Successful Leaders Practice Improvising

Improvising is a critical practice these days! 

Those who over-rely on the plan will inadvertently create more stress and anxiety for themselves—making the problem bigger. The game-changer? Improvising. This requires a mindset and a set of skills allowing you to face new challenges, enter into new territory, and lean on when the sh*t hits the fan!

Have a plan? Sure.

Ready to improvise when the plan goes to hell? Darn sure.

Ways I practice improvising:

1. Calm myself down
2. Ask myself a few questions:

• “Ok. What do I know and what do I not know?”
• “I’ve been in tough spots before. What’s helped me before in situations like this?”
• “I’m not alone. Who can I turn to for some perspective and support?”
• “What’s possible now that wasn’t before?”

Other effective improvisation tools

• Yes, and:  This is a subtle yet powerful mindset.  It’s a way to both accept what’s in front of you and move forward.  We can really get ourselves stuck by arguing or lamenting the challenges in front of us.
  
• Exercising curiosity.  Being willing to control what we can–our part of the equation–and continue building our curiosity muscles.  Exercising curiosity helps us to gain confidence that we don’t have to constantly “know everything” or attempt to control, rather we can create space for other possibilities from the Universe.  There’s a deeper trust that increases when we improvise and see how everything plays out.

How do you build this practice and mindset?