What you should know about me: I am a passionate fan of the works of William Shakespeare. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Middlebury College in 1997 with a joint degree in English and Theater. At Middlebury I was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. A 2000 Masters of Fine Arts graduate of the Yale School of Drama, I have performed as Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing and as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. I served as the Production Dramaturg for the Yale Repertory Theater’s productions of Measure for Measure and Richard III.
I am also the Vice President, Corporate Development for Freedom Disability (www.freedomdisability.com) and Alpha (www.alphadisability.com). After completing my MFA at Yale I moved out to San Francisco to participate in the death throes of the dotcom boom. For the past ten years I have worked in sales, marketing, and new product development.
In reading Shakespeare I have always been fascinated by how his characters inspire, cajole, manipulate, and motivate each other. Whether the hero or the villain, a minor character or the titular lead, one useful lens to look at Shakespeare’s characters is to consider how, and how well, they lead others. As leaders ourselves there is much we can learn from Shakespeare. This blog is going to be my exploration of his works. I intend to read his collected plays (all but a few for at least the second time) considering them, at least partially, as illustrations of effective and ineffective leadership models. Wherever possible, I will draw comparisons to modern leaders, and I will have some friends and colleagues weigh in as well.
I welcome feedback and thoughts — and thanks for reading!
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March 2, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Dave Doyle
Nice site… I’m glad to add the first of many comments. Any plans to compare the leadership dynamics from the books to how they’re portrayed in the different film versions?
March 3, 2010 at 9:14 am
seanlibby
Thanks for reading.
I will definitely draw on the films. First up on my list is Henry V (I mean you have to start off with the band of brothers speech right?) So I will definitely take a look at Branagh’s film again. I don’t plan to dig out the old Olivier productions because (and I know I may get burned at the stake for this) I think Olivier was a crappy actor.
I should have the Henry V post done by Monday.
_Sean