There’s nothing a little improv can’t solve.
Leadership requires flexibility, adaptability, solutions-based thinking, and not taking yourself too seriously, at least in the nonprofit, human services industry.
Recently, Scott Field, co-founder of Third Coast Comedy Club, led a professional development hour with an improv class. The intent was not to teach our team how to improvise, it was to reflect back to them a skill they have already mastered and demonstrate how they can leverage this skill with intention.
At Friends Life Community, we have an exceptional team who teach, support, and lead individuals with developmental disabilities so they can develop socially, grow personally, and enjoy community as they live life together. No two days are alike. It is impossible to develop an instruction manual to be successful. And it requires a sense of humor. This is living life together – we exist so that the individuals we support and their families don’t have to navigate adulthood alone.
Yet, even without an instruction manual, our team members are highly effective and successfully support individuals in meeting personal and group goals. As I observe the team and identify how they remove barriers and use creativity to provide this support, I have realized that there is nothing that a little improv can’t solve, and I want them to realize the value of the skill they possess.
Scott opened our training with three principles of improv:
- Agreement (“Yes, and…”)
- Close listening
- Mistakes are gifts
*Bonus: Have a punk attitude!
Agreement
The concept of Agreement is often equated with giving a simple, “yes” response. Scott reframed Agreement to mean “Yes, and…” to demonstrate a shared understanding of the situation. Each party must accept the reality of what there is to work with and agree to build off that reality.
Once everyone is on the same page, we can move forward. There is no time wasted disputing facts because the door is wide open for solutions. While it is important to start with the same understanding, we don’t all have to respond the same way.
There is beauty and freedom when the barrier of being wrong is removed. For example, during an improv exercise, someone might walk up to you and say, “My hair is purple.” You might respond by saying, “It looks blue to me.” And the other person might say, “Really, you see it as blue?”
If this conversation had started with the question, “What color is my hair?” the parties might have disagreed on the answer. By making statements and accepting what the other says as reality, it creates agreement between the two.
Working with adults with developmental disabilities helps us see the world in new ways. The individuals we support experience reality in a different way than many others around them. There may be thirty adults participating in an activity and each one may have a different perspective on that activity. All are correct.
Our staff has learned to lead each individual through their own experience while accepting their realities for what they are. This is Agreement.
Close Listening
Close listening is a general awareness; it is visual, auditory, sensory, environmental, and feeling. It requires being fully present.
Close listening is not one-sided; it is all-sided.
When we interact with others, we often fall into one of two categories: focusing on ourselves or focusing on the other person. How many times do we fail to listen because we are thinking about our response? Those of us supporting others in a nonprofit workplace often experience the other side of this; we are so focused on the other person that we forget to listen to ourselves or see the bigger picture.
During the improv exercises, we had to be in the moment and respond to what was right in front of us. My favorite part was not having time to overthink.
The opening exercise involved multiple patterns of communication. In our group of 16 people, we created two different word patterns in which each of us participated in a specific order. By the end, we were running through those two patterns over and over, all speaking at the same time as we payed attention to our cues for participation. It was chaos and our leader, Scott, was floored by our success and fluidity.
One of our values at FLC is compassionate listening. Our team practices this skill daily, and it was validating to see our team perform this exercise with such ease. We were all dependent upon each other for prompts and there was no way to complete the process without each person playing their role. Trust is what gave us the ability to support each other in this way.
Mistakes Are Gift
Comedy lives and dies by this principle. Audiences love it when someone goofs up on stage. Along with this is the sub-principle of having a “punk attitude”, as in, having a confident, bring-it-on, attitude that is willing to face any challenge.
Leadership requires a combination of “punk” and humility. Leaders carry high levels of responsibility, and it can be intimidating to have lots of people depending upon you. In the past, I felt that little grace existed when leaders made mistakes, so I decided to be more confident in admitting my mistakes, and create a culture where everyone is encouraged to learn from mistakes and turn them into a gift, me included.
Scott encouraged us to see the opportunity mistakes present. They might carry a situation in a totally new direction which may be exactly where we need to go and be even better than where we started.
