{"id":18838,"date":"2021-04-05T10:18:08","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T15:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainingmag.com\/?p=18838"},"modified":"2021-04-01T17:11:30","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T22:11:30","slug":"how-to-dance-your-way-to-better-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trainingmag.com\/how-to-dance-your-way-to-better-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Dance Your Way to Better Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

How can learning dynamic moves on the dance floor help you become a more dynamic leader? Dance and business may not seem to jibe, but dancing actually can revolutionize how you work with partners, staff, and clients. I should know: I\u2019m a leadership and business coach and professional dancer who has applied what she learned on the dance floor to create a thriving company I love.<\/p>\n

After facing challenges such as a broken heel on stage and rainy outdoor performances, I understand how moments like this have supported my growth as a professional. I\u2019ve become more resilient, creative, and confident, thanks to these experiences.<\/p>\n

My clients, both private and corporate, also have enjoyed discovering the intersections between dance and leadership. I\u2019ve brought dance concepts\u2014such as why leaders become stronger when they know how to follow, or why releasing control is sometimes key to creating the best outcomes\u2014to offsites, private coaching sessions, and workshops. Thanks to dance, I\u2019ve watched CEOs at Fortune 500 companies, heads of nonprofits, and solopreneurs have aha moments that changed who they are as a leader.<\/p>\n

My new book, \u201cDance Adventures: True Stories About Dancing Abroad<\/a>,\u201d features stories from authors around the world who share their own incredible tales about how dancing abroad catalyzed their personal and professional growth. To drive this point home, I asked a few of them, as well as leaders from several other industries, how dancing shaped their leadership. They\u2019ve learned how to:<\/p>\n

Improvise at a moment\u2019s notice: <\/strong>Alvin Ailey dancer and contributor to \u201cDance Adventures\u201d Courtney Celeste Spears has flexed her leadership muscles as a professional artist, the co-founder of ArtSea Dance, and a student in Harvard Business School\u2019s Crossover Into Business program.<\/p>\n

Courtney cites dance as the genesis of her versatility and adaptability as a leader. \u201cBeing a dancer has forced me to learn to adjust quickly to various scenarios,\u201d Spears says, noting times when there have been last-minute venue or costume changes. \u201cThis is an important leadership skill. While people are still trying to figure things out or to accept the fact that change is happening, you\u2019ve already seen it and figured out how to move forward. This makes others look to you for guidance, which naturally makes you a leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow: <\/strong>The founder of management consulting firm BGSD Strategies, Michelle Coyle went far beyond her comfort zone in her first zouk class. \u201cI started in a follow role and struggled because I am not a follow in life!\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m a dominant, assertive CEO who is used to calling the shots.\u201d<\/p>\n

She had a breakthrough in her understanding of leadership, however, when practicing steps with a friend:<\/p>\n

\u201cI create the space for you to step into!\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

In this moment, Coyle understood that this was not just the next step for her as a dancer, but also as an entrepreneur. She needed to make space for her team\u2019s expertise and delegate so she could focus on growing the business.<\/p>\n

Cultivate resilience: <\/strong>\u201cLearning theater dance, tango, and salsa made me a far more confident Marine commander, counterterrorism officer, and professor,\u201d notes Howard Gambrill Clark, who is now president of think tank Narrative Strategies in Washington DC. \u201cIt taught me that if I make a mistake or come across in a way I wish I hadn\u2019t\u2014whether I\u2019m teaching in a class of international students or speaking to a division of Marines\u2014I can come back from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark first had this realization when he was performing fight choreography during a performance of West Side Story.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI wiped out,\u201d Clark reveals. \u201cI worried that people would judge me, but then I realized that brushing myself off and learning from what happened is what counted. It was a very freeing realization that has allowed me to try things and push the envelope in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Influence how people see you: <\/strong>Criminal defense lawyer Tom Koerner has been juggling his law practice with his organization, Gottaswing, since 1994. Dancing has aided his legal career, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompetitive dancing and courtroom work are very similar,\u201d Koerner explains. \u201cThere is a performance aspect, and you have to consider how the audience perceives you and how to portray yourself as confident. To do this well, you need to learn to think on your feet and stay aware of how you come across to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Negotiate more effectively: <\/strong>Dance helped Nikki Hibbs find a blind spot in her work as a contract negotiator across various industries.<\/p>\n

\u201cReading nonverbal cues is something you need to do as a leader in my field, and it is a skill I didn\u2019t realize I lacked until a year after I started dancing,\u201d Hibbs relates. \u201cAs a blues follow, I am constantly paying attention to my lead\u2019s body language.\u201d<\/p>\n

This observation proved useful during a negotiation. \u201cThe other party was communicating that everything was going well, but I noticed the room was warm and they weren\u2019t taking off their jacket,\u201d she says. \u201cTheir shoulders were also slumped, and their arms were crossed.\u201d<\/p>\n

With time, Hibbs discovered the other party wasn\u2019t sure they could complete a contract, and she was able to pivot negotiations accordingly.<\/p>\n

Find\u2014and own\u2014their voice:\u00a0<\/strong>Nick Williams, renowned swing dance instructor, says his experience growing the balboa scene in the late 1990s in Los Angeles helped him cultivate the confidence to create his brand.<\/p>\n

At that time, the balboa community had very strong opinions about the dance, Williams explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, the community often talked about moves and styling as binary,\u201d he says. \u201cWe used the words \u2018always\u2019 and \u2018never\u2019 in our classes. Something was either balboa or it was not.\u201d<\/p>\n

After watching the various styles of original balboa dancers, however, Williams understood there was more space for creativity and innovation. He began to base his movement off of what he saw these dancers doing, rather than following the \u201crules\u201d of the modern-day scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt set me on a path of taking my learning into my own hands,\u201d Williams says. \u201cIt helped me develop initiative and taught me not to wait for permission from others to develop my own thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 efforts to find his own style worked. He has been traveling the world teaching balboa and other dances of the swing era for the last 20 years.<\/p>\n

Between my own experience and the interviews above, it\u2019s clear it doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re a new dancer or a seasoned professional: If you\u2019re learning to dance, you\u2019re learning how to be a better leader. You\u2019re stepping your way to more self-awareness and\u2014ultimately\u2014success!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many dance concepts can be applied to leadership\u2014including why leaders become stronger when they know how to follow, or why releasing control is sometimes key to creating the best outcomes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1870,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[30],"class_list":{"0":"post-18838","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-magazine","7":"tag-how-to","8":"magazine_issues-april-2021"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Dance Your Way to Better Leadership<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why leaders become stronger when they know how to follow, or why releasing control is sometimes key to creating the best outcomes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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