The Performative Art of Leadership

[I’ve been away from regular writing for three months, very busy settling into a new location and position. I’m going to ease back to writing and reflecting now. ]

I savored the opportunity to play someone who had to be very guarded,” Chalamet says. “I often find myself in projects where the characters wear their emotions on their sleeves, and this was not the case at all. To be a politician, to be a leader, there’s an element of performance to it — but you also have to have a poker face and an ability to guard yourself.”

i’m so excited pic.twitter.com/3eKEhH25Vs

— derek (@timotheechalamt) September 1, 2019

I came across this quote (as a Chalamet fan waiting for his next movie) and immediately thought about the accuracy of these words in describing leadership and most jobs that require one to interface with clients. When I was younger and in leadership positions, I disdained the pretentiousness and lack of authenticity of a few senior leaders. I now look back with some empathy at their “performances” and how they were going through their steps to get their work done. But I also see that authenticity and performativity at one’s leadership responsibilities can co-exist. Maybe these performative acts are part of what we call “professionalism.”

I have been thinking a bit about professionalism in my position and how that requires a great deal of emotional labor, sometimes. That will be another blogpost.