Welcome back to The Last 10% podcast! In this episode, host Dallas Burnett is joined by the multi-talented Caitlin Drago, a leadership coach, consultant, and improv artist. They delve into Caitlin's fascinating journey from acting and improv in Los Angeles to her current focus on using improv principles for professional development, team building, and communication. Caitlin shares inspiring stories and insightful tips on fostering trust, creativity, and empathy within teams, drawing on her experiences to highlight the power of the "yes, and" principle in communication. They also touch on the importance of creating inclusive work environments where individuals can bring their unique skills and passions to the table. Join us for an engaging and thought-provoking conversation packed with valuable lessons for leaders, team members, and anyone interested in the transformative power of improv.

For more information on Caitlin's work and services:

https://www.inspireimprov.com/

To purchase Caitlin's book "Approaching Improv: Communication and Connection in Business and Beyond"

Hey everybody.

We're talking to Caitlin Drago today.

What an amazing woman.

She is a leadership coach, consultant, and an improv artist.

She has some incredible stories and secrets from her acting

career that can help leaders.

She's a great new friend of mine.

You don't want to miss.

This incredible conversation.

Welcome.

Welcome.

Welcome.

I am Dallas Burnett sitting in my 1905 Koch brothers barber chair in

thrive studios, but more importantly, we have a great guest today.

She has been in improv.

She's been part of a stunt show and now she helps leaders build trust.

Welcome to the show, Caitlin.

Thanks for having me, Dallas.

we are, we've just been so excited.

I've been very excited to have this, this conversation because I feel like

that, that your background is so unique and yet I love how you use it to help

people be better and higher performers.

So let's.

First of all, I think we just got to get this out of the way for the listeners.

Cause I just dropped a just total shocker there.

You were a part of a stunt show experience.

Like what in the world?

Yeah, so if you imagine medieval times, but on a pirate ship with

a moat surrounding the ship, that was it.

It was called the Pirate Dinner Adventure in California.

And the character that I was an understudy for was, oh gosh, I'm forgetting her name,

but she was the captain's wife who was in charge of the ship while the captain is

away, which he is for most of the show.

So, you know, I got to, yeah.

and what was fun about it was that there were some stunts where you needed some

muscle memory, where it needed to be something that you did often to really.

Get it?

Like there was one part where I'm supposed to start on like a, a large log, if

you will, swing out on a rope over the audience and then swing back and sing.

and I never could really stick that landing because I was just an understudy.

So at a certain point, I just had to say to the other performers

that I knew would be in that area.

Hey, I'm going to swing out and I just need you to catch me.

And put me back up and they're like, all right, cool.

So,

that

is awesome.

Here I come, y'all take care of me.

here I come.

Oh,

they did, they always

They did.

I have been to, I actually have been to a stunt pirate show.

I've actually been to the one that is owned by, I guess it's on the East Coast.

I, I think apparently Dolly pardon owns it, it's pirate, ooh.

I can't even remember it now.

But it's a pirate adventure and it's the same thing.

It's not, it doesn't have a moat.

It doesn't have water, but it doesn't have a moat.

And so, it is fun and it looks like they are having so much fun.

And honestly, some of the tricks to do, I'm like.

I need that in my backyard.

So did you enjoy the experience that

was really fun.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It was really fun to get to do every so often and in a lot of times,

very last minute, so it was always very exciting on, on every front.

well, yeah, I've kind of asked, did anybody ever get hurt?

I mean, or did everybody just

kind of,

I mean,

somebody got spilled and it was like,

Oh,

So the interesting thing about stunts is that it's, because

you're doing things and you're putting yourself in, you're doing things that

are not safe, there are so many safety precautions that are put into place.

And safety is, like the highest priority so that people don't

get while they're doing that.

That's really good.

It's really good to hear because then I feel better because I don't

feel like they're putting themselves,

you know, they're at peril just for over my dinner.

exactly, no.

So like when I say I swing, you know, I would swing out over a rope,

I'm not just holding onto the rope.

There's also a loop that my hand goes in that I have then have to pull down and

has a safety so that even if I slipped, I'm, I might be hanging my by wrist,

but I haven't fallen on the ground.

That's awesome.

Okay, good.

then I feel much better than all right.

And so I can watch it and enjoy it over a, dinner and know that

they're having fun and it's all safe.

So that's good.

all right.

