Author: Stacey Mason

It’s about honoring

Once a year, I sit down and write a love letter to improv. It is my ode to the craft. Improv changed my life, and I do not say that…

Gallup is regarded as the authority on the topic of employee engagement. Figures show employee engagement percentages across three spectrums: actively disengaged, not engaged (referred to as just there), and…

EQ is the game changer

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the game changer. I routinely tell folks that if you only invest in one area of personal development, please spend that time growing your EQ. It…

15 questions to ponder

“The unexamined life is not worth living” is a famous saying supposedly uttered by Socrates. Socrates believed that philosophy — the study of wisdom — was the most important (life)…

Improv advice in translation

Most advice is worthy of thorough examination. Often advice about one discipline — with just a bit of translation — has meaning in other disciplines. This translation process allows for…

Building the right culture

I wonder how many people can say that they’ve ever had their dream job. For me, it’s happened twice — the work I do now and the last role I…

Sitting in the tension

We talk about tension like it’s a bad thing. Maybe it’s just about stretching. Stretching and being able to hold differing points of view at the same time. Leading and…

15 phrases

Words have meaning; we should choose them carefully. I overheard someone say that years ago, and it struck a chord with me — and not just because I love language….

Full STEAM ahead

We are inundated with data. So the first business question we typically ask is a hard science question: What am I looking at here? And to answer that question requires…

A conversation on perspective

There’s an improv exercise I love called Fortunately/Unfortunately. A handful of people stand in a circle and move a storyline forward by adding information as players alternate between fortunately and…

Understanding how you’re wired

While no personality assessment can perfectly analyze all the behaviors that make you uniquely you, that’s still no reason to shy away from these insightful tools. In fact, I would…

15 things learned since my 20s

Of all the twists and turns our lives take as we conquer careers and grow into the true leaders that we were meant to become, nothing is as powerful as…

Improv advice in translation

I have found that most advice is worthy of thorough examination. Often advice pertaining to one discipline — with just a bit of translation — has meaning in other disciplines….

Giving up control

The craft of improvisation is built on a few core foundational principles. First and the most widely known is the law of agreement, typically referred to as “yes, and.” Basically…

The art of effective communication

The number of words in the English language is 1,057,379.6. This is the estimate by the Global Language Monitor as of January 2020. While 1 million words is a generally…

15 books on my nightstand

Reading is not only my first love but also my true love. I’m happiest with a book in my hand. It’s where I return time and time again to dream,…

The other AI

More than a decade ago a pivotal book by author Daniel Pink (“A Whole New Mind”) suggested that forces in the world economy would shift society from left-brain thinking to…

Maps and globes

I’m a big fan of Seth Godin’s work. Seth is an author, entrepreneur, and most of all, a teacher. His one-liner bio simply reads “30 years of projects.” He’s written…

Put your whole self in

I recently attended a weeklong improv intensive class offered through TheatreSquared in Fayetteville taught by Jordan Haynes. First of all, Jordan is brilliant. He’s a gifted improviser who will absolutely…

The 15 people you need on speed dial

What I know for sure is that getting through life takes a village. Humans weren’t meant to go it alone. The road is long and the tests are hard. We…