Mistakes can cause us to see a project or a problem with new eyes. Mistakes are often unexpected and that can be scary, yet when we engage our “punk attitude” and face risk head-on, the results can be magical. Once we have the humility to admit that a mistake has been made, especially since it is usually no secret, then we can accept our new reality and create something even better. A foundation of trust is essential to accepting mistakes.
During our last exercise, we broke into groups and acted as characters in situations given to us by other team members. As an introvert and typically serious Enneagram One, the idea of playing a “giddy surgeon while sewing” in front of my entire team was very intimidating, much more so than running a business on a day-to-day basis. Yet, the safety of being with team members that I trusted in an environment where the groundwork had already been laid to accept mistakes, encourage humor, and enjoy play together allowed me to relax and lean into my inner “punk.”
These improv exercises helped us all identify what we love about our workplace and the privilege of being with a team of people we trust each day.
Supporting others, whether our clients or fellow team members, can be challenging, exhausting, and full of mistakes. And it can be fun! At the end of the day, there’s nothing a little improv can’t solve. Thank you to Scott Field at Third Coast Comedy for reminding us how to lean into these principles each day.
أفضل شركات نقل اثاث بمكة
https://zlidein.com/read-blog/97062
https://zlidein.com/read-blog/97063
https://zlidein.com/read-blog/97071
https://zlidein.com/read-blog/99326
https://www.skreebee.com/read-blog/110085
https://telegra.ph/%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D9%86%D9%82%D9%84-%D8%B9%D9%81%D8%B4-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86-07-12
https://webyourself.eu/blogs/25649/%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D9%86%D9%82%D9%84-%D8%B9%D9%81%D8%B4-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86
https://www.merexpression.com/read-blog/21528
https://www.rolonet.com/blogs/89146/%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D9%86%D9%82%D9%84-%D8%B9%D9%81%D8%B4-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86
https://oktob.io/posts/41814
https://webyourself.eu/blogs/26016/%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B6%D9%84-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D9%86%D9%82%D9%84-%D8%B9%D9%81%D8%B4-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%AD%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9
https://oktob.io/posts/41908
https://www.domyate.com/2022/06/14/why-emc-mee-company-to-transfer-furniture-to-to-jeddah/
https://www.domyate.com/2022/06/12/best-nakl-afsh-jeddah/
https://www.domyate.com/2022/06/12/%d9%83%d9%8a%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d9%81%d9%83-%d9%88%d8%aa%d8%b1%d9%83%d9%8a%d8%a8-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d9%81%d8%b4-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ab%d8%a7%d8%ab-%d8%a8%d8%ac%d8%af%d8%a9/
https://zlidein.com/read-blog/99328
https://telegra.ph/%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B6%D9%84-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%8A%D9%81-%D9%85%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A8%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A9-07-17
ؤ
https://500px.com/p/ataralmadinah?view=photos
https://about.me/atar-almadinah/
https://www.behance.net/ataralmadinah/
https://angel.co/u/atar-almadinah
https://vimeo.com/user163509125
https://ello.co/ataralmadinah/post/asrc-rqxhmfvgrr7skhajg
https://ello.co/ataralmadinah
https://www.myminifactory.com/stories/best-transfer-furniture-jeddah-atar-almadinah-62f1c48d224b9
https://www.myminifactory.com/users/atar
https://speakerdeck.com/almadinah
https://fstoppers.com/profile/atar-almadinah
https://www.instructables.com/member/atar-almadinah/
https://www.mifare.net/support/forum/users/atar-almadinah/
https://www.recode.net/users/ataralmadinah
http://simp.ly/p/bwJRTQ
https://zenwriting.net/jzlzjv7sf2
https://writer.zohopublic.com/writer/published/rg9748fafd0f2210f4604b33d2cbf28388aea
https://my.desktopnexus.com/ataralmadinah/journal/furniture-moving-company-in-jeddah-38820/
https://app.ex.co/stories/item/c9e4da01-b4c3-492f-84a4-55474a6abf47
