Editor’s Note: Thought leader Grace Ueng is CEO of Savvy Growth, a noted leadership coaching and management consultancy. Grace writes a regular column on Happiness & Leadership for WRAL TechWire. Companies hire her firm for coaching and consulting, as well as to facilitate HappinessWorks™ programs, infusing the happiness advantage into corporate culture, leading to higher productivity and results.
Note to readers: WRAL TechWire would like to hear from you about views expressed by our contributors. Please send email to: info@wraltechwire.com.
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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – The last three weekends, I’ve had the delight of being fully present for stunning performances. I am fulfilling my long held desire to have more arts in my life! I learned in my happiness studies that going to a museum increases your well being. The same is true with experiencing music.
Lang Lang – finally, experiencing my muse live
Given my piano restart, an important part of my studies includes listening to the world’s most acclaimed artists. On August 8th, I made sure that I was in line a few minutes before 10am when tickets for Lang Lang’s Opening Night performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra went on sale online. I then purchased tickets for one of Yuja Wang’s performances for the following weekend.
I was happy with our Lang Lang seats, middle orchestra, row DD, the best available by the time my transaction processed. I did have to engage in a bit of “one-buttock” active listening, however, since there were quite a few taller people seated in rows A-CC that had a quicker ordering reflex or better yet, season tickets.
Yuja Wang – even closer
With Yuja Wang, we advanced in our orchestra seating to row R, 11 rows closer just left of middle, putting us in clear view of every movement of the pianist. No one-buttock listening required.
Photos courtesy of Grace Ueng
Front Row: back in Raleigh
A friend with season tickets invited me to see the NC Symphony perform the following weekend back in Raleigh. His seats were smack in the middle of the second row and the performing artists were the Cirque Dancers of Troupe Vertigo. Being so very close to the stage made us nearly part of the act. The intensity of having aerial dancers twirling above our heads with just a single rope and no net made me ask if my friend had to sign a waiver in advance or agree to perform duties similar to sitting on an exit row on a plane. As I realized that the first few rows would end up serving as a human net, if needed.
We could see every facial expression, each bead of sweat, even the slight quivering of the acrobat’s single arm as her hand grasped a metal pole, supporting the entire weight of her body as she did a one handed handstand.
Photos courtesy of Grace Ueng
Since we were so close to the stage, my focus was entirely on the dancers with the music in the backdrop filling in their every move. Some orchestral audiences may prefer a row a bit further back to hear the fullness of the music. For watching acrobatic dancers, front row seats created a visual intensity. In the end, no seat is a bad seat – it is your attitude toward being present that defines how much you enjoy a performance.
Since going into remission from my depression, I am choosing the front row wherever I go in order to be fully present. Ruggero Piano, where I purchased my Steinway, hosts a Fourth Friday Concert series. When I went to my first one, I arrived a few minutes before the start. While the auditorium was mostly full, I saw many seats still open in the first few rows, and walked right up to them, determined to experience the pianist most fully.
Up Close and Personal: One of the Family
When the pianist’s credentials were announced, they matched my sister’s – Juilliard undergraduate, masters and doctorate at Peabody Conservatory. Wow! I texted my sister to see if she knew her. When she came on stage, I realized she was older, so maybe they did not intersect. During the intermission, I realized her relatives were sitting all around me. Her daughter told me she was over three decades older than my sister! And was so pleased that I thought she was much younger.
She was mightily impressive, playing a very full repertoire of 7 pieces including the notoriously difficult Gaspard de la Nuit by Maurice Ravel. I was able to meet her afterwards and have our photo taken. If I had not stepped up to sit in the very front, I would not have had this delightful pleasure.
Photos courtesy of Grace Ueng
Front Row: Higher Grades
Research also shows that those who sit in the front row in a classroom make the best grades. This is not due to self selection, as assigned seats also reveal the same grade pattern. It just makes sense, you will most likely have the best view of the instructor, the board, pay the most attention, and also be seen and called upon more often.
Being more present to experience life more fully increases well-being. Sitting in the front row helps us do that.
How can you have a front row seat to life?
- Think Ahead. I had been looking at Lang Lang’s world tour dates for quite a while. When the Boston Symphony Orchestra released the date of when his tickets would go on sale, I marked the time off weeks in advance as sacred in my calendar, so I could be among the first in line.Research shows that anticipation of a vacation is just as important to your well being as taking the vacation itself. Looking forward to your front row seat experience is good for your health!
- Be interested. I started listening to the Saint-Saën’s concerto Lang would perform weeks in advance to fully appreciate his chosen repertoire. Seek to understand what you will experience.It’s no wonder that when I have the opportunity to have a backstage tour, I appreciate the actual art more. I was thrilled to be a part of a small tour that Valerie Hillings, Director and CEO of North Carolina Museum of Art, gave a few months ago for the International Women’s Forum. She shared a behind the scenes look at the museum that completely whetted my appetite for seeing the People’s Collection, Reimagined at the much awaited reopening, which took place last week.More important than being interesting is to be interested. Doing more listening than talking deepens understanding as well as relationships.
- Arrive early. This one is hard for me, but I am working on it. Building in a 10 minute buffer for everything in your schedule will allow you to be more relaxed and therefore more present for each event.
- Fully savor the experience. For someone who struggled with being in the moment, I have been surprisingly more present after my struggles with depression last year. I am more grateful for each opportunity I have now. I don’t take things for granted. Finding a front row seat literally as well as metaphorically has really helped me fully savor my activities this year. This makes a happier experience for you as well as for those around you.
- Discuss your experience with others. Anyone who has gone to a movie or performance with me knows of my insatiable curiosity. I can’t help asking a question during a show. At this weekend’s performance, there was an extremely long line at intermission for the ladies room, so I hesitated. But I decided to get in line and immediately started to discuss the performance with the woman in front of me. She was excited to discuss the dancer’s moves, surmise how young they must have started training, guessing at their nationality and before we could conclude our guesswork, we were done with waiting!
Our entire walk to the parking lot, I asked my friend questions about the performance and how he thought they did certain things, from the engineering of the beam holding the acrobat’s rope to discussing why the dancers in Carmen could not be a couple in real life. It was fun bantering about what we had just experienced together.
- Express gratitude – tell the artist how much their performance meant to you. If that is not possible after they exit stage right, be sure to thank the friend who invited you or if you were the host, express gratitude to your guests for sharing the experience with you.
When, in the coming months, can you take a front seat?
About Grace Ueng
Grace is CEO of Savvy Growth, a leadership coaching and management consultancy founded in 2003. Her great passion to help leaders and the companies they run achieve their fullest potential combined with her empathy and ability to help leaders figure out their “why” are what clients value most.
Grace’s core offerings are one-on-one coaching for CEOs and their leadership teams, facilitating workshops on Personal Branding and Speaking Success and conducting strategic reviews for companies at a critical juncture. A TED speaker, she is hired to give motivational keynotes and lead Happiness Works™programs for companies and campuses.
A marketing strategist, Grace held leadership roles at five high growth technology ventures that successfully exited through acquisition or IPO. She started her career at Bain & Company and then worked in brand management at Clorox and General Mills. She is a graduate of MIT and Harvard Business School.
Grace and her partner, Rich Chleboski, her MIT classmate and accomplished cleantech veteran, develop and implement strategies to support the growth of impact focused companies and then coach their leaders in carrying out their strategic plans. Their expertise spans all phases of the business from evaluation through growth and liquidity.
