#028 Choreographing Work: Lessons from Dance with Renatus Hoogenraad

Ever heard the idiom “It takes two to tango”? For service design facilitator and executive coach, Renatus Hoogenraad, the spirit behind this idiom has a more literal meaning. As a former professional ballet dancer and someone trained in applied improvisation, Renatus pays special attention to how we show up and use our bodies at work. He thinks of work as an ongoing choreography where a form of dance is happening in the interactions among team members.  

Renatus’ perspective is a refreshing counterbalance to what many of us have been trained to do at school and work: live in our heads. We are led to believe that relying on our intellect will help us succeed while downplaying intuition, emotion, and relational skills that are key to achieving meaningful breakthroughs in any domain. If you look into the lives of legendary innovators, you will find that their breakthroughs were not solely a byproduct of thinking, but that other human faculties were key to their achievements.  

In this episode Renatus and I explore his approach to being more embodied at work, how to unlock better creative collaboration through greater embodied awareness, and how he applies learnings from his previous life as a professional ballet dancer to helping people be more connected and in sync at work. 

I hope this conversation inspires you to explore what being more embodied at work is like for you, and sense into what transformation you may be able to unlock for yourself and how you relate with others. 

*A special thanks to Karen Faith for her creativity and voicework in this episode.

 

ABOUT OUR GUEST 

Renatus Hoogenraad, formerly active in the world of Performing Arts, now enjoys helping organizations develop the human-centric aspects of "working better together," creating a culture that people care for. Specializing in service innovation facilitation, combined with coaching, emotional intelligence, and leadership training, he finds fulfillment in witnessing people become world-class facilitators of co-creative work processes.  

He is passionate about developing authentic and charismatic people and teams at all levels who use human-centric work approaches for the benefit of their organizations and their lives.  

Born and raised in the Netherlands, Renatus speaks English, French, Dutch, and enough German to order a beer. He studied Business Administration and Performing Arts and is an accredited Coach. 

Learn more about Renatu’s work at Sparks Sàrl.  

https://www.sparks.ch/

 

ABOUT MAKING BUSINESS ART 

Making Business Art is a podcast for curious people where we explore how to make our work more meaningful and enchanting for ourselves and the people we serve. We draw lessons and inspiration from entrepreneurs, designers, scientists, creative leaders and artists about creating remarkable experiences that light up our customers and our teams. 

This podcast is the creation of and hosted by me, Ezequiel Williams. I am an entrepreneur, innovation strategist, facilitator, and business designer. I help leaders and teams see their challenges differently and find ways to deliver value that are more desirable and satisfying for the people they serve. I am very curious and love to learn about how things work, what makes people tick, and how to create more joy in the world. 

Instagram: @MakingBusinessArt