Playful Leadership

Earlier in the week, I spent two days participating in a Playful Leadership Foundation Course run by Portia Tung. She is an Exec Agile Coach, Executive Coach and Play Researcher and founded the School of Play. It’s the first time in my life that I have made such a big investment. I call it an investment as I know I need to lighten up personally which will help me all spheres of life.

This course was in Chicheley Hall which is a beautiful venue with multiple free roaming peacocks!

Upto the run-up of the course, we were given a few light-weight exercises; one of which was about jotting down various tasks we did at various times of the day alongwith how we felt at the time. This highlighted to me how what I feel upto 11 am of every day determines how my mood will be over the rest of the day. It was also a great indicator of how organised my mind will be and what I will end up achieving by the end of the day.

The course spanned over two days and covered multiple aspects of Play and coaching.

At the end of every day, I must say, I was emotionally energised and emotionally exhausted. Playing is hard work. But playing is fun and stimulates the brain.

A lot of people asked me, what do you mean by Playful Leadership. This is my interpretation:

A Playful leader is authentic and open to risk. Individuals open to play are emotionally intelligent and are more willing to explore.

What did I learn about Play?

1. Not everyone likes to Play.
2. Playing needs permission.
3. The opposite of Play is Depression.
4. Play makes interactions easier and you learn more about the people you play with.
5. You learn to interact better.
6. Everyone plays differently. And that’s ok.

So what did I discover about myself in the course? A LOT OF THINGS!

1. I need to master the art of listening. Listen without judging. Listen without showing emotion like smiling, nodding or (yawning!).
2. The more I listen. The better I got at listening.
3. Emotions are important. They help you overcome a situation and enable you to solve it. Do not hide your emotions. Use them as a strength!
4. Do. Not. Assume. Stay with not knowing.
5. I can actually help people with surfacing their true concerns. I provide a safe environment.
6. My style of Play is directed & story-telling. (ref: Taking everyone on a journey.)
7. My beliefs are strong and sticking to what I believe is not wrong.
8. The most important things for me right now are laughing more and overcoming fear!

And my two favourite learnings from the course and the attendees are

Who you are….is how you lead.

You can do almost everything if it is for duty. You can do anything if it is for Love.