Jolt. Tyler Richard

is this that creates extraordinary. Having the right behaviours and skills in isolation is not enough. At the core of any artist’s own development, it will be their attitude and mindset that take centre stage, as without this pointing in the right direction, everything else falls away and the results are plain old beige!

      In the same way, organizations have a performance to put on 24/7. They have an audience to engage with. People that they need to reach out to and connect with. A story to tell. Hearts and minds to win over. A purpose. A quality service to deliver. An experience to create that the audience will want to return to again and again. A brand to maintain. Stakeholders that want to be listened to and heard. A culture that goes viral for all the right reasons. A culture that their own performers will want to be a part of and can thrive in. A place where people are rewarded for what they deliver and how they deliver it. An organization that every stakeholder believes is extraordinary.

      I can safely say that every performer and leader I have come across in the last 20 years, who is striving for extraordinary, has bravely chosen the attitudes, behaviours and thinking patterns that need to be left behind while holding on to those that will propel them forward. Without a Jolt, it can be easy and comfortable to keep churning out more of the same. Ultimately though, in some guise, the Jolt will appear!

      I remember it well …

      I have had many Jolts in my lifetime. Some I noticed, some I probably didn’t. Some I reacted well to, some I rolled on the floor, kicked my feet in the air and screamed like a baby (age 33 was the last one of those and it wasn’t pretty!). The Jolts that stand out, many of which I wrestled with, have become my guiding principles and are now a part of how I navigate my day. Experience has shown me that they are the basis for building anything extraordinary.

      Jolt is not a thing that you do. Jolt is not your outcome. Jolt is a way of being.

      In 1995 I joined the West End cast of The Phantom of the Opera. The Phantom company and the many gorgeous people within it became my home, on and off, for many years. My time there was a rich tapestry of learning about the craft of consistently creating something extraordinary. On numerous occasions I was left baffled over why we would yet again spend hours practising tiny pieces of music and staging. Surely something so small couldn’t make a difference to the show? How would an audience ever notice? It was already a worldwide phenomenon, grossing millions globally through ticket sales and merchandise. Why fiddle with it?

      Wind the clock forward 18 years and my wisdom and learning is in a more rounded place to make sense of it all. Delivering something extraordinary, eight times a week, is a feat even for the most experienced and seasoned performers and musicians. The courage and hunger to continually reinvent takes energy and tenacity. If we let go of that, we switch onto auto‐pilot, turn off the radar and deliver a lacklustre performance. In the world of the arts, there is no place for that.

      So why is it then that in the world of business we often accept that as being ok?

      A while into my run at Phantom, the resident director took me to one side and offered me a dollop of wisdom. I am grateful that he did as I believe it dramatically changed the course of my existence and placed the importance of Jolt right at the heart of what I do. He brought it to my attention that I had entered a ‘safe zone’ – a place that delivered an ordinary performance and not an extraordinary one. I had become comfortable and was delivering just enough each night.

      The feedback and challenge he offered me was very clear.

      ‘Richard, what you do on stage each night is ok. It’s fine. It won’t change the world though. However, I’m not sure that deep down you are happy with ok and fine, are you?’

      ‘Not entirely, no. BUT what if I step it up a gear and then screw it up? What if I test out new ways and they fail? What if it doesn’t work? What if I crack a note? That all feels like a big risk to take!’

      He smiled at me yet delivered a message that walloped me between the eyes!

      ‘The greatest risk Richard is not that you step it up a gear and do something differently. The risk is not that you give it a go and fail either. The greatest risk is that you stay doing the same thing, day in and day out, eight times a week. If you do, you won’t have a job and we won’t have a show. I’m telling you now so that you can make your best choice.’

      The Jolt that came from my director shook me up. It was a very clear choice point for me. Doing nothing would cost me big time. Looking back on that moment, I smile to myself as I realize how naive I had been to believe that there was no risk to me in staying doing the same thing, over and over again.

      Jolts will come in all shapes and sizes. They may well wallop your arse when you least expect it. They may knock you to your knees. Hear this though, what makes the difference between an enabling Jolt and a disabling Jolt is how YOU choose to respond to it. Jolts will be sudden, uncomfortable, provocative and create a heightened state of awareness of your thinking, your action and the situation you are in.

      Will you embrace the Jolts around you or will you fight them off?

      Time to make an upgrade

      Imagine using technology that is 20 years out of date – analogue TV, cassettes, Atari computers. Even operating on a Windows system that is three years old can cause problems. It will work up to a point and yet when you need to engage and connect with your audience, it may well let you down. Technology upgrades have become normal in our world. What you buy today will have a new version available tomorrow. As I sit waiting for my iPhone 6 to arrive, I do so in the knowledge that even by tomorrow, new software upgrades will have been made available. If you are truly committed to making the step from ordinary to extraordinary, the starting point is to decide what upgrades are necessary. You may well have some catching up to do if you haven’t upgraded for many years!

      When did you last make an upgrade to your current version?

      Upgrading will quickly become a regular habit if you choose to make it so. When you have your radar switched on and are truly in the moment, you will start to notice the choices you make that are working and those that let you down.

      Choices is an important word in the last sentence and will feature a great deal in this book. Look out for it. I will offer you plenty of choice points in each Jolt. This will be your opportunity to decide. A moment in time when you can choose to stay operating on the old version, or you can dare yourself to do something different and make the upgrade. The more choices you have available, the more flexible you can be.

      Those with the greatest flexibility will have the greatest influence.

      In this book, I will present you with a series of upgrades; bite‐size nuggets that will disrupt your thinking and call you to action. Something that will shake you up. Give you a Jolt! This is a book that you can dip in and dip out of. Leave it on your desk. Swat flies with it. Chuck it across the room in frustration. Read it. Learn from it. Share it around. Take it to the loo with you. Steal quotes from it and send them to your friends. Whatever you do, use the messages contained within to help you, and those around you, to dance at the edge of extraordinary.

      For ease, I have broken the book into two distinct parts, Part 1 and Part 2.

      Part 1 is going to lay out some building blocks. I am going to give you a framework for you to hang all your future learning from. I am going to show you how often you place your attention and focus on the wrong things and then wonder why you didn’t get what you had hoped for. When I first learnt this stuff, it blew my mind in one almighty Jolt. Part 1 will give you the understanding you need in order to move through the Jolts. I am sure you are eager to get deep into the Jolts but please take the time to thoroughly read this part first.