What Can Theatre Teach Us About Organisations?

One of my favourite drama theorists during my degree (many moons ago now) was Peter Brook, and his book The Empty Space. It’s a seminal work on theatre theory and practice, in which Brook argues that theatre can be created anywhere: "I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage." What matters is the quality of the interaction between performer and audience.

This isn’t unlike organisations, where what really matters is the interaction between people in their various roles - leader, staff member, stakeholder. When I share this with clients: that how you do things matters more than what you do, it’s often met with either knowing looks and vigorous nods, or with reservation, bafflement, even dismissal.

It’s not that I’m saying delivery isn’t fundamental to success. It’s that the culture you develop and the climate you set will have far-reaching consequences. Just this week, I was running a leadership development programme on complexity with leaders working in a tremendously challenging environment. During an Action Learning Set, the group concluded: we can handle delivery, create new processes, and assign tasks. It’s the politics, the culture, the people - that’s the complex unpredictable bit; and fundamental to getting things done.

The world leaders operate in now is adaptive, contested, and uncertain, and increasingly shaped by the volatility of our political climate. The performance of leadership in how leaders show up, interact, and shape the narrative of change matters more than ever. Brook’s four theatre types can help us see which leadership “stages” we’re playing on and which ones we might need to build.

1. Deadly Theatre

Safe, conventional, and lifeless. Deadly Theatre follows tradition without innovation, pleasing audiences with what they expect, but failing to provoke or inspire. Theatre becomes habit rather than discovery.

Deadly Leadership is performative leadership - leaders using the language of transformation while preserving the status quo. The rituals are there: away days, comms cascades, strategy decks. But the work doesn’t shift. It lulls organisations into false certainty, discourages dissent, and maintains hierarchy under the guise of collaboration. People feel it instinctively: “We’re not really allowed to change anything.” So they stop trying.

2. Holy Theatre

Seeks the spiritual and transcendent. It aims to reveal deeper truths or the invisible forces that shape human experience. It draws on mysticism and ritual, but can sometimes become obscure or self-important.

Holy Leadership carries similar risks and rewards. At its best, it calls people to something higher—shared purpose, deep values, collective renewal. It reminds us that work can be meaningful, even spiritual. These leaders are often system stewards or movement-makers, able to hold space for ambiguity and emergence. But Holy Leadership can also drift into abstraction. It becomes inaccessible, detached from the real constraints people live with. Grand visions, with no bridge to practical action. The risk here isn’t lifelessness, but untethered idealism.

3. Rough Theatre

Earthy, populist, and energetic, Rough Theatre engages directly with everyday life. It often uses humour, satire, or improvisation. It’s resourceful and irreverent, connecting with audiences through shared cultural experience. Brook’s Rough Theatre is messy, visceral, and street-level. It values contact over polish, disruption over decorum. It’s alive to the world around it and unafraid to get its hands dirty.

Rough Leadership thrives in complexity because it embraces what’s raw and real. These leaders are grounded, not in hierarchy but in relationship. They listen hard. They adapt on the fly. They value participation over perfection. This kind of leadership works well in environments of flux where answers aren’t known in advance, and where progress depends on learning, iteration, and co-creation. It can feel uncomfortable, even chaotic. But it builds trust through authenticity, and resilience through involvement.

4. Immediate Theatre

The rarest and most powerful form, Immediate Theatre happens when something vital is created in the moment; when the boundary between actor and audience dissolves, and everyone is fully present. Something catches fire between audience and actor. It’s alive, unpredictable, transformative.

Immediate Leadership is much the same. It’s wholly present, attuned to what’s happening now, not clinging to scripts or roles. These leaders sense the system. They read the room. They improvise with purpose. They lead through presence, not position. In times of disruption, Immediate Leadership is gold. It creates spaces where people feel seen, where energy shifts in real time, and where action emerges not from control, but from connection.

