Why You Need More Poetry In Your Life (And Business)
A rollicking new episode of The Art Of The Zag.
About ten years ago, I was trying to get a hold of Wu Tang Clan. Easier said than done. It was part of the reporting for my upcoming book Dream Teams, for a chapter about productive conflict—or how some teams leverage their different styles and points of view to make progress.
I eventually scheduled the interview I wanted. But then Wu Tang’s publicist told me this:
“You know who you really want to talk to for your business writing is this poet I represent...”
Uh huh.
I for sure thought she was just trying to upsell me on publicizing more of her clients. But I wanted the Wu Tang interview to actually happen, so I said yes.
Turns out my interview with the poet—his name is Sekou Andrews—was even more interesting than the Wu Tang interviews. (And they’re hard to beat!)
Sekou is a full time poet, which as he puts it, is like telling people you’re “a full time mermaid.” He uses the art of spoken word poetry to make business and leadership messages stick. He applies poetry techniques to public speaking (which he trains CEOs to do).
And he… well, I may as well stop right here and let Sekou explain in his own words, because I just interviewed him again for this week’s fascinating episode of The Art Of The Zag.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
Why Nike hired Sekou to use spoken word poetry to change the entire culture and customer approach of their company—and how Sekou did it.
How science-backed techniques from poetry and storytelling break through the clutter in our noisy media environment, and get people to put down their phones and pay attention.
A whole lotta wisdom that will leave you energized all day after you listen to this!
There’s a reason I’ve stayed in touch with Sekou all these years, and it’s because he’s the kind of person who embodies what I care about: thinking differently, so we can help people become the best version of themselves.
Have a listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Youtube, and I’d love to hear what you think!
Make a great day—
Shane