The kids call it main character syndrome, which makes a lot of sense. If you think of everyone around you as your supporting cast, then of course you can treat them however you want, because who matters the most? You do. Central casting can replace the supporting cast, after all.
We see this all the time in real life, and it becomes pronounced in improv comedy. When you get on stage to do a scene, you don’t know what the audience will suggest, and therefore, you don’t know what character you’ll play.
Sometimes, you see improv-ers who try to make themselves the high-status character and the main character in every scene they are in. It’s grating and annoying. And also? They tend not to be funny.
A scene will not be great if everyone is trying to be the main character.
Your office will not be great if everyone is trying to be the main character. And even though we know the office hierarchy and we know who the CEO is and who the VPs are, and we know about the little coalition of admins who choose to process paperwork or not, and have the true power. You may think that the CEO is always the main character and the rest of the staff should act accordingly.
There are plenty of CEOs who like this idea a lot. And plenty who demand it. And guess what, they are grating and annoying and tend not to be funny.
You can run a business like this. Plenty of businesses run this way. Everyone does what the CEO wants. And that’s fine. You can be successful that way.
But when you do that, you miss out on the talent and skills of the rest of the staff. Why hire someone who is an expert in their field if you will ignore their ideas in favor of whatever the CEO thinks of?
In every encounter, you may begin with thinking you’ll be the main character, or at least the key player, but you need to keep an open mind to the possibilities that someone else should take center stage.
The Answering Machine Game
Look, my improv group is all of a certain age, so we call this game ‘Answering Machine,’ but we should probably change it to ‘voicemail.’ We like it this way.
It’s my favorite game right now. (I reserve the right to have a different favorite game next week.) We get a volunteer from the audience to tell us a little bit about themselves. Their name, what they do for a living, what a good day looks like, what a bad day looks like, who are important people in their life, etc. It’s an interrogation that takes a couple of minutes. We then inform the audience that this person never checks their voicemails, but we’ve hacked their phone and will now play their voicemails for everyone.
Then we line up four or five of us on stage and one by one, we “replay” the voicemails. Each one of us picks a different character from this person’s story. And one by one, we hear the voicemail messages and build a story together.
While I love physical comedy, this one is pure story. Just messages. We often perform it with the lights off, and we turn on a flashlight when we are speaking.
In this performance, the lucky audience member, Diana, revealed she is a seamstress who sews custom children’s clothing. So her voicemails came from:
- The owner of a fabric shop in Paris, where Diana had a big order of fabric waiting to be picked up.
- A news reporter looking to expose Diana’s sewing practices.
- A fashion designer who wanted to buy Diana’s designs
- The school sports director, who was concerned that the gym uniforms Diana had designed were too tight.
- And the best friend.
I was the best friend. And remember, I love this game. I desperately want to be the funniest person in this game. But, as the story developed, it became incredibly clear that the best friend was not the main character, and wasn’t even needed as a real supporting character, so I stepped back to let the stars shine.
(Host: Jennifer Cain Birkmose, and from left to right, Martin Spedding, Jeff Donald, Tristan Hardman-Dodd, Sascha Frassini, Suzanne Lucas, and guitarist Cesare di Leo.)
The story would have been diluted if I had insisted that my character take the center position.
Additionally, if you’ll watch the video, you’ll note that I made a fatal improv sin–that is, I didn’t “yes, and.” When the news reporter said I had told him about making the clothes out of chinchilla fur, I said I had lied, and that wasn’t true. Fortunately, the rest of the team ignored my “no, but” and the scene continued.
Recognizing when to step back
Many of my readers are leaders. You are used to taking charge and ha
ving people carry out your ideas. That’s fantastic. You’ve earned your spot. But sometimes, you need to recognize when you are not the smartest or most creative person in the room when it comes to this topic.
When someone else is better than you are at something, recognize it, and step back. Let other people shine.
Now, this may concern you–after all, if you let someone outshine you, that person may get the recognition and opportunities you want.
That’s true. That may happen. But what’s more likely to happen is your team will work better together and you’ll be able to accomplish a lot more. And as the lead, do you know who gets credit when a team works really well together? You do.
Sometimes you need to step back, even when you are the most knowledgeable or the best equipped on this topic. One of your jobs as a leader is to train others. And that requires letting them find their own footing. We can learn a lot in a classroom setting, but until we are on stage, it’s all theoretical.
Sometimes you will be in the spotlight, but sometimes you need to step away. If you are always pushing for center stage, your employees are talking about you over dinner and it’s not complimentary. Try stepping back and letting others shine. It’s neither grating nor annoying, and it’s a heck of a lot funnier–errr, I mean better for the business.