Movers & Shakespeares

A new leadership development program relies upon ancient wisdom. Executive training on leadership and change — as well as on ethics, diversity, and communications — is based upon Shakespeare's eternal truths. The Bard boom now hits the board room, compliments of Movers & Shakespeares, the creation of Kenneth and Carol Adelman. He was an arms control director for the Reagan administration, she an official for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

William Shakespeare, chosen by BBC listeners as "Man of the Millennium," has been at the top of the charts for 400 years. That constitutes a long run, or, as a Hollywood writer might put it, "Shakespeare has legs."

Granted his overall popularity, what does Shakespeare bring to the executive suite? Two assets of Shakespearean grandeur. First is his keen awareness of what makes people tick. The Bard offers as astute depictions of human nature as anyone, and business hinges upon human motives as much as any element. Knowing human nature is a catalyst for success; not caring about human motives a prescription for failure.

Second, Shakespeare tells stories. Executives, like everyone, often learn best through accounts, and the Bard surely draws people in with some of the greatest stories ever told.

Movers & Shakespeares offers training seminars that run from a morning to a week. Drawing on their extensive experience in both government and private business, Carol and Ken work closely with clients such as Northrup Grumman Corporation to customize their program around the issues facing the company.

The Adelmans select a Shakespeare play to fit the program's purpose. For leadership, they draw on Henry V; for change, Taming of the Shrew; for corporate succession, ethics, and implementation, Julius Caesar; for risk assessment and management, Merchant of Venice; and for crisis management, Hamlet.

No depth knowledge of Shakespeare is required, nor must you pull on tights. Movers & Shakespeare prepares program participants by providing advance audio tapes about the plays that will be used in the program. Video stores carry a host of Shakespeare film productions, and they provide previews as well of what is to come in the classroom.
During the program, critical scenes of a play are shown from the video or read by volunteers, and participants dissect the text and meaning. Then, participants are divided into discussion groups to relate the lessons of the Shakespearean scenes to their own company practices. The groups then report back to everybody on whether and how the company handled the situation better than King Henry V, Portia, or Claudius.

At the conclusion of the program, the Adelmans direct and emcee a short performance with volunteers from among the participants. They are costumed (still, no tights) and they read from scripts of mini-scenes. The program is serious, emphasizing that "'tis the mind which makes the body rich," but the final message of the day is one that the Bard well appreciated: "No profit grows where is no pleasure taken."

Movers & Skakespeares' webpage is at <http://www.moversandshakespeares.com>. Ken Adelman is co-author with Norman R. Augustine (former chief executive of Lockheed Martin) of Shakespeare in Charge: The Bard's Guide to Leading and Succeeding on the Business Stage (Talk Miramax Books, 1999). Additional information on the company can be found in Doreen Carvajal's, "Once More Unto Shakespeare for Lessons on Leadership" New York Times, December 22, 1999. The latter is available here.

From the Wharton Leadership Digest, January, 2000.