When setbacks send you plummeting back to Earth from the stratosphere of your dreams, leaving you staggering through the debris of your once hopeful rise to leadership, you may be thinking that your opportunities are over. 

But if a glimmer of hope still burns inside of you, how do you re-gain control and get yourself back on track?

The “Yes, And” rule 

Applying the, “Yes, And” approach to your leadership aspirations helps to re-frame your situation allowing you to regain control.

“Yes, And” is a creative tool taken from comedy improvisation where in order to draw in an audience to a drama the actors must take a “Yes, And” approach to their scene.   The “Yes, And” rule  suggests a participant should accept what the other person has created (“Yes”) and then add something to it (“And”) (1)

The aim of the “Yes, And” principal is to keep the comedy improvisation in creative flow by not putting any blocks in place that would halt the improvisation, for example, a closed question that would result in a NO outcome drawing the scene to an end.

So let’s put you in your leadership improvisation scene, how would the “Yes, And” rule work for you?

First you need to begin by saying, “Yes, I want to be a leader!”, but more importantly, “Yes I can!”

Admitting this to yourself opens the doors to the “And” conversations, voicing your desire to be a leader is the first step in having an open conversation with others about how you can achieve that goal,  because this is where others can offer the “And” ideas about how you might get there.

Chase the positive facilitators

In our fragile state where we often doubt our leadership aspirations it’s all too easy to have our “Yes, And” conversation halted because we sought feedback from the wrong person(s) or believed that someone’s opinion was in fact our truth about what we can and cannot achieve.

Don’t have your “Yes, And” conversation with the person(s) least likely to champion your talent.  It’s all too easy to have our dream crushed off the back of a flippant comment.  Find the people that are willing to make you better and guide you on your leadership pathway.  You may be lucky to have those people already surrounding you in your school, or you have a good friend that will have this conversation with you.  If not, the WomenED steering group will help to provide you with the platform you need to begin your leadership journey.

For immediate ideas and solutions on kick starting your leadership pathway, listen to episode 38 of the Inspiration 4 Teachers Podcast Show, Jules Daulby and host Kelly Long discuss how to get back into the leadership game!

#3Tips3Mins

Finally, show no FEAR!

“Face everything and rise” – Zig Ziglar

Because the alternative is to, “forget everything and run”, bidding au revoir to your leadership aspirations as you mooch off into the distance.

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References

(1) (Rules of comedy improv and acting”. Pan Theater. Retrieved 2015-09-20)