So you've, you've been in this career as an understudy on a stunt performance,

then you get into, you've had some.

So how do you go, and this is just a question I'll let you tell the

listeners, your background, how did you go from stunt to improv and

theater into leadership coaching?

That seems like, you know, a very interesting

path.

Yeah, so the stunts were a little bit of an

offshoot of the theater and improv.

that wasn't the starting point.

That would be a very interesting starting point.

And it is a starting point for some.

I went to college for acting.

And then after I graduated, I did some, children's theater in the Midwest.

I did a couple of contracts out there.

And then I really wanted to go somewhere and just put down some roots.

And it was New York or LA and I had visited LA and really liked it.

And so.

Went out to Los Angeles, and it was there that, I continued taking classes

and working and studying, and that's where I got really into improv.

I took classes at Upright Citizens Brigade, which is the school that,

Amy Poehler and Matt Besser and Matt Walsh and Horatio Sanz, you know,

that all of those folks founded.

And so it was there that I really got into the nitty gritty of

improv and fell in love with it.

And when I was approaching my late 20s and really just wasn't where I

was hoping to be at that point, I decided, maybe it's time to move on.

And so my partner and I moved back to the East Coast, where we're both from.

And I knew at the time that there were companies in New York and Chicago and L.

A.

that used improv for professional development and

team building and communication.

And there didn't seem to be anyone in my area of Rochester,

New York, who was doing that.

And so I started by volunteering my time and facilitating workshops,

mostly in the not for profit space.

It was there that I realized, Oh, this is what I really want to do.

And so I was working at a consulting firm at the same time and had offered

this to them as, it's a skill I have, I know it has this use I'm here.

If you want to give, you want to give it a go.

And so they'd pull me in every so often informally.

And then eventually, the organization went through some changes, I got my

coaching certification, and it became a little bit more of a formal part of my

job, where I now had this scaffolding of those coaching skills as well, which just

make you a better facilitator overall.

And then I had my son, and the whole world changed.

And I knew that I wanted to be doing this full time and just be

doing facilitating and coaching.

And so, with a lot of support, I left the consulting firm and I've

been working for myself ever since.

Some of what I do is still that straight leadership coaching.

The majority of my work, though, is around culture change, really

starting with how people communicate and connect with one another.

And that's through workshops and programs where we are focusing on communication

and collaboration and teamwork, using improv and the principles that go along

with it as that platform for interactive learning and that interpersonal change.

Wow.

That is awesome.

I love how you've chased.

What you enjoyed, and then you had some really cool discoveries on the way.

Like it, you shot for, you said, I'm going to do this cause I enjoy it.

And then you did that and you go, Oh, it hasn't done what I thought it would.

So I'm going to try this.

And then all of a sudden you found out that, Oh, no, actually this is right.

Here's what I want to do.

And, how cool is it that you get to put it all together?

You're using it all your experience.

And because of your background in improv, I love a good laugh and,

uh, and someone who's good at improv, man, that is just so much fun.

But you've got a book coming out called approaching improv.

So tell us a little bit about your book and give us some of some, maybe

some, strategies or a sneak peek at some of those things that you've

Oh, absolutely.

Happy to.

I called it Approaching Improv because I have found in the last several years

that I've been doing this, that when I walk into a room of non actors,

it's people they're on their yearly retreat, or they're doing a team

building thing, or Whatever that might be, or we're doing a whole program.

It's their first time with me.

And I say, Hey, we're going to be doing improv together.

Usually the reaction is not, Oh, great.

I'm so excited to do this.

and so what I have wanted to do and have learned to do throughout these

past several years is how to make improv something that anyone can

do, something that anyone can learn from something that is approachable.

So let me, all right.

So I totally hear you on that, but now I've got them on a

tell on you a little bit.

Right.

So before the show, we were talking and we were talking about improv

and I said, I've got much respect for you because you've done improv.

I wish I could.

I'm not a specialist improv.

And you said, you called me out.

You said, yes, you are.

And it's because you're a, because you're a podcast host and this is all on the fly.

We don't have scripted things.

And so.

I was like, Oh, okay.

That's amazing.

So would you start with the basics?

How would you define improv?

Cause some people see comedy sketches.

Other people see acting.

you just included a podcast host.

So how would you describe when you say the word improv?

What

does that mean?

Hmm.

Nothing is planned ahead of time and we don't have a script.

