is for the actor to reach across the footlights and create a relationship with the audience. When this relationship is established then true communication happens. Exactly the same principles apply in business.

Rather than emphasising any formulaic “mechanics of sales training”, we use the principles and techniques of stimulating creativity used in the performing arts to guide you. This experiential, tailored approach focuses on the essence of relationship: knowing what it is you want to say and cause; understanding your impact; reaching out to and holding an audience; stimulating their imagination; creating an atmosphere of trust and alignment; and listening and adapting.

We enhance the listening capabilities of your teams, so they become better thought partners. In this way, their own creativity and impact drive more powerful relationships.

Change is often destabilising and destructive. In politics and in business, change often causes uncertainty and conflict. But it can be harnessed as a creative force using the power of the individual as the wellspring for change at the group level. We have found that the most effective change in organizations is often not management driven, but an organic, grassroots human process. We work with organizations to develop a unified vision that truly expresses the voice of everyone involved. This results in true ownership.

Our work integrates the experiential approach of theatre with the analysis and understanding of recent thinking in positive organizational psychology.

As Peter Senge says: “The new practices will come from those who have created together.”* Whether change is a result of a merger or acquisition, shifting markets, or management strategy, we work with you and your staff to create new and unique opportunities.

The founder of the Boston Consulting Group, Bruce Henderson said: “A strategy that is not implemented is merely a good idea.” For us, a key to making strategy successful is the quality of the team that has to implement it. That group of people has to be aligned and engaged in what needs to be achieved.

In theatre, the concept of team building is called ensemble. Building ensemble, to the highest professional standards and unswerving deadlines, is the job of the theatre director. He must draw together the vision of the playwright, the set and lighting designers, the talents of the actors, and the skills of costumiers, carpenters, painters, promoters and front-of-house people, and then create something bigger than all of them. He must also unite many ways of working so the vision presented is coherent.

It’s our experience that when teams find and speak their shared values and vision then, engagement and teamwork are natural consequences. Drawing on our years of experience in creating ensemble, we help teams find their individual and collective vision and alignment. And when teams truly work together, magic happens.

A conference must be much more than the simple conveying of information. It must be a unique experience-an opportunity for you to create real relationship with your audience. Whether your event is for 50 people or 500, the chance for a truly shared experience is the same.

We help you prepare all performance aspects of your conference, from venue selection and scripting, to your performance on the day. Taking a director’s role, we enable you to clarify your vision for the event. We bring you from behind your content so you communicate directly and meaningfully with your audience. This means attention to detail. The detail – the content and structure – of your speeches and presentations, as well as themes and structure of the event as a whole, is vital.

When your conference becomes a “performance”, you will deliver on your brand and on your promise.

Performers must hone their talents to be ready for the next big audition or the important new role. This is as true for the young actor seeking the first “big break”, as it is for the Broadway star preparing for a new role.

Our actors and performers keep coming back to us to maximise their impact – to make sure that they and their material both speak to the audience. And while the teaching of technique has its place, we focus on the vital importance of you fully expressing your personal vision and creativity through a role.