What Leaders can learn from Dance

Even though I've not performed since Pandemic hits, going out to the dance floor with my wife is still a must. Like a lot of sports, regular practice is necessary but that's not what this post is about.

Did you know that we can learn a thing or two about leadership in dancing? In a couple's dance, we have a Leader and a Follower that makes up a pair. The leader sets the pace, guides the routines and protects the partner on the dance floor while the follower mirrors the moves, keeping up with the pace and subtly help paint the picture that the lead wants to portray in the music.

Leadership can be found in every activity and every situation in life; and dancing provides a great setting in which to discover metaphors for the business world, since all leadership principles are as true on the dance floor as they are in the boardroom. It is in the dance world that we find an aesthetic and graceful way of leading and being led within a clearly defined framework of music and choreography.

What Leaders can learn from Dancers:

Self-Leadership: If you are confident with the choreography, it will show and inspire others to follow. To be able to lead others, you must begin with yourself. Before I can invite a partner to the dance floor, I needs to know the choreography so I can effectively lead. If I'm not sure of the steps, both of us will struggle and it will show. A leader needs to exhibit confidence, clear intentions and trust. Believing in yourself as a leader is the first step to becoming your true, authentic self. If a leader sets an intent that is contrary to his actions, he creates mindlessness.

Consciousness: Knowing who you are. Leadership means being aware of your own style. It is about figuring out who you are, what you’re passionate about, and then expressing exactly that. To the outside world, I might appear calm and elegant (I hope), showing strength and balance, but inside there is a lot of thought and hard work going on. Focused on the process, knowing instinctively which possibilities exist, when to improvise and where humor can save a situation when all else fails!

Connection: Working in partnership to create the best results. Leading is about connection, creating resonance and working in partnership. To be a good leader on the dance floor, I need to know where my partner is at every moment, which foot the weight is balanced on without looking. When we dance, there is consent, connection and a shared goals. How we carry ourselves will allow our partner(s) to effortlessly do their part and follow well.

Strength: Recognizing others’ abilities and allowing them to shine. Leadership means letting other people’s strengths shine, and giving them the opportunity to excel at their own personal mastery. People entrust themselves to a leader, in business as on the dance floor. None of Gene Kelly’s dance partners had his level of expertise; but he always made the women he danced with appear more proficient than they were. He put them at the center of the dance when they were performing the moves they did best.

Alignment: Having a plan means knowing the choreography of your dance and sharing it with others. Being a good leader means you have a vision and a plan, so your partners know what their next steps should be. It means communicating those next steps with precision and in time for them to respond. And giving others the space they need to do their best.

Development: Taking feedback on board and re-aligning where necessary. Great leaders continuously learn and grow from other’s responses, reactions and feedback. Leaders fine-tune their instructions so the responses produce the results they are looking for.

Excellence: Be the best you can be and dance like nobody’s watching. Leaders consciously chose their attitude and this can be a deciding factor between failure and success. In competition ballroom dancing and show competitions, judges want to see full expression and commitment to the movement. No holding back. Use the same procedure in business: Make the leap of faith, take the risk, and execute your decisions whole-heartedly. Dance full out.

Action: Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, just start moving, the rest will take care of itself. Leaders focus on implementation. Both dancing and doing business can only be learned by taking action. Practicing, improvising with creativity and spontaneity and focusing on the execution will make the revenues. Go for it.

Food for thought and inspiration

Self-Leadership: How can you hold yourself today, so that others effortlessly follow you?

Consciousness: What are your afraid of? What gives you energy? What are you recognized for?

Connection: How does it feel different when the interaction shifts to partnership?

Strengths: How do you put others in the limelight? How do you provide others the space and time to grow and thrive?

Alignment: What is your vision of leadership and what does your plan to execute it look like?

Development: When and where have you learned through trial and error, experimenting, mutuality or vulnerability?

Excellence: When did you last play full out?

Action: What does it take for you to execute a plan? How does it make you feel?

Whenever you encounter or exhibit leadership, enjoy the process and the people, while you keep sight of the desired outcome. Dancing taught us the importance of non-verbal communication; we understand each other almost intuitively. We are in this together – either both of us look good dancing or no-one does. A positive attitude can create a dazzling performance in business and on the dance floor. And application, concentration and focus ensure the desired outcome in both worlds.

Conflict resolution is the highest priority before entering the dance floor so that both partners feel relaxed with each other and have the capacity to focus on the action again. Both dancing and doing business are about relationship management, If I imposed steps, figures or expressions that my partner didn’t buy into, I would eventually risk the quality of our execution and take the fun out of our interactions, in worse cases I've seen, injuries too.

On the dance floor, you can experience leadership in its purest form. It doesn’t matter what your background is, how much money you earn or where you find yourself in the hierarchy. All that counts is that you can make the dance work and enjoy it!

Or to quote one of the world’s most talented and admired dancers, Fred Astaire:

“Do it big, do it right, and do it with style.”