And as you said that I said, everybody is improvising all day, every

day, nobody woke up with a script.

And so when we look at some of the principles that allow those.

Performers that you see to be really successful within those shows and on those

teams when we take those principles and apply them to the way that we communicate

with and connect with one another.

It just makes us better.

Improvisers and better communicators and so the 1st, big principle

is that we always say yes.

And and that's this idea that whatever is thrown out there.

We listen to it, we accept that as the idea of the moment, and

then we add on to that idea.

Oh, I like that.

Yes.

And yes.

And okay.

so in improv, if that would be like, if we're putting a scene together, you

don't argue with the scene selection.

You're just like, yes, this is the scene.

This is what I've got.

And this is what I'm going to do with it.

exactly, exactly, yeah.

So, if I said, oh, hey Dallas, we're gonna go, we're gonna go on a picnic, you would

say, yeah, we're gonna go on a picnic, and we're gonna have some sandwiches.

You know, and that, flies in the face of, you know, our natural tendency,

which if I were to suggest something that is not feasible or is outside

of the box or a little uncomfortable, our natural reaction is to say no.

And these are all the reasons why that's not good.

We can't go on a picnic.

It's snowing outside.

I don't have a blanket.

Where are we going to get our lunch?

You know, and so what improv does is, or that yes and principle, or I

like to call it a mindset, because we can't say yes and to everything.

right,

What it does is it puts our focus on what can

work versus what can't work.

And it forces us to listen to the other person because you can't add

on to something that you didn't hear

yeah, that's, yes,

absolutely,

right, and there's so many other waves that just that principle makes

when you know when you can model that.

When someone comes to you, you're actually going to listen to them and look for what

can work and what they're bringing to you.

You're going to be building trust.

You're going to be building your connection with that person.

They're going to continue to feel like they can come to you with their

best ideas and their worst ideas.

And it sometimes takes some of the pressure that we might put on ourselves

to have everything figured out.

And release that a little bit and know that it can be more

of a collaborative process.

I think it does.

I think that's such an interesting way.

The yes.

And it's such an interesting way of framing that because

it is a mindset, right?

And, but I love how you've boiled it down.

Cause you've taken a mindset and you've pulled it down into two words.

Yes.

And, and that's such a great reminder.

And I think that if we can approach things with that, yes.

And mentality, it's just, it opens you up.

To not only the ideas, but it also forces you to do exactly what

you said, which is you got to pay attention to what's coming at you

so that you know what you're saying.

Yes.

And too, so you have to listen.

So I love that.

I think that's a great, I think that's a great principle.

How do you see that playing out in, in, as it relates to businesses and

teams, if you're leading a team or an organization, how do you see that

playing out in sort of that environment?

Mm hmm.

Well, it requires people to slow down a little bit and, like you

said, pay attention to other people.

You know, we talk a lot about, switching, getting rid of the word, but, and what

people notice first is how often they say, but, and so people that can then,

start to kind of play with that and say like, Hey, you said the B word.

we're not going to do that here and people start to.

put forth these, this new set of rules or this new norm that we're

going to listen to each other.

We're going to try to look for what can work.

We're going to try to say yes and instead of yes but.

And what it does is it does it builds that trust within teams.

It allows people to open their minds a little bit more.

It forces them to pay attention.

And you go from A bunch of people who are maybe all saying the same thing

but seem to be in conflict with one another, but because they're really

focusing in on what the other person is saying, maybe even reflecting it

back for understanding, they move

times you're, yeah, you sit at a table and you're hearing

two people talk at each other and you're like, you're sitting there

watching this go down and you're like, you're saying the same thing.

How are you not totally, you should be smiling at each other right now.

You're about to kill each other and you're saying the same thing.

And it's just like what you're saying is using is the difference between

using and, or, but, I was thinking about that as you were talking.

And it's very interesting because if you had an idea, let's say you're in

a brainstorming session and you say, we need to do this new service, or

we need to offer this new product and the person across from you says, yes,

and all we need to do is get the.

This, supplier to deliver it three days faster, that's an and statement,

but it's still something we've got to figure out with the supplier.

But if I say, but the supplier would have to deliver it three days faster,

you just feel it's a different approach and it feels so much different.

Just changing those words.

Yes, I'm agreeing with you.

And this is all we'd have to do to make that work.

and even if I still see there's some work to do, just using

and in front of it makes it.

