The Stage of Work

The idea of studying specifically the workplace as the stage of performance is perhaps a natural extension of the theme initiated back in 2009 with the publication of Training through drama for work3 and continued throughout my subsequent books to date.4 With emphasis on living and working to our potential, some ideas here were origianlly produced as input for my personal blog5 during the period July 2015-June 2016. Whilst the aforementioned series of books have made reference to a number of key sources – including although not limited to Co-Active Coaching: new skills for coaching people toward success in work and life,6 Emotional Intelligence,7 The Inner Game of Work: Focus, Learning, Pleasure, and Mobility in the Workplace8 and Winning!,9 – The presentation of self in everyday life by Erving Goffman10 remains a text deserving special mention for this latest book. Despite being first published in 1959, the notions put forward within its pages still hold learning for us all today. Detailing particular aspects of work-related performance in the opening chapters here, one of the four Co-Active Coaching cornerstones of the CTI organization, creator of Co-Active Coaching, namely “The client is naturally creative, resourceful, and whole”, is a central stake for further words to be attached to. To explore the stage of work from the position of the performer, four interviews involving five industrious people are included in the fourth chapter. The interviewees – two based in the United States of America and three operating in the United Kingdom – provide insight into modern working practices and interesting personal perspectives.