Leadership Above the Rim: The Poetry of Possibility

High performance poetry is an invaluable vehicle for expressing leadership greatness. Poetry illustrates key elements of achievement and cultivates development for personal and professional gain. Leadership above the Rim turns out to be a shockingly original collection of poems by Orlando Ceaser, a manager-cum-poet who shares them at team meetings and when his direct reports are promoted. This comment from the Financial Times magazine was an early confirmation of the radical and surprising insight found in my poetry. Business people conceal their poetic gifts. There is a belief that business and poetry do not go together. However, poets can be important to business. Poets have keenly developed powers of observation, outlook and curiosity that lead to investigation, interpretation and innovation. Poetic tools such as alliteration, rhyme; meter, similes, metaphor, hyperbole and vision are universally used in strategic planning, vision casting, sales, marketing and daily conversations. High performance poetry that is practical and functional can be aligned with leadership and business conversations to motivate and inspire a team to higher levels of performance. The Box is written from the perspective of the box who states that after giving us structure, definition and boundaries, we ungratefully want to cast it aside and think outside of it. The Hunger speaks to the innate drive and ambition that people have that leads to a higher level of engagement. The Old Guard and the New Way captures the generations in the workforce, as they struggle to work together and bring out the best in everyone. The Un-led tells about individuals who need vision and direction that can be found in dynamic leadership. Structure is a poem that implores us to design the proper disciplines, routines, regimens and habits to encourage success in our endeavors. Follow Through confesses that the fault may not lie in our ability to focus, but in our follow through and execution to complete assignments. Leadership Greatness through High Performance Poetry challenges us to open ourselves to innovation from various generations and stimuli. We must see the value in using High Performance Poetry to lead our teams and individuals to greatness in their personal and professional lives.

Orlando Ceaser is a Sales Director for a major pharmaceutical company. He has over 25 years of experience in sales, marketing and training. He has developed many leaders in his industry and is sought after as a mentor and career counselor.

He has a BS degree from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois and a certificate from Midwestern Broadcasting School in Chicago, Illinois. He also spent time as a newscaster on WBEZ radio in Chicago, Illinois

He is the author of "Teach the children to dance and "Look for the blessing." He has also written several articles on leadership and motivation.