It just shifts the whole mindset, just shifts the whole attitude, energy.

I love

that.

Yeah, you're not promising anything, you're not making

any promises that you can't keep.

at the same time, both of you will leave that conversation

feeling so much different.

You'll feel like you're in, you're on the same team, you're collaborating,

the other person is going to leave, feeling as if they know that they have

been heard, which most people just want to know that they have been heard.

If you think about when someone is in, like a conflict scenario or high stress,

what it takes for them to Come back down to a place where they can actually hear

you is first for them to know that they have been heard, and for their thoughts

and feelings to first be validated.

And then you have a thought partner who can actually hear

what you have to say as well.

Exactly.

I love that.

Okay.

All right.

So yes.

And that's fantastic.

And that is in, that's an approaching improv.

Is that one of the

principles

Yeah.

Yep.

That's one of, one of the principles.

So I've, the book covers what I'm referring to as the improv approach,

approaching improv approach.

And,

I like that.

so what the improv approach is basically this principle of

yes and let me say too, before we move on from that, that saying yes does not

have to mean, yes, I agree with you.

It can mean yes, I'm here with you.

Yes, I am listening.

Yes, I am present what it's adding to as well So we have the yes and mindset and

then let's add on to it this concept of making each other look good so when you

said You know you like watching whose line does it anyway when you watch that

who do you see like describe to me?

the person who Is doing like the best job, like who would you look at and say,

Oh, they're the best one on the stage.

I mean, I don't even, maybe it's really just

whoever's actually in action.

You feel like it just builds or something.

And, and, and I don't know, that's a really tough question.

I mean,

that means that it was a good team.

If you can't point to, the 1 person, so I always say that.

When you, when you watch an improv show and you see the person

who's getting all of the laughs.

They're a good improviser, the person who's setting them up.

Is the really skilled and really great improviser.

Oh,

wow.

So when we go out on stage, it's not what's the funny

thing I'm going to say, it's how can I set my teammate up for success?

How can I set them up for a laugh?

Because we know that if we,

This is taught, this is like a part of the,

this is an improv school.

This is what they're

teaching is to

this is what we are,

up.

That's incredible.

Because we know that if we all agree to do that, we're all going

to end up looking a lot better and you don't have to go on stage thinking like,

oh, it's all on me to say something funny to say something brilliant.

It's not.

I can go out there.

I can, it frees us up to make mistakes too.

I know that I can go out and say something weird.

That popped in my head and somebody else is going to help

me to make that make sense.

It doesn't have to be all on me, so I can take some risks.

I can do some, I can feel free to, possibly fall on my face because

there's going to be somebody who I know is going to help pick me up and

make me look good in that situation.

And I am committed to doing the same for them.

It's the only way that you can go out on stage without a script.

And put on a cohesive performance that people enjoy watching.

It's the only way, if we agree to say yes and to each other, and we agree that

we're going to make each other look good.

I've never heard that before.

I've never heard that about improv and how you're supporting each other.

That, but that's a fascinating.

It's a fascinating point and man, talk about the alignment

with that and leading teams.

Woof, man, there is some serious overlap on that and how much people

would follow you as a leader.

If they felt like you had been to improv school and they had the freedom to make

a mistake while being creative, because they knew that you were going to be

there to support them or vice versa.

And on a team, man, talking about that's huge on trust and so many things there,

there's a significant amount of trust.

And I guess in that environment, as an improv, especially on a

team in front of people, you're exposed, you're so vulnerable.

Did you feel that?

Do you feel when you go out, when you went out on stage and improv,

did you feel just an, it would seem to me like you would feel extremely

vulnerable

It would

but maybe not.

yeah, it would depend on who I was playing with.

Completely depend on who I'm playing with.

And if they're following those rules too.

So you could feel it if they weren't that,

made the, that made the, all the

Oh yeah.

Oh,

There's nothing worse than being on stage in front

of a whole bunch of people throwing something out and having somebody

say no to it in some way or another.

vulnerable

Yeah.

oh, let's back up now.

All right.

Oh,

that's

But if you bring that, if you bring that to a team, like you said,

it improves, it improves that trust.

People feel free to fail.

They know that they're supported.

It also.

means that we have to understand other people as a whole person.

What are their strengths?

What are they passionate about?

Where are there opportunities for us to let them use that

strength or that passion?

there's a story that I share in the book where there was a team.

