BECOME
A MORE SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS AFTER A CLOWNING WORKSHOP?
PULL THE OTHER ONE.
One of our partners in business development and a How
To Be A Stupid graduate, Jamie Priestley, writes:
“In 2001 a management guru called Jim Collins wrote a book called ‘Good
to Great’. It became a bestseller. Its backbone is his survey of the
11 best companies selected from 1,500 excellent ones. The top 11 qualified
because of outstanding profitability over a long period – 15 years –
and Collins set out to find why. The explanation was a unique combination
of attributes in the bosses of these companies: exceptional single-mindedness
and exceptional humility residing in the same person. He summarises this in
his Harvard Business Review article called ‘Level 5 Leadership’.
Management is difficult. Most of the skills can be learned through experience
and books and the usual training courses. Successful businesses now understand
that a range of soft skills is also necessary: creativity, innovation, trust,
ability to listen, respect and – most important according to Collins
– humility.
Why? The people in effective teams complement one another. Different and opposing
strengths make for strong hybrids. You don’t get team members playing
to their strengths unless they first have the humility and courage to admit
what they’re NOT good at.
Unenlightened teams gravitate toward the style of the strongest member, the
person who appears to be the most natural leader: the most decisive, the most
forthright, the cleverest, the loudest etc. Unenlightened teams are full of
people who don’t dare expose their weaknesses. Instead they duplicate
the leader, since they want to look like the person they follow. This is the
red setter style of management: presentable but inbred, and so not very effective.
Why How to Be a Stupid? You can’t
learn humility rationally: you have to feel it. So the workshop lets you experience
what it’s like to live 100% in the moment, to be an eternal optimist,
to love being the centre of attention, to make the same mistake over and over
(because of your amazingly short clown memory), to be incapable of hiding
your joy or your disappointment, to show yourself as you really are, not how
you think people would like to see you. The workshop gives people an insight
into how charismatic and effective they can be at work if only they dare to
be themselves – allowing people to see their flaws - rather than try
to present a slick confection that isn’t really them. And because management
teams take this course together, they also learn to trust each other not to
exploit their weaknesses.
The benefits? A clearer sense of direction, better staff morale, better people,
better work, better client relations, bigger fees, more PR…”
Clowning offers profound lessons in issues facing everyone in modern businesses.
Failure, truth, sincerity, presence in the moment, team development, play,
learning… these are all things that clowning tackles. Businesses can
gain profound insight and change through contact with clown training.
The work we offer business is cutting edge and challenging and not for the
faint hearted. But for those looking for something different to bring about
change at personal, team and organisational levels, then the training we offer
based on the lessons of clowning can open doors to real change. Our work is
focused on action, engagement, and being in the sometimes uncomfortable moment
of learning. Led by de Castro, this work takes individuals and teams to places
untouched by traditional and classroom-based training but always leaves those
involved in a place of safety, stretched but inspired.
"From the moment you meet de Castro you realise something very special
is about to happen, and when you leave you have a long-lasting memory of,
for me, a life-changing experience. De Castro has a natural gift for enthusing
and inspiring all who meet her, and despite my past success in the presentation
arena, I feel I have now risen to a whole new level. In fact, two weeks after
my Clown School I was presenting to a large room of business people - and
the immense enjoyment and phenomenal success I realised from that night I
feel is testament to my time with de Castro. Thank you."
Michael Christon
Enhance Business Coaching Limited
Would you like to know more?
Email us at info@contemporaryclowningprojects.com
Like to talk to one of the companies that have discovered their inner clown?
Email Omaid on o.hiwaizi@crayon.com
