Self-Expression as a Generative Spotlight
I was a shy teenager. In high school, I recall many moments where I weighed the pros and cons of speaking up in class or in a group. Often, weighing would take so much time that the opportunity passed. I was left asking myself if what I hadn’t contributed would have been received as valuable and burdened with the nagging regret of not knowing. How will people respond? What will they think? Those questions and more fed the uncertainty and ever-present lack of confidence. The specter of less than positive responses was a daunting place from which to offer my thoughts and ideas. In those moments, I second-guessed myself into a heavy silence of repressed expression and lost connections. It was not until my late 20s, when I began working in the arts, that I was able to break free of those immobilizing bonds.
“Everything happens in your mind. You just express it.”
This quote, from calligraphy artist Tong Yang-Yze, was in a recent New York Times article about her rise as one of the most acclaimed artists of the art. At 81-years-old, Yang-Yze will debut her calligraphy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City this month. Practicing since the age of 8, Yang-Yze uses huge brushes for bold strokes that have become a signature of her larger-than-life work—scrolling up to one hundred and seventy feet. As she rotates the scrolls through different portions of her work, she only sees the result several weeks later, when unraveling them in a local warehouse. Yang-Yze likens her practice to that of jazz musicians, whose music is ever-changing as evidenced by its collaborative nature. Her brush strokes are intuitive and spontaneous, much like the moments when jazz musicians improvise. In the pursuit of her artistry, Yang-Yze uses lines from poets and ancient texts, striving to help people understand their place in the world and what freedom represents for them.
Being a Catalyst
Herbie Hancock & George Benson with Ben Williams (bass), Michael Rodriguez (trumpet), Terri Lyne Carrington (drums), and Antonio Hart (alto saxophone).
Self-expression became the focus of the coaching sessions Greg and I are facilitating with a tech leader whose challenge is to speak up when he is not in his comfort zone of expertise—to not stay quiet in those moments, shuttering his voice. His colleagues have indicated that they want to know more about what he is thinking and how his thoughts might impact their direction. He is not confident in those moments and filled with uncertainty about contributing something of value. I'm sure many of us have experienced the struggle of whether or not to express our thoughts in a moment when we don't know if what we express will be welcomed and respected.
Last week, we showed our coachee a video of George Benson and Herbie Hancock playing Miles Davis' composition "Walkin," with Michael Rodriguez (trumpet), Antonio Hart (alto saxophone), Ben Williams (bass), and Terri Lyne Carrington (drums). We asked him to observe how the band members communicated and interacted. He identified a myriad of ways, both verbal and nonverbal, where band members supported and encouraged each other’s contributions. I added how a band member could choose to build on what he or she had previously heard—extending it, elaborating on it, or perhaps, taking it in a new direction.
We asked him: What if his thought, the one he hesitated to express, could be the catalyst to propel more innovation? How could he listen, with “Big Ears,” to recognize moments where he could advance the conversation and, as such, take the spotlight with confidence?
In the jazz model, self-expression is expected and embraced through the practice of improvisation. A skill that takes years to master, improvisation is generative. It’s a skill that allows competition and collaboration to live in a synergistic space of co-creation. If we approach our self-expression (improvisation) as a catalyst for something new and different, we can step beyond the fear of uncertainty and play boldly into a creative spotlight.