Who I was working with, and they were putting together a video about what

their team did within the organization, because it was a little unclear to

some of the rest of the organization.

And so they put together this beautiful, computer animated

video that showed what they did.

And.

Then they, slapped some stock music over it and said, ta da.

And one of the members of the team came up to the manager

and said, Hey, you know what?

I actually went to school for music composition.

Would you mind if I composed something for this?

And they composed this beautiful piece of music to go along with this video.

And if you've ever seen a movie or even like a TV commercial with really good

music, it makes all of the difference.

And it, it made such a difference.

And it, that person wouldn't have, it was that leader who created a

culture where that person felt that they could step forward and say, Hey,

I'd like to try this because this is something that I have an interest in.

Could you give me a shot here that allowed them to really take what

would have been like an okay video to something that was really.

Beautiful piece of art, really.

And so it requires, managers and leaders to find out sometimes what are

people good at, what do they want to try, where are there places where I

can take a step back and put them in the spotlight so that they can shine

and I can be that supportive role.

I think that we miss the value that people

bring to the organization.

If we limit it to someone's roles and responsibilities that we predetermined

before we even knew who they were, when we were hiring for that position,

because we are greater than that.

And we have a lot of unique potentials.

We all carry that.

And so having that environment for people to bring their whole self, To the team,

to that environment and a safe place where they can say, Oh, by the way,

you know, a moonlight on the weekends as a, music, composer or whatever.

And it's

huh.

Oh, really?

that was not in that person's job description, but they

brought that to the team.

Now the team's better now that video is better.

Now the whole organization knows that what that team does.

And it was more impactful just because that one person stepped

up was wanting to be creative.

And it's just simply because of that, culture, that team, that

they were able to create that.

So I, man, that's a

great story.

Yeah.

And I

it, and it shows too, it illustrates that person, that people

can come and be their whole selves.

It doesn't have to be, this is who I am at work, this is who I am outside

of work, and never the two shall meet.

It's, I can bring my whole self, and I can feel as if I belong here.

It

Don't get to see the impact of what people could bring.

You don't ever know how high you could have risen or how much you, how your

team performance could have improved if you never get people to bring their all

to what they're doing their entire self.

And, I had somebody tell me one time, they were like, look, And they, I don't

know why they were telling me this.

They just came up, it wasn't one of our clients.

It was just, I won't go into who it was, but they were just like, look,

I got these people that show up and I don't care what you do on the weekends.

I don't care what you do at night.

I don't care.

I need you to show up at this time.

I need you to do this.

Don't bring me your problems.

Just do your job.

Literally this man was telling me this and I was just shaking my head.

It was, I was not in a position where I could say.

Let me tell you about how you could get a little bit

more, you know, but,

wasn't, it wasn't

a lot

moment.

it was not a teachable moment.

he was going off and preaching about something and I'll just let him go,

but at the end of the day, I felt bad.

You walk away from a conversation like that and you're just like.

Man, I'm glad I'm not on his team.

I'm just glad because what a miserable, what a miserable show up

and clock in clock out existence.

And I just think that we have so much more potential and purpose in our

life that we're created to bring.

And so when people are able to unlock that lid, just open that up.

Oh my goodness, then you get this amazingly, creative, custom piece

of music that you can share with your company that cost you nothing.

it costs that person nothing.

I mean, and they volunteered to do it.

what?

And so, yeah, if you're listening and you're leading a team, your

organization, if you're not getting to know your people at an individual

level and know what makes them tick.

And no, and care about what they bring when we talk about what they bring

their whole self, what they enjoy, what they do outside of work, what they do

inside of work with some hidden talents that, that maybe you're not, that

maybe not use it in there every day.

If you're not interested in that, Oh, you're missing so much.

So I think, thank you for sharing that.

Cause that's really powerful advice.

It's really good.

okay.

So we're in problem right now.

All right, we're going off script.

Not that we have a script or how to script, but, I want to, I want you to

talk about improv because I would love to give our listeners something this episode.

Should release sometime around the, in the holiday season.

And we have lots of people that is, that are going to holiday parties

and some of them may have a crazy uncle or aunt that, just, makes

things a little more tense, right?

Last year.

so what we want to do is we love to give people tools.

Is there just a fun improv exercise or something that you

could give the listeners that they could take to a Christmas party?

