Are You Leading from the Page or the Heart?

On holiday in Cornwall recently, we sat listening to an open-mic night in a local bar.

The performances varied. Some were confident, accomplished and clearly enjoyable to deliver — and listen to. Others , less so. The evening made me think about the parallels between performing and leading — I’ve written about this before in 3 Impact & Influence Styles; How Successful is yours?

Two performers in particular, one after another, really illustrated this for me. The first was a young man who sang with passion; he wasn’t pitch perfect but was confident and engaging. His delivery certainly wasn’t polished but the way he drew the audience in made up for this, and you could imagine some years in the future, honing his art and connecting with audiences as he learned to deliver his message with all of himself.

The second act was an older man. He sounded really good — technically he hit the notes and played his guitar well.

But.

He had a stand with a songbook in front of him and read the words to the sings as he sang. I heard him say to someone before he went on that nerves caused him to forget the lyrics when he was on stage, and I felt for him. I’ve spent years as an actress in the past and the thought of learning lines these days leaves me cold!

However, it got me to thinking. The performance that connected with me the most? The younger guy, who, although he wasn’t as accomplished, sang from the heart. The older man sang from the page and as an audience member, you could feel the difference.

Leadership is like that.

Reading all the books in the world, attending courses and doing it ‘by the book’ won’t make you a leader. Leading will. Leading from the heart and all that it entails.

Facing your audience/team and being vulnerable enough to make mistakes.

Trying the words and performance out for size even though you’re scared.

Knowing that you’re not as polished as you’d like to be but connecting with your audience/team on an emotional level.

Being brave.

Risking not being technically absolutely correct, but doing what feels right.

Lifting your head and engaging with those around you.

Next time you’re tempted to try and do things ‘by the book’, I wonder what the results would be if you held your head high and sang without the words in front of you? If you listened to your heart and connected with those in front of you?

Maybe your audience might notice the difference too…

I’m Susan Ritchie and I help new and aspiring female leaders to develop their leadership presence so they make more impact, raise their profile and become more influential, both in their organisation and across their industry. If you want to make some quick changes, you can down load this ebook for free 10 Steps to Instant Influence