Pablo Picasso

"A young artist must forget painting when he paints.  That's the only way he will do original work.  To blossom forth, a work of art must ignore or rather forget all the rules."

— Pablo Picasso

Spanish Artist

1881 - 1973

Girl Before a Mirror
(1932)

When I teach people to be speakers, I tell  them that first they must learn the rules of speaking and then learn that they can break all the rules.  When it comes to the creatives arts, no rules are absolute.  And all rules can be broken.  Yes, it is good to know what the rules are so that you are aware when you are breaking them.  But understand that you can break every single rule and still create a masterpiece.

But watch out for the rule police.  Their job is to find all the mistakes that you make and throw them into your face.  Maybe it is a spelling mistake or a misplaced comma.  Or maybe the arms in your painting are too short or the eyes too big.  The rule police thrive on finding something wrong, but usually are unwilling to paint or write themselves.

The key to your success in the creative arts is knowing when and where to bend or break the rules.  You must learn to push the envelope.

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Julie Otsuka

"I really like the act of writing; it's the same as painting in that I become engaged in the process of making stuff.  What I love is the form and language.  Each paragraph is like a puzzle."

Julie Otsuka

American Novelist

1962 - 

Julie Otsuka graduated with a bachelor's degree in art in 1984.   Thinking she would have a career in art, she entered the MFA program at Indiana University and quit after 3 months.  After struggling with what she wanted to do with her life, she switched to writing and her first novel, When the Emperor Was Divine, was published in 2002.

Sometimes we think we know where we want to go in life, but events and circumstances can and will alter our course.  When I was a sophomore in high school, I committed to being a preacher.  By the time I was a senior, I had rejected the faith of my parents.  I turned instead to writing, hoping one day to be successful.  Instead for almost 25 years, I have spent my time and energy as a speaker, a preacher variation.

Have you traveled the roads that you thought you would travel when you were 18?  What surprises did you not anticipate?  What impact have these changes had on your creative expression?  How many times have you changed careers?  Where do you see yourself tomorrow?

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Zig Ziglar

"You never know when one kind act, or one word of encouragement, can change a life forever."

Zig Ziglar

American Speaker/Author

1926 -

Words are very powerful.  A few words here or there can change a life.  Who have been the encouragers in your life?  Maybe it was a parent, a teacher, a friend, a child or a preacher? What did they say to you?  How did they touch your life?  How did they change your life?  

Many motivational speakers have inspired me over the years.  Driving to Texas from Illinois in December of 1982 to start a new job, I discovered Zig Ziglar, the grandfather of motivational speaking,  on the radio.  I didn't know who he was or the impact he would eventually have on my life.  I have since met him and seen him on several occasions speak.  The last time I saw him speak was at the 2000 National Speakers Association annual convention in Washington, D.C.  Like many speakers that I enjoy, I have listened to him dozens of times on tape.  I, with his permission, actually tell some of his stories.

One of my favorite Ziglar stories is the story of the man who had an opportunity to visit heaven and hell before he died.  St. Peter asked the man where he wanted to go.  He told St. Peter to take him down to hell.  There he saw a beautiful banquet hall with the finest food and drink you could imagine.  When he looked at the people he saw that they were skin and bones and that they were cursing and swearing at each other.  He told St. Peter to take him up to heaven.  In heaven, he saw the same beautiful banquet hall filled with the finest food and drink.  When he looked at the people, he saw that they were healthy and robust and that they were laughing and singing.  The man asked St. Peter what was going on.  St. Peter responded, "Did you see the silverware."  Strapped to each arm was a four foot fork and a four foot knife.  Now, we all know we can't eat with such large silverware.  The people in hell were so busy getting everything for themselves that nobody got anything.  Up in heaven each person would feed the person across from him and that person would feed him back.  The message is very simple but powerful:  if you help other people get what they need and want you will get everything you need and want.

As creative leaders we have the opportunity to touch the lives of the people we meet through our books, paintings, songs, photographs and stories.  Whose life did you touch today?




Here is Zig Ziglar telling his famous primp the pump story.

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Pablo Picasso

"There is nothing more interesting than people.  One paints and one draws to learn to see people, to see oneself."

— Pablo Picasso

Spanish Artist

1881 - 1973

La Vie
(1903)

For me, people are central to being a creative leader.  The stories that writers share are about people and their relationships.  When I speak on leadership, I talk about leadership being defined as people working with and through people.  I love paintings and photographs that involve people.  People communicate so much meaning through their expressions and gestures.  I find people fascinating because in them I see bits and pieces of myself.  Through interactions with others I learn more about myself.  People teach me important lessons that I need to learn.