That would make their little small company Christmas party or

family gathering just hilarious

easy peasy, the one that I like to do, cause it's so simple and it

could be done with, the four year old up into, the 94 year old is one word story.

So

a one word story

Yep.

Going around in a circle or in a room, building a story together,

using one word at a time.

I usually start by asking people to share the title of the story, let's

come up with the title of the story, just so that people, folks have an, a

jumping off point, they're not feeling like they're starting from, scratch.

yeah

And you just, you're just asking people to contribute one word.

And what's fun about it is that it really does, it usually goes off

the rails pretty quickly, which is.

Great.

And when, and it's different when you're playing it just

for the sake of playing a game.

but my brain always goes to what is there to learn about this?

And what is interesting that folks usually notice through this very, very simple

exercise is how often, even just once the title of the story has been shared,

we already have the whole story written out in our mind and how we want it to go.

Oh,

and and what this does is it forces you to let go of your

great idea and be in that present moment paying attention to the story that

is coming around to you so that you can contribute in a way that, again,

makes that next person look good.

And in a way that you're saying yes to the story that's happening.

the one word story.

I love that idea.

So if you were listening to the last 10 percent and you were thinking

to yourself, Oh my gosh, this Christmas party is always a bore.

Oh, I just can't wait to get out of there.

Guess what?

You have the opportunity to make it, you make it a

success.

it

You could do, you could just be sitting at a cocktail

table, you know, with four people.

You can do it with four people.

That's nothing.

So

you've got something to take.

So homework assignment for last 10 percent listeners, Caitlin says, you have to do

this, you have to do the one word story.

At the next time you get together with a group of friends, Christmas

party, other holiday gathering.

Company party doesn't matter.

You could be at a cocktail party.

It doesn't matter.

You gotta do it.

Caitlyn says you have to.

So that's your

homework assignment.

And then you

now do you have any other principles outta the book that

you, that come to mind right now that you think would be good for

the listeners?

what I would encourage, and what I, the way that I've structured

the book is really, it, it goes over that, those foundations of improv, What is it?

Do we have to, say yes to everything?

How are we building trust through this?

what does it look like to make each other look good?

And then , I take those improv principles and that improv approach and apply

it to communication skills that you probably already have some kind of

base understanding of, whether it's having tough conversations or giving

and receiving feedback or communicating through change and looking at how you can

take that approach and infuse it to those conversations and what you already know

about having those types of conversations and interactions and how to make those

even more effective and how to foster.

Communication and connection throughout.

So I'll give an example.

often we'll, we'll go through difficult conversations when, once we've gotten

those basics of improv and what we find is when I give people like, okay, you're

two, you're two people and you're.

, you've got a manager and a direct report, direct report wants to go on

vacation, but we don't have enough.

There's, there's no vacation days left.

we're up against a deadline and because they are directed to.

Be present, say yes to the other person, maybe repeat back what

they're saying for understanding.

They completely skip over any kind of finger pointing or playing the

blame game of whose fault it is that there's no vacation time or, and they

get right to problem solving and being on that same team and coming up with

something collaboratively that they can do moving forward as a solution.

Oh, wow.

That's interesting.

You change the dynamic of their interaction and then all of a sudden

it's just, it just, it totally changes the way they approach it.

Cause it's not this, they're on the same team instead of hierarchical,

I'm here and he's there, she's there, he's there, whatever.

Very interesting.

I

no one can be an in nobody, nobody can be

in charge in an improv scene.

Yeah, that's right.

Oh, that's very good.

That's very good.

, I would love to continue because when you talk about that, you already

are changing the dynamic, of that team and you're getting, you kind

of reframing it in a different way to get people to work together.

when you talk about creating cultures Of empathy and trust and creativity.

What are some things, if you, is there some success stories or

some examples or some things that you're just passionate about when

you go into teams and companies?

I just, I like your focus on culture and building that.

What's been something that's worked for you?

, Caitlin Drago: I think about the person who when I walk in

the room has their arms crossed

Hmm.

and just isn't here for it and through the course of our work

together, you know, slowly the arms uncross They understand that they're

being heard, that people are going to be there to support them, that if there

is some animosity in between people, if you put them in a situation where

they have to say yes to each other and listen to one another, that's going to

give them that, that little glimmer of that moment of seeing what this relation

could, what this relationship could be.

And I've had people who, I just had a group who I worked with a couple of

weeks ago, who I had worked with maybe five years ago at a retreat, and they

shared, like, we still have our, you know, I give them these yes and signs,

we still have our yes and signs up.

