High Performance Leadership

It sounds like name dropping here, so forgive me, but I once studied improv with Paul Sills. Paul is the son of Viola Spolin, who wrote the best book ever on improv - "Improvisation for the Theatre." My time spent taking Paul's class in a little space next to Second City in Chicago changed my life for the better in hundreds of ways. I became a much better actor. I took more risks. I stopped over-reacting. The work became a team effort instead of a test of egos. It was like magic. As it turns out, improvisation is not just good for actors - it's great for everyone. We all must improvise sometimes. Problems may have process-based solutions much of the time, but sometimes the solution is just not easy to find. People may follow our leadership gladly much of the time but sometimes they need something different, something that's hard to define. As high performance leaders, we must improvise. It's not just making things up. It's not going for the punchl...

Are you thinking fast enough? Our world is so fast moving it can be tough to keep up. We think fast, and then things go faster. We make decisions, and then new choices present themselves. How can we keep up? Sometimes we need a thinking hat for our thinking hat. Some way to leverage up our thinking and improve our performance. Some way to ramp up faster. The best way I've found to increase my thinking speed -- to find the right thinking hat faster -- is to constantly stay learning. Learn something new. Cool and challenging ways to do that include: - learning a new language - playing improvisational games (yep, improv!) - playing music (and instrument or singing) - playing a sport just for fun What ways can you think of to expand your wardrobe of thinking hats? -- Douglas Brent Smith

No boots required! Join us for a fun filled, game driven, community building weekend of improvisation. You will work and play with an improv coach and a group of people ready to take your talent to the next level via improvisation. Build your acting skills, practice your creativity, and develop new ways of expressing yourself in group settings. Using a wide variety of improv games, expert coaching, and acting exercises you’ll be able to: §   Explore and practice improvisational basics §   Develop a “where” a “why” and a “who” inside a scene §   Build your self-confidence §   Improve how you work with other people §   Create fun and collaborative stage environments §   Develop believable characters §   Increase your on stage energy §   Learn the basic techniques of improvisation §   Stop going for the laugh and get more laughs §   Practice the art of instant drama Camp runs from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm...