All the world’s a business stage

There’s a clever look at leadership in the winter issue of Strategy + Business.

It’s posted as Shall I compare thee to an Andy Grove?

it looks at how business and political leaders seem to be at their best when they create a certain character to present to people. it then looks at how Shakespearean plays are taught in leadership courses, like Henry V and Richard III. The author indulges in the obvious: a trip to acting school in England.

All in all, a good read, and an intriguing argument that the best leaders may also be the best actors.
It reminds me, too, of a conversation I had with MIT researcher Sandy Pentland, in which he asserted that the only thing that can produce real change in a person is by applying the techniques of method acting (that is, ‘becoming’ the character you are playing). Fake it ’til you make it, indeed.