We still, this is something that is a constant reminder for us.

And it can be that really easy to remember North Star of, we're going to say yes and.

We're going to make each other look good.

And when we do that, like I said, it helps to build that trust because people

know that when I go to talk to you, even if it's a tough conversation, I know

that you're not going to know but me.

You're going to at least listen and consider what I have to say.

And the bonus there is that when people feel like they can come to you

with with their great ideas and their terrible ideas you're going to listen.

It also means that they can come to you sooner when there is a

problem because they're not worried about how you're going to react.

They know that even if it's tough,

Yeah.

I

to be present with them.

I really love how you started that conversation

when I asked you that question.

it, I just, the first thing you said, you could have easily, I teed you up.

You could have easily jumped in and said.

here's the three things that I always like to do when I'm going into an organization

to look at their culture, X, Y, Z.

But the first thing that you said is I like to notice the person in the back

of the room with their hands crossed.

I just.

I love that.

I love that because number one, it shows your craftsmanship of the, the history

of the trade of improv and being able to notice and read a room and not just

think about what you're doing, but see the whole picture and see how the

person in the back of the room where their hands cross fits into the picture.

And I think as leaders, sometimes we get.

So much coming at us and we're there.

So there were so much in the middle of the improv.

Sometimes we overlook the person with their hands crossed

in the back of the room.

And I think that is a great.

A great picture of the challenge of leadership is that as we're moving

through these teams, we are looking for the people with the hands

crossed, not to necessarily, push them out, but to bring them in and

say, Hey, let me, what's going on?

What's why are you having a bad day?

Why is this a, let's make it a space where they feel like they can bring their best

and what's the reasons why you can't, and then I'll see you, like you said, you just

start to see those shoulders drop and then engage And all of a sudden turned out to

be a really big advocate and participant, in the team and the organization.

So I definitely think that's fantastic.

That's a great story.

Very good.

Very good answer to that.

I love that.

When you're when you were in La , how did you stay motivated in that environment,

cause you were there for, years.

So how

Yeah, I was there for most of my 20s.

Yeah, so yeah, there is a, there's a whole lot of rejection

and I think that served me well.

if you're a, if you're a business owner, it's something that you're going to,

something that you're going to experience and just being comfortable with yourself

and understanding that you are not going to be for everyone and that is okay.

It also made me realize what was important to me.

I got to a point where, you know, unfortunately, and I think things are

slow, very slowly changing for the better in the entertainment industry,

but a lot of when it came to getting auditions or getting jobs or, networking

and connecting, it was more about who you knew and what you looked

like than your We skill or talent.

And after a while, that just wasn't an industry that I wanted to be in.

I wanted to be able to do something where, more than that

was taken into consideration.

However, throughout all of that, everything that I have learned,

I have put into practice.

So as an actor, your job is to be present and to be only focused

on the person in front of you.

Because we say, you know, it's not acting, it's reacting.

So whatever you give to me, I'm letting that impact me as that character and

giving my response from that place.

And when I started coaching, it was that direct transfer of skills,

except I'm just not in front of an audience, but I still get to zone

in and focus on another person and let what they have to say,

impact me and set off my curiosity.

So that we can have that productive conversation.

Mm

Now that I know that is, that's awesome.

I love that.

And I think that's a, such a transferable skill and, you've said so many things

that you learned while you were.

in, in doing improv and the acting, that is so powerful as it relates to

communication with just with people one on one and listening and going

through that and just paying attention to the energy that they're, putting

back at you and translating that back.

And it's just the whole thing has just been very good.

I think that's, I think that's really great experience.

And I think it's interesting because although, You went through

and we're in that environment.

And obviously it's not something that you necessarily align with now, all

those kind of the grind that you went through while you were going to these

classes and doing these auditions also, all that, like you said, is completely

transferable into what you are aligned with, which is, I think it's your

impact is, is pretty high now on that.

So I think that's really great.

And so, well done.

So I want to give any kind of insights cause you work a lot with teams.

Is there any other insights that you would like based on your experience

or observations, , and let's say I'm on a team and I'm on an average

team and I know I'm average.

, if I'm leading that team, if I wanted to bring something to

increase the performance of that team, what advice would you give?

think that everything starts from a place of connection

and understanding of one another.

