3 Valuable Lessons From Acting That Every Corporate Leader Must Learn

I've been working in the corporate world for the past 26 years, over which period, I've covered four industries, four countries, and countless jobs across India, Singapore, Scotland and London. However, what I'm here to talk about today is not this 'main track' of my life, but the valuable lessons from one of my 'side tracks' - acting. Occasionally, I dabble in and out of acting, doing student films, small commercials, and so on. And in this article, I'll speak of three valuable lessons from acting that every corporate leader must learn.

1. Acting teaches you to separate the person from the role

This one's especially valuable for my corporate friends.

Many times as we go through our life, we begin to conflate our personalities with the roles we're playing - and lose our sense of boundaries.

When acting, you take on a role.

Now that does not mean that you'll do a less good job, because we all know artists, especially method actors, go to great lengths to do justice to the character. So this isn't about quality or commitment, but perspective, and a sort of dispassionate commitment. For those who've read the Bhagvad Gita, you know where I'm coming from.

Yet, actors must understand that the role will end. No matter how much an artist 'becomes' this character, and inspires, entertains, it's transient.

Acting shows you that - over and over.

Keeps you grounded; duty bound yet detached.

2. Acting teaches you to listen - and truly tune in

We all know good listening skills are a rare find and corporate leaders take lessons in active listening, practising empathy, authenticity and so on.

Yet when you're acting, this is an ongoing and experiential lesson, and you'll be doing retakes until you GET this.

For example, if you're preparing for a scene, no matter how small that scene is, and however short your lines, you must appreciate the full context, notice every sigh, every smile, and wait your turn to speak.

This is valuable for corporate leaders because one common fallout of corporate success is that you're surrounded by yes people and become too sure of yourself - I mean, we all know every once in a while, hubris gets the better of us!

So combining lesson one and two, acting teaches you that you're playing a role, and that sometimes your role is to stay quiet and truly listen without rushing everyone to arrive at a solution that you've convinced yourself is the right one.

3. Acting teaches you to appreciate the lives people lead, their fears, their emotions ...

Many of us live too deep in our own skin. By this I mean that we know who we are, and how we think - and we sort of think that anyone else who doesn't think or act in the way we do, is missing a point.

There are several times I hear corporate leaders say phrases such as these.

"This makes no sense."

"Why would anyone do that?"

"If I was doing their job, I'd be all over this!"

"How can someone be so relaxed about this?"

Well....someone can, because that someone is not you, and it makes sense to that someone!

The beauty of acting is that not only do you have to read everyone else's lines along with yours, you must also understand their motives.

What the others are thinking?

Why they think the way they do?

To what lengths will they go to get what they want?

Why something that feels fair to you feels unfair to them?

It's not always easy, and can be very unsettling, but this discomfort, and the reflection thereafter, can completely change the way you see your role as a leader.

Summary

Often people pick a career and stick with it - I call it the linear sort of life. On another day soon, I'll do a post about the various life patterns buzzing in my brain. The squiggly lines, the curves, the pie charts, and so on...

But for now, all I want to say that if you're a corporate leader, or aspire to become one, take that moment to observe the person next to you. Who are they? What do they do? What drives them?

And if you have a bit more time to invest, go play a role, maybe a few. Ideally one that feels unnatural to you. Arrive at a set on a cold morning, be a nobody, wear clothes that you'd never normally wear, do a small extra role, and live an alternative life.

Besides the daily wages an actor, you'll receive the most precious lessons in humanity and humility.

PS: The photos are from when I played the role of a mum in a student film called See You Later. It was shot at London Film School.

I’m a?senior leader in the financial services industry with over 25 years of corporate experience and have held substantial leadership roles in prestigious firms such as HSBC, Barclays, BSkyB and NatWest. I’m also an accredited coach, a published author, global speaker, Udemy instructor and a marathon finisher. Bit restless if you ask me - and that's before I have coffee!

Click here to contact me for engagements!

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