https://pastelink.net/a93tslol
https://pastelink.net/6zkez7a2
https://www.kongregate.com/accounts/ataralmadinah
https://bit.ly/3PiheFn
https://bit.ly/3SJJZxX
https://giphy.com/channel/atar-almadinah
https://fullservicelavoro.com/2022/08/15/furniture-moving-companies-in-jeddah/
https://www.ted.com/profiles/37578103/about
https://www.merexpression.com/elsakr
https://www.merexpression.com/read-blog/31739
https://webyourself.eu/elsakrjeddah
https://webyourself.eu/blogs/31059/%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B6%D9%84-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D9%86%D9%82%D9%84-%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%A7%D8%AB-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A9
https://devpost.com/elsakrjeddah
https://knowyourmeme.com/users/jumperads
https://ataralmadinah662300791.wordpress.com/2022/08/21/%d9%86%d9%82%d9%84-%d8%b9%d9%81%d8%b4-%d8%a8%d8%ac%d8%af%d8%a9-2/
https://atar-almadinah.over-blog.com/2022/08/sharikat-naql-eafsh-abhir-alshamalia.html
https://atar-almadinah.over-blog.com/2022/08/naql-eafsh-dakhil-jida.html
https://ataralmadinah662300791.wordpress.com/2022/08/22/%d8%b4%d8%b1%d9%83%d8%a9-%d9%86%d9%82%d9%84-%d8%b9%d9%81%d8%b4-%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%ad%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b4%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a9/
https://jumperads.shutterfly.com/22
أفضل شركات نقل اثاث بجازان
https://disqus.com/by/disqus_GmcB86LNgD/about/
https://www.divephotoguide.com/user/moverjazan
https://myspace.com/moverjazan
https://letterboxd.com/Jazan11/
https://www.indiegogo.com/individuals/38578323
https://www.thelaw.com/members/moverjazan.140484/#about
https://www.mightycause.com/profile/mjjkpf
https://www.diggerslist.com/681c78577f796/about
https://www.ted.com/profiles/49414551
https://lichess.org//moverjazan https://talk.plesk.com/members/jazan.419328/#about https://hashnode.com/moverjazan
https://lichess.org//moverjazan11 https://www.mobafire.com/profile/jazan-1194465?profilepage https://myanimelist.net/profile/Jazan11 https://www.noteflight.com/profile/1ed48c96bbdfffb7417c2746356dee1d40d657cb https://www.designspiration.com/leyan1362023/saves/ https://spinninrecords.com/profile https://scioly.org/forums/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=157717 https://www.instructables.com/member/moverjazan/?cb=1747239321506 https://qiita.com/Jazan111 https://www.wonderhowto.com/settings/profile/ https://speakerdeck.com/asasdchchd https://mastodon.social/Jazan
https://www.producthunt.com/companies https://www.scca.com/users/8700402/videos https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Jazan ezistreet.com/profile/jazan/about/preferences/ https://therabbitroom.kindful.com/dashboard https://www.divephotoguide.com/user/moverjazan11222 https://www.magcloud.com/account https://www.hackerearth.com/leyan1362023/
https://www.gta5-mods.com/users/companies
https://triberr.com/moverjazan
https://www.custommagnums.com/members/jazan.172153/
https://audiomack.com/jazan
https://pastebin.com/u/Jazan11
http://profiles.delphiforums.com/n/pfx/profile.aspx?webtag=dfpprofile000&userId=1891257552
https://app.giveffect.com/users/1608512-jazan
شركة تنظيف سجاد بنجران
شركة مكافحة حشرات بنجران وكذلك شركة كشف تسربات المياه بنجران وتنظيف خزانات وتنظيف الموكيت والسجاد والكنب والشقق والمنازل بنجران وتنظيف الخزانات بنجران وتنظيف المساجد بنجران شركة تنظيف بنجران تنظيف المسابح بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/anti-insects-company-najran.html شركة مكافحة حشرات بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/water-leaks-detection-company-najran.html شركة كشف تسربات بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-company-surfaces.html شركة عزل اسطح بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-company-sewage.html شركة تسليك مجاري بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-cleaning-company-sofa.html شركة تنظيف كنب بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-cleaning-company-mosques.html شركة تنظيف مساجد بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-cleaning-company-Carpet.html شركة تنظيف سجاد بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-cleaning-company-tanks.html شركة تنظيف خزانات بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-cleaning-company-swimming-bath.html شركة