Lisa A. Kramer

Author, Speaker, Theater Artist, Creativity Facilitator
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Leadership

10 Reasons to Embrace Your Creativity

10 Reasons to Embrace Your Creativity
by Lisa A Kramer
For some reason, creativity is one of the most misunderstood superpowers that we all have. Yes, its a superpower. If you choose to embrace it, and to strengthen your creative muscles, wonderful things can happen. 

By you, I mean every single one of you. I can hear it now though, many of you are thinking "I'm not creative. I don't have a creative bone in my body."

Those thoughts are born from myths about creativity that come from a society which likes to have control.

Being Gateless in an Angry World

Being Gateless in an Angry World
by Lisa A Kramer
In a recent interview for a possible contract job helping thought leaders in planning and facilitating their online workshops and programs, I was asked: "How do you deal with difficult personalities?"

In some ways, it feels like all we ever do lately is deal with difficult personalities.We live in an angry world. We've lost the ability to communicate across differences and disagreements because of entrenched beliefs that allow no room for discovering new ways of being an doing.

However, I don't subscribe to that. I am actively seeking ways to communicate better, to listen better, and to encourage some kind of neutral ground where we connect in a place of collaboration even if we don't fully understand one another.

For me, that space lies in creativity and collaboration. It lies in a willingness to search for the good, the beauty, the things that work, rather than everything that is broken and ugly. It's a difficult thing to do at times, especially when your are dealing with difficult personalities including your own doubts and fears.

Sometimes the most difficult personality we have to deal with is our own.

Today, I want to share the foundations of my approaches to building creatively with anyone, so that we all might begin to understand why I believe Creative Power is so important. 

The Potential of Multiple Passions

by Lisa A Kramer
We should all be designing lives and careers that are aligned with how we're wired.Emilie Wapnick, "Why Some of Us Don't Have One True Calling" TedxBend, April 2015

I learned a new word today. One that truly resonated with me

Multipotentialite

What is a a multipotentialite? In the words of Emile Wapnick, who coined the term:

A multipotentialite is someone with many interests and creative pursuits. 

Why am I fascinated with this word?

Because of the woman who "couldn't" hire me for a project because she felt my energy and interests were too scattered (and then went on to hire someone close to me, telling that person I had turned her down--but that's a whole other story).

Because of the conversation I had recently with a woman...

Creativity and Leadership

by Lisa A Kramer
What makes a leader? What is leadership?

I've been pondering these questions a lot lately.

For you see, for some reason I don't seem to fit other people's definition of leadership. Sure, I have:

taken the lead throughout my lifemanaged box offices and volunteers for large eventsstarted companieslead classrooms and programsdirected artistic teams to full-scaled productions trained new teacherstaken leadership positions on boards and committees

Yet still, with all that, the word "leader" seems to somehow slide around me rather than attaching to me. It's a label that does not stick.

An article by Jacob Morgan on The Chief Learning Officer asks the same questions:

As part of the research for my new book, “The Future Leader,” I interviewed more than 140 CEOs around the...