If I were the only human remaining on this planet, life would be boring.  When I was young, I thought I would like to be a hermit and withdraw from the world, but I no longer feel that way.  I do need people.  Having said that, I must confess that I am still an introvert.  What that means is that many people take energy from me and I must have alone time to restore my energy.  Extroverts by nature enjoy people and are re-energized by being with people.  After spending two hours in a mall, I am exhausted and must withdraw to replace my energy and recharge my spirit.  One of the few places where I can be re-energized by people is when I am speaking in front of an audience.  Some audiences will take the energy that I give out when I speak and return it to me ten-fold.  Other audiences will absorb my energy and suck me dry.

Who are the people in your life?  Do they help restore your energy or do they drain your energy?  What about the people in your stories, your paintings and your songs?  Are your relationships positive and life-giving?  Or are your relationships toxic and destructive?  What are the people in your life teaching you?  Even the most difficult people in our lives are there to teach us lessons.  What are you learning about yourself?  And what are you teaching the people in your life?

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Wendell Phillips

"Revolutions are not made: they come.  A revolution is as natural a growth as an oak.  It comes out of the past.  Its foundations are laid far back."

— Wendell Phillips

American Abolitionist, Orator, Lawyer, Author

1811- 1884

What, you might ask, do revolutions have to do with creativity?  Revolutions are a creative response to the status quo and happen at all levels of society.  Revolutions are happening in literature and art as each generation rejects the styles of previous generations.  Consider how Impressionism, Cubism and Abstract Expressionism started out as movements outside the mainstream.  

Revolutionaries have to think outside the box.  They have to be willing to see the world through new eyes.  The abolitionists stood up against slavery.  The civil rights activists stood up against segregation.  Wendell Phillips also said:  "Physical bravery is an animal instinct, moral bravery is a much higher and truer courage."  

What risks are you taking in your art?  Your writing?  Are you challenging the status quo?  Are you standing up for what is right?  Are you looking at the world with fresh eyes?  Creative leaders have to think outside the box.  They need to risk trying new techniques — new ways of thinking.

Wendell Phillips was born in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard Law School.  He was a powerful speaker and became a voice of the anti-slavery movement.

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Douglas Adams

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."

— Douglas Adams

1952 - 2001

English novelist

When we are young, we have lots of dreams of what we want to do with our lives.  When I was in junior high, I wanted to be an architect.  My father was a general contractor and build over 300 houses in his lifetime so I am sure that was an influence on my dream.  But in recent years, I realize that I had as a child a desire to draw which no one encouraged.  When I was a sophomore in high school I made a commitment to be a minister.  By the time I was a senior in high school I had lost my faith in religion.  In college I dreamed of being a writer.  My life may not have turned out as I imagined, but I believe it turned out better and I became what I was meant to be.

I have spent more than 35 years writing poetry and short stories.  I have published 14 books and hundreds of poems.  I have spent over 20 years as a motivational speaker (ministry) touching people's hearts and souls.  And late in my life I have turned to painting masks.  I know I ended up where I needed to be and did what I needed to do.

I believe that we are all here on this earth to learn lessons and grow.  Everything that happens to us will teach us valuable lessons.  The choices we make will lead us down the roads we need to travel.  We will arrive where we are meant to be, having learned the lessons we were meant to learn.

When I was 50 I wrote an article, "What do I want to be when I grow up? Or how I found myself!", that appeared in my college alumni magazine.  In the article I describe how became what I was meant to be.

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Ferruccio Busoni

"The function of the creative artist consists of making laws, not in following laws already made."

— Ferruccio Busoni

Italian Composer, Pianist

1866 - 1924

When I teach people how to speak, I always tell them to learn the rules of speaking, but to understand that they can break every rule.  Speaking is an art, not a science.  Creative leaders understand that there are rules and techniques governing their art, but they have the right to break the rules.  Creative leaders are willing to take a risk and attempt something that lesser artists are unwilling to risk.  If you study the long history of the arts, you will see the pattern — every generation breaks the rules of the older generations and makes new rules.  Think of the changes the impressionists, the cubists and the abstract expressionists  made to art in the last 150 years.  Think about the rules that writers and musicians have broken in the past and continue to break today.  What risks are you taking with your art?  What rules have you been willing to bend and break?  What new rules have you put in their place.  In art, nothing is absolute.

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Theodore Roethke

"May my silences become more accurate."

— Theodore Roethke

American Poet

1908 - 1963

Many of us are afraid of silence.  We have a need to fill the the air waves with noise — television, radio, music.  And for those living in cities there are the sounds of cars, trucks, sirens, airplanes and neighbors fighting.  I enjoy external silence because it allows me to think, but I rarely experience internal silence.  My thoughts are always bubbling to the surface, brandishing their weapons.  Can you hear the silence when you are painting?  Do you listen to the silences between the words that you utter?  When I teach people to speak in public, I talk to them about the importance of silence — of learning the pregnant pause, of giving your audience the time to catch up with your words.  Storytellers understand the power of silence.  We must learn to appreciate silence, to enjoy its many flavors.  Sometimes we can learn more from silence than all the words ever spoken or written.

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