Leadership Training Works Better When You Create Community First

In this article in Forbes, Lynette Winter and Nir Megnazi talk about how they created a program, at a Fortune 50 company, where Leadership Training became less about teaching and more about community (first) and then coaching.

Here is an excerpt detailing the impact of the program:

With over 250 global leaders across 26 cohorts in a Fortune 50 company, the participants reported an average revenue or cost savings increase of $22.37 million per participant. Reduced attrition yielded a cost savings of $40 million over three years. Participants in the cohorts had a 2.7X promotion rate compared to their counterparts.

Notably, the participants' employees were surveyed and reported a much higher frequency of observed desired leadership behaviors. Consequently, overall employee engagement increased. These compelling business results showed that a leadership development program with community and coaching at the center positively impacts leader behaviors and the bottom line.

Here’s the fun and exciting part of this for us at CSz: we were a part of the front-end community-building in these cohorts. Improv for business is real and it can help deliver real results.

Here is a link to the whole article at Forbes.

NPR on What You Get From Improv

A very nice, concise article that covers the basics.

It turns out there are several mental health benefits of performing this art. According to a 2020 study published in the journal Thinking Skills and Creativity, researchers found that doing just 20 minutes of improv a day can increase creativity, decrease social anxiety and increase our ability to tolerate uncertainty.

Read the whole article here: https://www.npr.org/2022/10/19/1129907651/improv-can-build-confidence-heres-how-to-apply-it-to-your-everyday-life

Wool&Prince Founder Finds Value in Applied Improv from CSz

Photo by Mac Bishop

Mac Bishop, CEO and Founder of Portland’s Wool&Prince, writes about his company’s experience with our Basic Improv Skills Workshop:

I'd like to share our recent team building experience. We hired an improv coach (Patrick from CSz Portland) to guide us in a workshop. I had a vague idea of the listening and communication games we'd be playing, but didn't know how advanced we'd get in a two hour workshop. Thoughts of "am I or someone on the team going to say or do something embarrassing or regrettable" were running through my mind before we started. However, in our first activity, these fears quickly dissipated and even felt irrational. The game started easy but became hilariously impossible and resulted in everyone making mistakes. The core lesson: we're human, everyone makes mistakes, don't be so hard on yourself. We tend to believe that others notice and care about our mistakes far more than they actually do. If only we could treat ourselves as generously as we treat others when they make mistakes.

By the end of the workshop, my jaw hurt from smiling so much and it ended up being one of the most rewarding Wool&Prince experiences I've had in ten years. Perhaps it was the last two years of minimal group activities due to COVID or that we went into the event with mixed expectations, or what it actually was — just an incredible shared experience of growth, laughter, and team building.

View Mac’s original post (and learn more about the great clothing) from Wool&Prince here.

Podcasts featuring CSz Portland - Patrick Short & Ruth Jenkins

One of our folks suggested we collect our podcast appearances in one place. We said Yes.

• Patrick’s interview with Bill Haas on KXRW / XRAY.FM. March, 2022. Music, process, improv and theatre.

• The ComedySportz Podcast - recorded in March, 2020. Christine Capriolo and Kyle Hannekin from CSz Milwaukee are doing a great series on the origins and history of ComedySportz and its people. Patrick talks some origin story, some business history, some Applied Improv and about his worst improv onstage injury.

• Community Theater Heroes - recorded in January, 2019. There’s a lot of information and stories about CSz Portland and ComedySportz®, and a lot of information on how improv improves lives.

• John Cooper’s Bring A Brick - recorded in 2016. Focus on Applied Improv in Business. John Cooper is delightful. There are some other really good guests on John’s series, including Jim Ansaldo (improv for teens on the autism spectrum), Kat Koppett, Marijn Vissers, Drew Tarvin, Cathy Salit and others.

• Kevin Benson’s Bold Moves - recorded in November, 2014. Actually from a radio show on KJRB 790 in Spokane, WA. Starts with a few minutes of basic explanation of what Applied Improv is and does; Patrick’s segment starts around the 11:25 mark and runs through about 28:00.

• Jordan Carroll’s One Minute Weekly - January, 2018. A bite-sized video presentation with the basic concepts. (Please note: there are some CSz branding issues on this.)

• Adventures in Artslandia with Susannah Mars - Summer 2017. This is more about ComedySportz, but it’s fun and Patrick reveals that he is a “Dance Dad”.

Applied Improv is even in Forbes

Slowly, but surely, Applied Improvisation - the practice of using improv skills to improve business function and culture - is moving into the mainstream.

Now, there’s an article in Forbes. That is mainstream.

Pros:

• It’s in Forbes.

• It gets some of the concepts correct and acknowledges that there is more to it

• It’s a quick read

Cons:

• Of course the photo shows someone at the microphone, because even if the writer knows what improv is, the editor and/or designer did not.

• It’s a little heavily focused on Presenting. That’s OK, because improv helps a LOT with Presentation Skills - ask us - but there’s way more.

“Improv has become part of our daily nomenclature. It’s part of our culture. We now embrace the unknown and face any challenge with confidence, professionalism, tact and a whole lot of laughter.”

Wouldn’t that be sweet at your company?

Read for yourself.

Why Improv is More Than Just "Winging It"

CSz Portland's Patrick Short on the system of improv that can help businesses thrive.

The "action images" are from a recent engagement with healthcare providers and caregivers. Video by Cowan Jenkins.

Thesis: Theatrical & Improvisational Techniques for the Corporate World

Michelle Baxter, (MS, AA) – Drexel University) has released her Master’s Thesis.

Title
Theatrical & improvisational techniques for the corporate world: how the performing arts are helping create a more adaptable workforce for the 21st century

Author(s)
Baxter, Michelle N.

Advisor(s)
Vakharia, Neville

Keywords
Performing arts; Arts administration; Leadership–Study and teaching; Organizational behavior
Thesis
Thesis (M.S., Arts Administration) – Drexel University, 2014

Abstract
Performing arts organizations are helping create a more adaptable and innovative workforce by providing the business sector with corporate workshops that utilize theatrical and improvisational techniques that build leadership skills and promote team building. This paper aims to help performing arts organizations see the mutually beneficial practice of offering corporate training workshops. These programs not only help businesses explore the ways in which they can remain relevant and innovative in today’s competitive global market, but in doing so, they also create sustainability for the arts organization itself. Performing arts organizations must expand marketing efforts for corporate training programs, which not only increase earned revenue but also raise awareness about the role of the arts in the creation of a more innovative and adaptive workforce. While some performing arts organizations may look at this as “going corporate,” the organizations that provide these workshops truly see this as yet another way that the arts are able to positively impact our communities.

Here is a link to the site where you can download the pdf.