تنظيف وصيانة مسابح بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-cleaning-company-Furniture.html شركة تنظيف الاثاث بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-cleaning-company-home.html شركة تنظيف شقق بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-cleaning-company-Carpets.html شركة تنظيف موكيت بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-cleaning-company.html شركة تنظيف مجالس بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-cleaning-company-house.html شركة تنظيف منازل بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-cleaning-company-curtains.html شركة تنظيف ستائر بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-cleaning-company-Villas.html شركة تنظيف فلل بنجران
https://jumperads.com/najran/najran-company-tile.html شركة جلي بلاط بنجران
شركة مكافحة حشرات بالمدينة المنورة
شركة مكافحة حشرات بالمدينة المنورة وكذلك شركة كشف تسربات المياه بالمدينة المنورة وتنظيف خزانات وتنظيف الموكيت والسجاد والكنب والشقق والمنازل بالمدينة المنورة وتنظيف الخزانات بالمدينة المنورة وتنظيف المساجد بالمدينة المنورة شركة تنظيف بالمدينة المنورة تنظيف المسابح بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/anti-insects-company-medina.html شركة مكافحة حشرات بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/water-leaks-detection-company-medina.html شركة كشف تسربات بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-company-surfaces.html شركة عزل اسطح بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-company-sewage.html شركة تسليك مجاري بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-cleaning-company-sofa.html شركة تنظيف كنب بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-cleaning-company-mosques.html شركة تنظيف مساجد بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-cleaning-company-Carpet.html شركة تنظيف سجاد بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-cleaning-company-tanks.html شركة تنظيف خزانات بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-cleaning-company-swimming-bath.html شركة تنظيف وصيانة مسابح بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-cleaning-company-Furniture.html شركة تنظيف الاثاث بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-cleaning-company-home.html شركة تنظيف شقق بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-cleaning-company-Carpets.html شركة تنظيف موكيت بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-cleaning-company.html شركة تنظيف مجالس بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-cleaning-company-house.html شركة تنظيف منازل بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-cleaning-company-curtains.html شركة تنظيف ستائر بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-cleaning-company-Villas.html شركة تنظيف فلل بالمدينة المنورة
https://jumperads.com/medina/medina-company-tile.html شركة جلي بلاط بالمدينة المنورة
Tony Chan
LOST YOUR CRYPTO? YOU WANT TO RECOVER YOUR STOLEN BTC? CONTACT WIZARD GEO COORDINATES RECOVERY HACKER
It is truly amazing what you can achieve with the right information. I’m truly grateful for the service of WIZARD GEO COORDINATES RECOVERY HACKER, which was able to recover my cryptocurrency funds from fake investment accounts. Losing $650,000 of my hard-earned money was excruciating and devastating when I thought I could earn more from investing in cryptocurrency, not knowing that I had fallen for a scam. I was able to contact WIZARD GEO COORDINATES RECOVERY HACKER when I did my research online and came across their testimonies. I saw that WIZARD GEO COORDINATES RECOVERY HACKER has been helping many victims like me to recover their funds. I requested assistance from WIZARD GEO COORDINATES RECOVERY HACKER. They only required the information from my own wallet. The money was found in my wallet in less than 24 hours, and it turned out that the intruder had already spent some of it, leaving me with only about $530.000 cryptocurrency. I’m truly grateful for their service and I commend them for being professional and trustworthy, i decided to share my good news for those that are having same issues should contact him via
Email: geovcoordinateshacker@gmail.com
Telegram: @Geocoordinateshacker
Website; https://geovcoordinateshac.wixsite.com/geo-coordinates-hack
They are the real deal when it comes to recovering of lost cryptocurrency. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.