An Interview With Edward Sylvan
My book, The Confident Body, seeks to transform the permission and capacity we grant ourselves to live a deeply authentic life. Confidence has a connotation of boldness, bigness, loud, charisma and as a result rejects those who are simple, subtle, silent, or still. By granting ourselves permission to do the things that are innate to us like play, breathe, take risks, and tell stories, we come back more deeply into our full potential.
As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Minna Taylor.
Minna Taylor is the Founder of Energize Your Voice, an NYC-based communication coaching and training firm. With an experiential approach, rooted in the principles of play and performance, she and her team support organizations, individuals, and entrepreneurs to explore their full potential in public speaking, storytelling, and leadership communication.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I like to refer to my backstory as my origin story, the conditions under which I was formed. I grew up in Appalachia Virginia on a farm. This was pre-internet, so the fields, forests, and mountains were our entertainment. I have two sisters, one is an identical twin, and we would play make-believe for hours in the pastures amidst the cows. Growing up in such a small town in the Blueridge Mountains, people relied on community and knowing your neighbors. I was exposed, at a very early age, to the power of personal story and the impact of sharing that story with others. That is how we learn, that is how we build relationships, that is how we survive. This wisdom took on a whole new meaning when I began studying acting at NYU. Storytelling became a physical activity and an expression of my deepest need. Through my theater training, I came deeply in touch with my purpose and my impact on others.
When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to take action or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?
With no context or specific intention, I was scanning the bookshelves at our local library (as I was wont to do) and saw a book called 1984. This was the year I was born, so I decided I should read it. I was about 12 and had no idea who Orwell was, but my curiosity peaked. I was taken in by the reality he created and the relatable, yet terrifying future he depicted. Even at such a young age, I was aware of global unrest. I knew of the power struggle and political divides that plagued out culture and our country. This book gave me permission to explore the outer edges of consequence. To understand subtle control and what it meant to be a radical thinker. I became obsessed with dystopia after reading that book.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
I think every mistake that feels consequential has usually come from hitting send too early. It’s not one moment, but rather a collection of moments, all related to forgotten attachments, wrong dates, misspelled words, inadequate detail, etc. What I have come to learn is that there is no rush. There is drive, there is momentum, there is expediency, there is even expectation, but there is no need to rush. Rushing makes me lose sight of correctness in service of completion.
Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?
My book, The Confident Body, seeks to transform the permission and capacity we grant ourselves to live a deeply authentic life. Confidence has a connotation of boldness, bigness, loud, charisma and as a result rejects those who are simple, subtle, silent, or still. By granting ourselves permission to do the things that are innate to us like play, breathe, take risks, and tell stories, we come back more deeply into our full potential. We experience a sincere catharsis of release when we surrender to these behaviors. This shift into the landscape of imperfection will result in individuals feeling more present, alive, and compassionate. We cannot transform the world until we grant ourselves permission to be in this world as our most truthful selves.
Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?
For several years, I brought a program called “Plight of the Powerful Woman” around the world to various organizations and communities. My intention with the program was to facilitate collaborative discussions on what the future of female leadership looked like and what was required to get us there. The discussion always began with the simple question, “Where did we come from?” Specifically, the question challenges participants to identify the conditions that opened a culture to the notion of women as leaders within social and organizational systems.
I was hosting the program for a company in Amsterdam. The CEO was on the hot seat for some bad press around gender equity in senior leadership and his solution was to bring women leaders of the organization together to see how the company could solve this problem and create more opportunity for women in leadership roles.
What the group uncovered was that in an attempt to address the gender equity challenge, the company had placed women on teams that were predominantly or historically composed only of men. The outcome was underperforming teams and dysfunctional workflows because the company mindset was on optics, not actual ability. Women were being placed in roles that they were not a great fit for, reinforcing the notion that women are not suited for career advancement.
Besides women being moved laterally, few were being promoted. The organization favored leadership behavior devoid of sentiment or high emotional quotient. They were metric and money-driven. This is a traditionally masculine approach to operating an organization, be it a publicly-traded company or even government. The leadership qualities not celebrated were traditionally categorized as feminine.
The CEO had asked for action items toward creating gender parity and the only response he got was the group asking him simply why it mattered. See, the ultimate revelation from this particular program was that the women of the organization were not interested in gender parity or equity of female representation in leadership. What they really desired was an environment where feminine characteristics such as deep listening, compassion, patience, and creative thinking were celebrated and represented all the way through the executive level of leadership. Whether male or female leaders embodied those qualities or characteristics was irrelevant. It was the essence of the leadership that mattered most.
It would have been really easy to engage in this program half-heartedly, with total resignation to the status quo. Based on their initial apprehension, I was concerned these women would shy away from speaking their truth, having been conditioned to a system that had historically silenced them. But instead, through present and authentic dialogue, they were able to uncover a deeper need behind the challenge set forth by the CEO. They could have submitted a clean list of band-aid solutions, but they advocated for what they now knew to be true. They didn’t offer solutions. They asked for deeper meaning.
