Our approach
Touching people's hearts is the vital ingredient of art, education, dancing — and organisational leadership. Whether you dance with a partner or lead a team, you face the same challenge: making it a good touch that changes something for the better.
The method
If lovingly touching somebody is a common challenge across very different fields, then what we learn by studying it in one field has a good chance of applying to all the others. We chose the field we know best: the Argentine Tango dance floor, where leader and follower stay connected through every step.
You don't need your hands to touch someone. Speaking, writing, presenting, coaching — all of our expressive faculties can move people. And every one of us has seen such attempts fail: an audience checking their phones, a dance partner who feels stiff, a team that is not nearly as motivated as you are. Why do some attempts succeed while others fail?
Two dancers, two leaders
Pushing
A dancer picks the shyest partner to impress the room, opens with his most complicated move, and pushes harder when it fails. She tenses up. Nobody asks him for a second dance.
A founder flies high on his vision, rushes in once a week with new orders and declares his team's work obsolete. His experts quietly cut him off — and the company fails.
Connecting
A dancer watches, listens, and chats with his partner first. On the floor he waits to feel her comfortable, then gives one small, clear signal — and follows where she takes it. They dance all evening.
A small-business owner hires motivated young people, trains them, trusts them and sits in the middle of his team. Twenty years later the company is still flourishing.
Before, during and after the touch
Before the touch
Focus on your objective — and equally on the people you are about to touch. Use empathy to establish an inner connection. Choose partners for the benefit you can bring them, not just the benefit they bring you.
In the moment of touch
After diligent preparation the touch needs little more than tenderness combined with clarity. People follow out of free will when following doesn't make them feel less free. A push or pull inevitably builds up inner resistance.
After the touch
Issuing an order and walking away leaves the actual purpose — the outcome — unobserved. People follow you only as long as the connection is maintained. Follow your followers, wherever they go.
Key factors in Tangelligence
Loving your partner
The three most important factors: love, love and love. Where something stands in the way, step back and examine what prevents you from it.
Staying close
Successful leaders stay close to their people instead of hiding away. If you care about your partner, closeness follows naturally.
Knowing what you want
Clarity of destination is what others perceive as charisma. If you don't know where you are going, nobody can follow.
Emitting clear signals
Ambiguous messages invite guesses — and nobody should have to commit to following you on the basis of a guess.
Knowing your partner
Know what they want and what they can do. Underestimate them and they get bored; overestimate them and they get anxious.
Opening up space
Lead by seducing instead of pushing: open up a new world of possibilities instead of blocking your follower's freedom.
The three C's
Tango teacher Homer Ladas sums up good leading in three words:
- Comfort
- Clarity
- Consistency
How to develop Tangelligence
Like any other skill, Tangelligence can be learned step by step through practice. In our workshops participants work through hands-on exercises such as:
Follower experience highlights
Participants recall their three best experiences as a follower — with a parent, teacher, team leader or dance partner — and together distil what made them great into a shared set of follower experience dimensions.
Leading and liking
Leader/follower pairs solve a task with the follower blindfolded, first with partners they feel sympathy for, then with partners they don't. Participants then learn how to lead well even without spontaneous sympathy.