Empowered to Play

Let’s play! When said with sincerity and care, this can be an awesome offer, a meaningful gesture, a powerful invitation to allow others to feel empowered.

Let’s play! When implemented with care and intention, this gives permission to our friends, our teammates, our staff - and as presenters - gives permission to our audience, to join us in the experience and allows others to be empowered.

Let’s play! When lived out loud with positive actions and healthy behaviors, we can set the stage for everyone involved to not just feel empowered, and not just be empowered, but to empower others…to play!

In Game On terms, we call this accepting your “empowerment”, and it’s part of our MILE (Mystery, Incentive, Laughter, Empowerment) framework that helps fuel our curriculum. Just like when we all played “Hide & Seek” as kids, there was something that fueled us to engage in this seemingly simple and mundane activity for hours and hours on end. So, what gives?

When we look a title closer at the game itself, it doesn’t really make a ton of sense on paper. There’s no time frame, other than to come in when dinner’s ready. There are no particular boundaries, other than to stop for cars to drive by before immediately resuming play. There are no winners and losers and no specific rules, other than to hide and to seek. That’s it, but everyone must buy-in to this seemingly simple and mundane concept. In fact, if we don’t go for it, if we don’t commit, if we don’t buy-in and hide with intention and seek with care, the game is off, and we can all get lost.

As leaders, coaches, teachers, presenters, we don’t want to lose our audience. With that said, it’s our job to offer the invitation, to engage with purpose, and to authentically find that connection. When we can set the tone, set the playing field, set the classroom, set the stage - powered by play - there will be less divide and more unite, less sparkle and more substance, and less control and more empowerment.

With healthy and purposeful play, we can…

1. Show…that everyone’s role matters.

2. Bridge…the gap between audience and presenter.

3. Include…others and make the experience more meaningful and memorable.

Let’s play with that mindset, that curiosity, that trust, and that courage we had when we were kids playing hide & seek for hours on end. It captivated us then, so why not use these same dynamics now to help others not just feel empowered, not just be empowered, but help as many people as we can to empower others…to play. Tag, you’re it!

Play On. Game On.