Choreographing Leadership – The Book
Imagine the work of everyday leadership if it were guided by a dancer’s body and a choreographer’s mind. Combining my own leadership experience with compelling evidence from artists, systems thinkers, and scientists Choreographing Leadership explores the relationships between embodiment, choreography and leadership. By unlocking and demystifying creative and collective processes, it can help leaders of all kinds to develop their own effective, authentic, creative approach to leadership.
When I was first thrust into a position of authority within a large, hierarchical institution, I asked: could I choreograph leadership? Might an organization be a breathing, malleable and living system? And like the body, could it dance? This is the story of the journey to fulfill my responsibilities to the larger system and empower our community to defiantly move beyond the system. Over time, I learned how to apply choreographic thinking to the intersections between embodied experience, creative processes and the systemic problems of organizational systems. Ten years on, the Department of Department of Dance at the University of Illinois has become a vibrant, nationally renowned artistic community, described as a“…. hotbed of choreographic innovation,” by the New York Times.
This book is for all the reluctant leaders and potential leaders who already understand the importance of connecting body and mind through running, swimming, dancing, yoga, Pilates, martial arts, singing, or gardening but who wonder about finding a way to bring this knowledge fully into their work place. This is for curious individuals who are seeking health and wellness and want to shake up old assumptions about unhealthy workplaces. Because face-to-face human connection is fundamental to my work, this book speaks to leaders working with smaller clusters of people, whether they work within large organizations, or not.
Choreographing Leadership offers a new and effective alternative to traditional leadership texts that come from business communities. Both choreographers and leaders work with human talents, idiosyncrasies and vulnerabilities to make something happen, whether it is a dance or a new product. I offer a view from the inside, showing how choreographic thinking builds on heightened perceptions of people and patterns in process. As a Fulbright Scholar, Artistic Director, and author of Harnessing the Wind, The Art of Teaching Modern Dance, I have a lifetime of experience exploring the body and art making as living systems.
Poached Eggs with Skillet Toast
Cauliflower and Kale Soup
Choreographing Leadership – A Workshop
Rationale
This course is for anyone interested in leadership as an embodied, creative act. Whether you are making a widget, scientific theory, building, or design; directing a dance, play, or orchestra; teaching, or organizing a rock concert - the ability to harness the energy of a community is essential to creative leadership. If you are craving the opportunity to cultivate your own authentic, creative self through directing, leading and engaging with others, this course will give you the skills to do so. This course explores leadership from an artist’s perspective….you will learn how to rely on your heart and gut, direct with vision, compassion, and insight, generate collective problem solving, and lead while grounded in your values. You don’t have to be an artist to take this class, you just have a have a hunger to cultivate your future as a potential leader.
Description
In this course you will move, read, direct, play games and engage in group discussions as you build leadership skills. You will create personal rituals designed to cultivate your awareness and presence. Through the practice of collective making “things” (a game, a tv show, a dance, a design), you will learn and study how groups work together and observe and develop your own leadership style. We will read about leadership from artistic and embodied perspectives, and discuss how to bring these ideas to creative processes.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course the student will be able to:
- create rituals for self and group that cultivate presence,
- articulate your vision and values,
- communicate through in-depth listening,
- create and direct collaborative and improvisational activities,
- direct with an awareness of the creative process,
- recognize and analyze systems, and organizational patterns.
Course Texts
- Laloux, Frederic. 2014. Reinventing Organizations, An illustrated Invitation to join the Conversation on Next Stage Organizations. Brussels, Belgium: Nelson Parker.
- Tharp, Twyla. 2003. The Creative Habit, Learn it and Use It for Life. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.
Consultations
Ms. Erkert has been a national leader in dance, presently serving as the President of the Council of Dance Administrators (CODA), a coalition of some of the top schools of dance in the country. In 2014-15 she was an Academic Leadership Fellow for the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. Serving as a commissioner on the Commission for Accreditation for the National Association of Schools of Dance. (NASD), she has been a frequent reviewer of dance programs. She is regularly invited to be a consultant and reviewer for dance programs throughout the USA.