Let’s talk about disruption. Here’s the thing: disruption is kind of a jerk. It’s rude. It’s relentless. It doesn’t raise its hand or say, “Oh, excuse me.” It doesn’t give you a heads-up or RSVP to your quarterly planning meeting. You may not even know it has come for you until it is done with you. Disruption is the termite you ignore until your foundation gets wrecked, because you didn’t think those little tiny piles of dust were a threat. You’re sitting there, comfortable in your boardroom, saying things like, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” while disruption is already chewing through the floorboards. We wait for change to send a calendar invite. We want to form a committee and assign an acronym to it. But by the time you’ve scheduled the meeting, the world has already moved on. The only way to beat the ramifications of exponential innovation is to beat disruption to its destination: you.
You have to embody disruption yourself. Growth is uncomfortable, right? It requires disrupting your current form in order to stretch and expand into uncharted space. As a Grammy Nominated Spoken Word Artist, I’ve learned that the most powerful communication isn’t about delivering information; it’s about creating an experience. You can’t just tell people about change; you have to make them feel it in their bones. That’s the difference between static text and living, breathing spoken word poetry. My job as a Motivational Poet and Vanguard Artist isn’t just to talk about getting uncomfortable—it’s to get you comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s to interrupt your convention, to be the glitch in your smooth-running program that forces a reboot. The most inspirational leaders don’t just watch the storm on the radar; they learn to become the lightning. You can’t wait to get “Kodak’d” or “Blockbuster’d.” You have to be the one who willingly walks into the wilderness and blazes a new trail, even when no one else sees the path.
So how do you do it? You adopt an improv mindset. The foundational principle of improv is “Yes, and…” Whatever is happening? Yes, and watch what I do with it. Whatever gets thrown at you? Yes, and watch where I take it. You become a powerful embodiment of disruption. This means you have to create a safe space to fail forward. That’s right, I said fail. And I mean fail good. If every attempt you make ends with a win, you need to risk deeper. Hand out Neosporin at your staff meetings and tell them not to come back without lacerations. Stock Chanel splints and Armani gauze. Why? Because your best teacher is your last mistake. You win some, you learn some. This isn’t just a catchy phrase; it’s the operating system for becoming one of the top, best, and most inspiring leaders in your field. The ones who aren’t afraid to wear their intellectual capital like proud battle scars are the ones who redefine the game.
Ultimately, as a spoken word artist, I’m here to remind you that you can’t schedule your own evolution. Stop waiting for change to knock. Kick the door down yourself. You need to disrupt your comfort before it disrupts your company. You need to be the annoying little brother in the pool of your industry who just can’t stop making waves, who keeps splashing water on the people just trying to relax on the sidelines. They won’t like it. They will tell you to stay in your lane, to not stir the waters, to be realistic. And in that moment, as Grammy Nominated Poet Sekou Andrews, I give you permission to run full speed to the edge of your industry’s still waters, leap in the air, and do the mightiest cannonball you can muster. Don’t wait for the invitation. Be the reason the party starts.
