How Theater Shaped My Leadership Journey in Corporate America

It didn’t. Not for the corporate and tech cultures I found myself in over twenty years ago. It didn’t teach me the rules. It didn’t accelerate my career trajectory. But my experiences in theater taught me an ethical framework rooted in empathy and collaboration.  It showed me a leadership style and way of working that’s popularized but still not popular and that I continue to aspire towards.

I worked at a theater where we developed work collaboratively: director, actors, designers, and playwright. We would workshop and rehearse together. We’d experiment, give each other feedback, and seek outside perspectives. We had our individual responsibilities, but when the process worked, we felt safe to step beyond that to help build the piece. When it came to it, we would cut – even our favorite things – to deliver a performance for the opening curtain.

• Express your opinion but don’t get lost in it
• Respect your team
• Hear feedback and adapt to it
• Learn from success and failure
• Trade scope to meet the goal
• Keep the outcome in mind

Most projects fell short of our ambitions in one way or another. An inspired, collaborative process can fail. A toxic process can succeed. But I learned success lies along many dimensions. External ones like attendance and audience approval AND internal ones like learning, joy, belonging, and inspiration. 

My mission is to achieve some measure of the one while holding onto the other. To create business outcomes in ways that build up people’s well-being and love of the work – not tear it down. To create a workplace where people can bring their full selves and take risks safely.

That definition of success was not a priority in the tech industry in which I started. It is not a priority for many/most workplaces now. Navigating that tension. Learning and developing my capabilities. Connecting with professionals who share my values. This is why I took twenty years to develop from an engineer to C-Level executive. Why I’ve focused on team environments. Why I’m learning to coach and support others.

Theater did not prepare me for leadership and a career in corporate America. It made me want to help change what those things mean and I’m eternally grateful.