Clarify Your Intent

While I was in LA I also got to sit on set and watch the filming of one of the top television dramas. I watched them take two hours to film two pages of dialogue involving three actors.

Writers of one hour dramas can be paid six figures for a single script. In the scene, one character was supposed to convey anxiety about an upcoming event, and the other character reassured him that everything would be fine. The actors rehearsed the scene and ran the lines, but they just couldn't say the lines as written. Yet they filmed the scene anyway. Why?

Because the actors clearly conveyed the intent of the scene. After all, the point of acting is to get the actions right. The meaning is in the doing. The actors prepared properly; they knew the intent of the scene.

We've talked about overall objectives. But you achieve your overall objective through your day to day actions. Do you know what you need from each interaction in your day. Are you sure of your intentions before you walk into a meeting at work? If not, get clear. Know what you want to achieve in each meeting, each phone call, each hallway encounter. How can you expect other people to help you get what you want if you don't know?

Keep those projects rolling

This past weekend I attended an entertainment industry conference in Los Angeles. I saw panels and presentations from some of the most accomplished people in the business and some people just starting out. They all agreed on one thing -- the key to success is to have several projects moving forward at the same time, because you can't be sure what will work until you make your project.

The Vice President of Production for Summit Entertainment (studio for the Twilight Films) said when they optioned the first book in the series it had only sold 100,000 copies. They cast it with actors who were not stars at the time because that's all they could afford. Of course, the novels and films have enjoyed tremendous success, but the people at Summit knew the film might not work. So they had several scripts and films in development at the same time.

How does that news help you star in your own life? Apply these three principals.

1. Work on multiple projects to improve yourself. If you want to learn Spanish and equipment maintenance, great. Work on both at the same time. Don't want to learn one and then try the other.

2. Give everything your full effort. You never know which project at work will be brought to the boss' attention.

3. Have positive interactions with everyone at your company, from security guards and receptionists to the company President. You never know which person will be able to help you, whether at your company or at another.

Start doing this today.

Constructive Criticism

The first show I ever directed was a one-act play by the Irish author Lady Gregory called "Spreading the News." I was just learning how to communicate with actors, and their performances demonstrated that. Watching the final run through, it seemed to me that everyone was in a different play. I took several pages of notes about everyone's performance, and after the run through of this half-hour play I kept the cast sitting on stage for an hour, listening to my criticisms of their performance. I described where they failed and told them how to correct it for next time, and then dismissed them.

After the notes session, my teacher Jerry Maijzlin gave me some notes. He said, "when you're giving notes, it's important to tell the actors the good things they did along with the things you want improved. Otherwise, they'll think they're no good and will stop trying. If the performance is truly terrible, don't dwell on it. Pick one thing for each person that you want improved, and tell them. At least that one area will be better next time."

I realized after working for years in television that this is great advice for all managers. You must praise people if they do well; that makes them want to do better. You should point out areas where they can improve, so they will. And if everyone is doing a bad job, pick one area where you absolutely need improvement and tell them -- at least that will be better.

That's how stars manage.