There's, there's a group that I'm working with right now.

We did, a whole culture survey to see what's going well,

what's not going so well.

And so often it has to do with People's understanding of others

and what they're up against and what they're bringing to the table.

And when you can just make that, it feels like a simple thing to do.

It can be very complicated.

Is there going to be a lot of barriers to communication?

But if you can get those people to be able to connect with one another

on, even on a simple human level.

Just so that they're.

When they do have future communications, they're talking to a person who they

have met, who they have, or some kind of connection with, who they

can see as a person versus just an obstacle on the other end of an email.

That's going to start to make that shift.

And if you can put them in a situation to connect where they are laughing together

and learning how to say yes and making each other look good, bonus, but so I'm

going off a little bit on a tangent here, but I will also say if you do any kind

of training and you have an opportunity to mix people up, let that be an opportunity

to kill two birds with one stone.

Let it be a place where people can have that connection, can learn

together, if there is some kind of levity there that they can laugh

with another, with one another.

We know that laughter bonds people and builds that trust

in that, that connection.

Let that be a place where it doesn't have to be, okay, all the leaders

are going to be in this group.

All of the, individual contributors are going to be in this group.

Let people mix.

Use that as an opportunity to build those connections.

Wherever there's an opportunity for people to connect, allow them to.

Yeah, I love that.

I love that.

That's fantastic advice and I hope that our listeners If you are not, if you're

not intentionally creating environments and spaces for people to build connection.

And yeah, and I think that what your point is so true, but you've

got to be intentional about that.

You, if, especially if you're not necessarily geared towards the relational

component, if you're a technical expert in whatever it is, whether it's engineering

or medicine or law, whatever it is, but you're more geared towards the.

Technical side of things, you've got to be even more intentional about

giving space for people to connect, shared experiences, laughter, and just.

Changing it up and mixing it up with perspective.

So I think your advice is spot on.

So I hope our listeners are taking copious notes and, and that's really good stuff.

so we ask, all of our guests who they would like to see.

On the last 10%, , and we were talking before the show, you actually have a

very unique, really unique, guests.

So who would you like

to see

So I, this one, you know, I went to like, oh, well, of course I

want to see like Brené Brown on the show.

I want to see Glennon Doyle on the show.

But you asked for like, who is someone who's just really interesting?

And I thought of, I thought that the first person that came to

my mind was my friend Mateo.

He's someone who worked in counseling at colleges for a long time and then

now is doing, It's called cob building.

So they're building like homes and structures and, like pizza ovens out

of Earth, basically, out of things that are already in your yard.

And he goes around and does these workshops and it's just this different

intentional way of, living and building with what you already have, with

this background in counseling, and just, it's just, it's a fascinating,

Situation and when you talk, I think, I think the idea of the lat living

in the last 10 percent that could be defined and a lot of different

ways from that, like hustle culture to the other end of hustle culture.

and I think that it would just, bring an interesting perspective.

I loved it.

And I checked him out and it's, I'll be honest.

I did not even, it's, Cobb is referred to , you know, this dirt and

he's building and listen, when he, when she says he's building stuff,

Caitlin, a lunch, he is building like.

it is impressive.

Some of the stuff that he builds, out of this mud type stuff.

I don't know, but it's yeah.

So we might have to reach out to him and, and see if we can,

and get your, I think it'd

be a fascinating show because

Happy to make an introduction.

Yeah, he seems like an interesting guy.

So we just, it would just be fun to talk, I think.

So that'd be great.

All right.

You've got a lot of stuff going on.

you're facilitating, you've got workshops, you got this new book out.

How can people get in touch with you if they want to reach out to

you, and buy your book and we'll put all this in the show notes, but how

can people reach out and find miss

Caitlin?

They can find my website.

It's, inspireimprov.

com and there they can contact me.

They can see information on my whole, communication and collaboration program.

And there's info on the book there as well.

Also, if you just hop on Amazon and look for Approaching Improv Communication

and Connection in Business and Beyond, they would find that there as well.

That's awesome.

thank you.

Caitlin.

This has just been a pleasure.

It has been so fun.

I feel like I've been enlightened on improv.

I feel actually, I feel pretty awesome that I'm, I can be part of

the improv community now because,

You absolutely

me I'm part of it.

So that's good.

And, uh, I appreciate your time and your wisdom that you shared

with all of this just today on the

show.

Aw, thanks for having me.