USITT is an association with about 4,500 individual and corporate members from 24 nations involved in stage management, entertainment design, theater technology and related fields.
Friday, March 25, 2016
David Grindle says great leaders focus on the people and the cause
USITT is an association with about 4,500 individual and corporate members from 24 nations involved in stage management, entertainment design, theater technology and related fields.
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3 comments:
David Grindle offered quite a bit of solid advice in this article. I can definitely relate to growing up in a small community, where leadership is often necessary but not always wanted. But I cannot agree more with his point that leaders must be selfless. It’s crucial that leaders focus on group benefits, not just personal gain. In theatre, I often see people how get so hyper-focused on their vision that they disregard anything that doesn’t fall into their mental image of what’s happening. But the truth of the matter is that one person’s vision doesn’t mean nearly as much as the overall goal of the production. A good leader can realize objectively what is best. I also really agree with Grindle’s point about analyzing with a balance of emotion and data. I usually feel it’s better to use actual, objective data when making a decision, but sometimes your gut instinct is best. Overall, being good leader is a game of balance, which isn’t easy. It makes advice like this very valuable.
I don't have a lot of leadership experience, but that also means that I've seen/worked with different leaders and I definitely agree with this article. One important thing that people don't usually bring up is to not be afraid to admit that you are wrong. Especially in the world of theatre, there are often a lot of different personalities clashing into each other and it is hard for leaders to admit that they are wrong. A lot of conflicts that I've witnessed/experienced stem from neither sides willing to back down/compromise. This article is also matches with what my social psych class is talking about - although the word "leader" is often associated with words like command and control, those are not necessarily traits of a good leader. In fact those leaders might be the hardest to work with. I think this article is very worth reading for people who identify themselves as leaders.
I want to meet this man, and have him walk me through my entire career. I think what really resonated with me about this article was the concept of service and leadership being one thing. He says in the article "it's not about you, its about the organization", and I think that is the easiest and plainest way to describe leadership. Often you have to take yourself, and your needs out of the equation to fully serve the project you are working on, or people you are working with. When I have been the most successful as a leader is when I wasn't as attached to the project so emotionally, because I was able to detach myself and I did better work as a leader because Sarah wasn't as invested in the project, as the "leader" was. I also think he makes the great point that leadership is about taking the hit for the team sometimes, and not getting all the glory if they do well. I do think that the most important thing he said was that leadership is about listening to the people you are working with. You are there to facilitate their work, not do it, or ignore what the team members have to say. I am excited to see what this guy does next, and I hope that one day he writes a book about management because I would love to read it!
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