When people ask me what I do for a living, I am tempted to answer: "theatre."  To avoid long-winded explanations, I usually refer to the back of my business card, which describes me as a management consultant covering coaching, training, facilitation and events.  If given the chance, I tell people that what I call "theatre" is actually the delicate task of staging my clients' aspirations so they become a compelling, self-fulfilling success story. 

As a consultant, my role is to help people find the Focus, the Energy and the Breakthrough to make their vision a reality.  Staging aspirations involves scripting their own vision of the future, which might include the future of their company as well. Once the script is completed, they must visualize it in their minds scene-by-scene and achieve each milestone.

Whenever I have the chance to intervene to make Focus, Energy and Breakthrough operate effectively in someone's life, I feel I'm contributing something of value. Sometimes, the three components of peak performance might not be achieved together during a consulting process, but having a sharper focus might be sufficient to inspire someone to close a multimillion dollar deal.  Understanding how to manage her energy might change a top manager's life and, as a result, she might inspire her followers to do more in a sustainable way.  Breakthrough might manifest itself as a reconfiguration of existing elements in a process that had been overlooked, enabling a simple, yet powerful and profitable new product application. 

Powerful storytelling inspires transformation. The narrative of a classic stage play shows a pathway from the ordinary world towards a descent into conflict and a "resurrection," after which the conflict is resolved.  The main reason we pay to sit two hours in a darkened room to watch "live" entertainment is because in a well-told story a transformation might take place right there in front of our eyes.  It will be real, emotional and it might strike a personal chord.  My goal is to make every interaction with my clients a memorable event, like a good play. 

Coaching, training, facilitating and staging events share the transformational power of a play.  The hero in the play is you, the participant or trainee.  The journey you undertake is one of exploration, creativity and memorable lessons.  The transformation happens after you have become aware of the right things to do, how to do them better and how to do better things in the future.  As simple as it may sound, such process requires in some cases heroic strength and determination to be completed.

During my career, I've had the privilege to work with extraordinarily talented people who have achieved their dreams through what I call "the Performance Architecture process."  I have also worked with ordinary individuals who are perseverant, tenacious and determined to overcome their limitations.  Their success has taught me as much as the talented performers, for they showed me that what matters is how we convince ourselves that we can design our lives.

My experiences as a peak performance coach for athletes, as a playwright and as a management consultant share one aspect: the creative power of imagination.  Regardless the current situation, if we are able to imagine a new reality, a new idea or a solution to a problem, we can realize it.  Positive stories charged with positive words create powerful, life-driving images.  We need to design every step of the way and overcome our limitations to be able to succeed.  As we stretch our imagination and creativity muscles, our stories get better, bigger and more complex. 

History is full of remarkable examples that prove that our human capacity for imagination is boundless.  Even the most pragmatic of individuals can't deny that peak performers and high achievers operate in this way.  As human beings, we navigate the present to create our future.  Although we can try to enjoy being "in the moment," our minds extrapolate data and lessons to create a better situation ahead.  At its most basic level, it's a survival skill; at its most complex, it takes on an artistic and even a spiritual dimension. Our powerful dreams inspire others to follow us and become part of a grand, shared vision.  The will to act on that grand vision and make it a reality for the world around us might transform us into leaders.