What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?
I started my career as a speech coach and presentation skills trainer. I did this as a way to make money as I was pursuing my acting career. I began to notice the word confident emerging consistently as a pain point for those who were struggling to rise to the occasion in high-performance moments. I was working primarily with senior leaders and executives. What I heard was the word confident. What I witnessed was a disconnection from their breath, a restriction in their voice, and a withholding in their physical expression. This set me on a path to bring my acting training to those who desired to feel high performing. Leadership and communication are not intellectual. They are physical activities and require physical practice. Practices which are not taught to people outside of an acting class, yet are fundamental to anyone seeking to live an authentic and fulfilling life.
Without sharing specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
I was working with a foundation in Brazil whose mission is to change the lives of the people of Brazil by creating equity of access to high-quality education. This is such a powerful driver for change within the country and their research and strategies would be used by other countries to address their own social inequity. The employees at the foundation were brilliant minds, coming from Harvard and other top tier universities, but they were new professionals and lacked the confidence required to engage key stakeholders, politicians, and community leaders. I came in and, over the course of a two-day training, guided them into understanding their potential to build relationships through mastering authentic behavior. We explored storytelling and play through the lens of presentation skills and formalized conversation. The result was an increased capability and credibility to share their message with impact.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
The buzz word these days is inclusivity and I think that’s the right mindset to have, although to get there is a circuitous path. In service of an inclusive outcome, however, I will recommend the following: Listen deeply, make wise decisions about what comes out of your mouth, and make sure you implement a YES, AND framework into your communication in order to move conversations forward in a co-created and collaborative way. As humans, we desire to feel seen and heard. These three actions will allow us to be seen and heard as well as see and hear others.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
I was speaking at a conference in Berlin and the topic was Trust in Power or the Power of Trust. The goal of this particular conference was to, over the course of three days, numerous workshops, and beautifully facilitated group discussion, come up with what it meant to be a power that could be trusted. Namely, what the behaviors of someone in a position of power are that lead to an experience of trust.
Three days of focused, rigorous discussion boiled down to three words: Generosity, Curiosity, and Likability. That’s it. So simple. It was not about physical strength, political advantage, or financial abundance. Trust of power comes down to qualities that stimulate safety, but also a willingness to adventure beyond. Generosity leading to loyalty. Curiosity leading to a motivating sense of wonder and possibility. Likability leading to an overall experience of pleasantness within a power dynamic.
The three characteristics of a trusted power will also be found in someone perceived as confident or in ourselves when we are operating at our most authentic.
The behaviors behind confidence, mainly an easy body, open breath, and free voice, are witnessed in the authentic activation of power. We see this in great leaders. Some of the most influential leaders of our time are curious, generous, and likable. As people experiencing their leadership, we feel included, welcomed, encouraged, and at ease. We get the sense that they are listening deeply to us. They have a sincere desire to resolve problems or advance solutions. We feel safe and supported to explore, experiment, fail, and succeed.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
- Care deeply, but don’t give a shit. Caring deeply implies a sincere connection to your purpose and reason for engaging with others. What upsets our intention of authenticity and relationship building, is our attachment to getting it right and our resistance to failure or looking foolish. Once I surrendered that attachment and stopped giving a shit about acceptance or approval, my message became more powerful and the world began to listen.
- Listen more. It takes knowledge to know the answer. It takes wisdom to know when to share it. I was the kid in class whose hand shot up everytime the teacher asked a question. I always had the answer. I realized I actually learned more when I presumed to know less and left myself open to learning from others.
- Live in the question. In a rush to bypass the process and get to a conclusion, I robbed myself of tremendous moments of discovery. Impact requires innovation, but if we are not thinking through challenges and asking daunting questions, we limit the capacity for unanticipated moments of inspiration. Living in the question is more vulnerable, but immensely more valuable.
- Empower others to empower yourself. It is all too easy to become self-obsessed in our pursuit of impact. As social innovators, we must keep a lens on the notion of giving with no expectation to receive. It is in that exchange that humanity is fostered and celebrated. We become more deeply in touch with ourselves through developing a deeper appreciation for others.
- You are in control of you and not much else. Stop comparing. Stop making excuses based on your circumstances. Stop limiting yourself because of things beyond your control. You have tremendous agency to lead the life you want. The reward is in the risk of living a life of challenge and change.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Practice and all is coming.” I do not know what my final days will look like. I cannot know how my moments will unfold. I do know that if I simply dedicate myself to the practice or presence and connection to my breath, all I seek in those moments will come into form. What form they take is the delicious discovery to be made throughout the course of my life.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
The incomparable Krista Tippett.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Follow me on Instagram @minnataylor_eyv or head to my website energizeyourvoice.net
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Authors: How & Why Minna Taylor of Energize Your Voice Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.