Written by Kate Billing, Founder & Creative Director, Blacksmith
THE CONTEXT:
As we continue to lead through the Levels, most organisations will still be either 100% Work From Home (WFH) or a blend of in-office/WFH. This blended approach may include ‘split shift’-style working, with teams in the office some of the time, swapping out with others on a weekly basis.
Whatever the mix is for you and your organisation, you can be certain this won’t be a short-lived thing. We can expect working in a way that requires digital connection between people to be the norm for months to come, as we work our way through Level 2 and into whatever Level 1 will hold.
MS Teams, Zoom, and Google Hangout meetings will continue for the business of work and for nurturing social connection and organisational culture. For ALL of us this means the associated challenges and opportunities of creating engagement and authentic connection through the camera of our computer or webcam.
My special guest for this FULLY HUMAN conversation is Australian film director, Mo MacRae. Along with over 25 years experience behind the camera as a director for film and television, Mo comes with a calming presence, humility, and keen insight into human nature, especially how we are when we stare down the barrel of a camera and feel observed!
Kate is the Founder & Creative Director of Blacksmith and she is on a mission to put the tricky business of being FULLY HUMAN at the centre of how we live, lead and work.
Kate believe’s it’s time for a new kind of leader. Human-centred leaders who together will create the world we need for our shared future. Leaders who are examples of what’s possible when we commit to the deepest levels of humanity and responsibility in the ways that we live, lead and do business.
For nearly 25 years she has worked in the people, culture and leadership space building a reputation for sharp insights, compassionate challenge, warmth and energy. Always connected to her diverse global community, Kate brings the best of what’s happening out there to New Zealand, and takes the best of our home-grown wisdom to the world.
Mo MacRae is one of Australia’s most in demand commercial film directors and author of the upcoming book “VIDEOCONOMY: How to harness video in the new economy for your business, your brand and yourself.”
Mo has lectured and tutored in creativity and communication for over 20 years and now coaches leadership teams in the art of having On Camera Presence – how to be comfortable and confident in front of the camera to connect with and engage your audience.
In 2007 Mo won Matt Damon & Ben Affleck’s million dollar film competition, Project Greenlight, with his brother Kenn. He has gone on to direct feature films, brand content and some of Australia’s most loved TV commercials including the Sam Kekovich “Australia Day” Lamb ads.
In our hour together, Mo and I talked about:
- what our favourite movies say about us and the human truths they reveal
- thinking of yourself as your own lead character – perfect in your imperfection, and that’s exactly what people want!
- how media training doesn’t prepare you for leading through a webcam, in fact quite the opposite
- how to thoughtfully structure and deliver your messages in a way that will land using ‘audience intention’ as a framework
- minimizing ‘Zoom fatigue’ for yourself and others
- vulnerability as a power tool for connection
- how your physical set and mindset make a difference to your energy and presence; and
- much MUCH more!
Enjoyed our webinar and what to learn more?
- READ this follow up guest blog post from Mo, answering more of the Q&A questions from our webinar session
- VISIT Mo’s website www.momacrae.com to book yourself and your team a FREE webcam set up session
- JOIN the Fully Human Tribe to find out about future events and receive our Fully Human update about all things human-centred leadership – sign up HERE.
