Comedian Leader

Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. I received terrific news! I won tickets to the New Majority Tour with comedians Russell Peters, Gabriel Iglesias and Lisa Lampanelli.

 To me, opportunities like these are life's rewards and I could not let a few I've-been-up-since-4:30 a.m.-yawns hold me back. Of course I had to fight off random limiting-thoughts like how this show would eat into my weekend paper writing, exercise schedule, and  mundane but necessary chores, and like all people with grit (or gall) I called a friend and pressed on for what I would knew would be a night of Aristophanic humor.  On the plus side, I decided to use the 3 hour laugh session as my core workout for the day.

I laughed so hard my throat was raw and my ribs were sore--even so, there was a lull or two where I found myself viewing the comedian as leader, and by the nature of the beast--a resilient one. A great book I am reading, High Altitude Leadership: What the World's Most Forbidding Peaks Teach Us About Success by Chris Warner and Don Schmincke opens with:

               "Leadership often sucks.
                It's a risky, lonely role possessing nearly unbearable lows and fleeting highs. One moment leadership feels like the most deeply satisfying, life-enriching journey ever embarked on. Then fate's twist makes it an exhausting and stressful journey or a one way ticket to cardiac arrest."

Jerry Seinfeld showed us in Comedian, that every comic, famous or not, struggles with this same roller coaster every time he or she performs. But show business is famous for its catchy phrase "The show must go on."  Who are these people and how do they get there? By my observation--they allow no excuses.

Over the last few years I have slowly worked my way up to feeling comfortable in front of a crowd trying my darndest to make them laugh. I started with modest goals and worked on them diligently. My first goal was to speak in public and not be terrified. My second goal has been to make people laugh every time I present or participate in a meeting. I grow more comfortable as I engage the audience and read the feeling of the room. I often view leadership inseparably with comedy because it has the same feelings with its successes and pangs of inadequacy. On the other hand, sometimes you just get lucky.

Although I relish my successes and can feel like I am on top of the world, it has not been an easy journey for me, especially on the descent. For instance when I try to be funny and it does not work or worse yet, someone is offended--ouch! Yes, comedy and leadership are a source of anxiety in my life and despite the pain they may cause I cannot turn away from my inner need to be a leader, to make others laugh.

Elaine Agather eloquently sums up my joys and frustrations: "The leadership instinct you are born with is the backbone.  You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it."

And resiliency is born.