4 Leadership Lessons From Open Mic Night

In addition to her day job, my friend Stacey does stand-up on the side. 

For fun. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The hubster and I went out (on a “school night!”) to watch Stacey perform during open mic night. 

Having never been to an open mic night before, I didn’t know what to expect, but when the evening was over, it occurred to me that leaders could take a few cues from comics.

1. You need courage – It takes guts to get up in front of an audience and try out your material. All eyes are on you, and you don’t know if, or how, the joke will land. Similarly, leadership calls on you to be brave anytime you’re forced outside your comfort zone or hit uncharted territory.

Takeaway – Most of us have more courage than we realize, and when we rise to the occasion, we are more transparent, authentic, and communicate more clearly and directly. 

2. It’s ok to not be perfect – We watched eight comedians before Stacey took the stage. Some of them were reading from their notes, some didn’t deliver the punch line effectively. Some just looked terrified to be in their own skin. And yet, I got the sense that none of them were expecting perfection of themselves.

Takeaway – Leaders who are willing to be vulnerable often experience greater success. They are more relatable and create space for trust. By embracing your humanness you give others permission to do the same.  Life isn’t pass / fail so cut yourself some slack for not getting it “right” every time.

3. Pivot gracefully when things don’t go to plan – On the night we went, Stacey was trying out new material. One joke didn’t land and without missing a beat, she quipped, “Really? I thought for sure that one was going to fly.” and then she moved on to her next joke. She made a point to engage the audience and because she was comfortable, we were comfortable.

Takeaway –  Not performing to the level of our own (or others) expectations is going to happen occasionally. What separates the strong leaders from the mediocre ones is the ability to show up authentically in the moment.

4. Have fun –  The point of comedy is to make people laugh. The comics all knew they weren’t going to nail every joke. They were there to practice and have fun.

Takeaway –  Like stand-up, every day represents an opportunity to practice leadership behaviors. You’re also allowed to have fun in the process, and that creates a ripple effect for those around you. 

One critical element that separated Stacey from the rest of the pack was her presence. I happen to know she has emceed and/or hosted a lot of events in her day, so she’s had a lot of practice and it shows.

She’s articulate and self-assured. Her cadence, inflection, connection with the audience, demeanor and body language all send the message that she knows what she’s doing. This instills trust and confidence in her, and makes it easy for people to root for her, even if a joke doesn’t hit home.

You may not be rushing out to sign up for open mic night, but we can all benefit from having strong executive presence. If you want to see how some behaviors adversely impact presence, you may be interested in my newly updated executive presence quiz. Click here to check it out!