Why This Matters Now

Organisations today don’t need more Deadly Leadership, however well-intentioned. They need leaders who can blend the rough with the holy, who can show up immediately and act with meaning.

Brook reminds us that theatre isn’t just what happens on stage, but what happens between people. Leadership is the same. It’s a shared encounter. A live moment. An invitation to respond.

The most impactful leaders now aren’t the best script-readers. They’re the ones who can make the space come alive.

The World Offstage

This doesn’t just matter within organisations, it matters beyond them. We’re living through a time when truth itself feels contested. From the rise of authoritarian leaders like Trump, to the erosion of civil rights, to the spectre of war and climate breakdown, we’re watching a world where gaslighting has become a political tool and public trust is systematically dismantled. It feels increasingly Orwellian: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

In such a climate, how leaders show up inside organisations matters more than ever. Leading with presence, truthfulness, humility and care becomes an act of resistance. A counter-performance. One that doesn’t echo the distortions of the outside world, but offers something more human and alive.

How can we better support our Educators?

Executive Coaching is not that well known in the world of Education in my experience, and the label often conjures images of remediation or inexperience for this profession, rather than a reflective space for leadership development, strategy development, resilience building, self confidence or enhanced performance and results. I have coached ten headteachers over the last five years. In this blog I seek to demystify coaching for this incredibly important profession, offer a window in to the benefits of coaching for Heads and share reflections on what I have noticed over the last few years, on why coaching works so well for Headteachers.

Head teachers are in quite an isolated position in their role. When I coach CEOs or Executive Teams, they have each other to lean on or the CEO will have trusted confidants they can talk to within an organisation. Because of the small size of a school staff team, they don't have that luxury. Heads do have their Deputies but even then, there are some things they can't discuss with them. The Heads have told me they really value having a safe space to talk about any issue in confidence and develop their thinking on complex matters. Additionally, it helps them gain a broader perspective of issues in what can be a very insular environment.

I notice that the role is a particularly stressful one. In part because of the isolated nature but also because it is "operational" - anything can come up at any time that requires immediate attention. Heads are dealing with risk often, there is sometimes urgency e.g. safe-guarding issues. The coaching gives Heads space to think strategically in the midst of an operational role. It also allows them to restore energy and increases their resilience. There is a lot of growing data about the importance of coaching in creating and maintaining resilience and I see this playing out with those I work with.

Typically leaders want to work on self-confidence, impact and influencing, being personally effective, leadership style and Heads are no different. Coaching is particularly good at developing these skills because its self-reflective. The Heads use the coaching to reflect on their leadership in real life scenarios and decide what they can improve or do differently. Assertiveness, change management and HR issues come up often. The hours coaching provides excellent development for leaders because it is tailored specifically to them and also allows them to apply new learning immediately, and then reflect upon what they have applied. This completes Kolb's Learning cycle in a very effective way, perhaps more effectively than a development programme.

Heads have multiple stakeholders, some of whom can have strong personalities or vested interests and they are regularly on the receiving end of demanding behaviours. Coaching is an excellent tool for developing the interpersonal skills and knowledge of how to handle difficult relationships and strengthen them. The Heads bring these scenarios to coaching frequently and leave knowing what to do to shift the relationship in to a healthy and productive place.

Very often the Head's will bring their most knotty, difficult issues to coaching - the things that are keeping them awake at night, and within that hour go away knowing what to do, what to try next or feeling more confident about how to tackle the issue. The Heads report to me that they find the coaching invaluable. It is something they look forward to each month where they can give time to themselves, perhaps for the first time that month; stop, reflect and plan, re-energise and restore, develop and learn. 

With the importance Headteachers have in helping shape our society and educate our children, I would love to see more Academies, Local Education Authorities and even the Department for Education providing this kind of leadership development and support to our Heads and other school leaders too. I’d love to know your thoughts…please get in touch if you would like to know more about the work I do and how I can help you and your organisation to centre relationship and reflection for the best long-term results and outcomes.