Esther: This is The Business Makers show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld, and my guest today is Michael Alloso. Michael is an accomplished entrepreneur, actor, director, author, and speaker. In 2007, Michael won the Vistage International speaker of the year award for his presentation, You On Your Best Day. Michael, welcome to The Business Makers show.

Michael: Thank you, Esther, a pleasure to be with you.

Esther: First of all, tell me about your business, Michael Alloso Personalized Entertainment.

Michael: That's one of my several businesses. Personalized Entertainment is a company I started a long time ago, almost my accident. I started my career directing high school theatre, so I had directed a production of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. The couple in the community that I was teaching in came and saw the show. And the wife called me after the show and said, "Hey, Michael, I liked you show. My husband loved it, and guess what, his name is Joseph, and guess what, like Joseph in the Bible story, he interprets dreams too.

He's a shrink. It's his 40th birthday in two months, and I'm giving him a big party at the house. Could you take the show Joseph and re-write all the lyrics so that they're about my husband, Joseph, and present it to him as a present from me at his 40th birthday party?" Since I have a little trouble with the no word, even though I had never done anything like that before in my life, I said, "Yeah."

Well, I then proceeded to interview her, all his business constituents, neighbors, kids, colleagues, anyone I could get my hands on, developed this huge file on this guy Joseph, know more about him than I probably should, hired three other professional actors, a professional musician. I played him. They played all the other people in his life. And two months later we marched into their home and in front of a group of about 50 people, we did this 40 minute musical extravaganza about this guy Joseph. I way undercharged, but a business was born, my goal, Alloso Personalized Entertainment, where I now write and create shows for corporate and private clients to commemorate special events.

That's what that company is, so what I do, is I've done major kind of birthday parties, a lot in Manhattan, all through the Northeast. And then I do corporate events, so I have one coming up in the fall in, uh, Philadelphia, where it's a couple that have been in business together for a number of years, and they're celebrating their anniversary, and they're celebrating mutual birthdays, so I'm writing, again, a musical extravaganza about their whole business and life. And I present this with a company of actors as part of a celebration.

Esther: That's pretty amazing. I mean, I'm not sure where you get the inspiration for all of these shows. How do you find the time and the energy to put all of this passion into a show about someone you don't even know?

Michael: Well, the whole idea is, Esther, I don't do anything I don't like to do. I'm from Boston. I don't mow my lawn. I don't shovel snow. I hire other people to do that, which means I work more so I can afford to pay other people to do that. I love doing it. I love meeting people. I love finding out things about people. To me, that's kind of exciting. And then the whole idea of taking the data and putting it into some sort of creative package, is so challenging, and you always have a deadline. It's not that a corporation calls you says, "Well, maybe seven years from now we'd like." No, they say, "Our event is this."

And to me structure frees creativity, so it doesn't really matter what else I have on my plate, if I've made a commitment that this show is going to happen on a certain date, I have no choice. So it might mean all niters, and the energy for that is easy. When you have a deadline, the energy happens, it just happens, and that's what gives birth to creativity, to me, structure. The structure of having, uh, a said deadline means you got to go. It comes from years, and years of doing theatre. You go up on opening night whether you're ready or not. There's really no choice.

Esther: Of course.

Michael: Tickets have been sold, away you go. It's the same concept.

Esther: Of course, so when did you get the acting bug?

Michael: Probably when I was very, very young, but where I grew up outside of Boston-I, I went to a high school in a town called Arlington in Massachusetts. And in Arlington boys didn't do theatre. You know, boys did sports, so that was about it. So it takes a certain poise and confidence to do theatre when you're a male and growing up in an environment like that. And I didn't have that, so even though I knew I loved it, I always said, "Well, I'm going to be a lawyer," or, "That's what, I'm going to be a litigator."

And then somewhere around my junior or senior year in high school, I had a full-time girlfriend, so everything was cool. I did theatre. And so once that happened, the whole world changed. It was something that I really always wanted to do, and it's how I made my undergraduate choice. I went to Brandeis University, and I majored in theatre arts. And it was during that time that I honed in even more specifically on directing, and motivating, and inspiring others through education and through directing, and not just acting alone.

Esther: And did you always know that you wanted to be in business for yourself? Is it something that you saw yourself doing eventually?

Michael: Yeah, it's hard for me to take commands from people who are less gifted than I am. That's sounds very arrogant, and it is. Yet, if someone if more gifted than I am, I love learning from them, but when someone isn't, and they're telling me what to do in something that I am excellent at it, I have trouble with that, quite candidly. So that told me I needed to do something for myself, that I needed to create opportunities for myself and that's what sent the message to me. So probably I learned that from my mother.

Esther: Yeah, moms have a tendency to do that, to, uh, tell us we're the best at everything, right?

Michael: Exactly.

Esther: So where did you begin your career? What was your first job?

Michael: My first job was as an actor, and I played James Keller in The Miracle Worker, the story of Helen Keller.

Esther: Okay, of course.

Michael: And Esther, this is exciting because it was the first time I was paid to be an actor, and I rehearsed for weeks, and weeks, and weeks, and weeks for no salary. But then it was one of those short runs in summer stock where you only did four performances. That's what my memory tells me. And at the end of the four performances, the director gave me an envelope-he was also the producer-and I opened the envelope, and inside were four crisp ten dollar bills.

Esther: Wow.

Michael: He had given me forty bucks, and I thought that was the end of the world, that this was the greatest thing that could happen. And that was my first paying acting job.

Esther: That's great though, you know. That's the dream, isn't it?

Michael: It is. It is because in my field so many people do it because they just love it. And many people do it as an avocation. Community theatres flourish all over our country. And those people work extremely hard while they're working full time jobs at something else. There's a certain mindset that this passion that so many of us have for theatre, getting paid for it, my, my, my, now isn't that something extraordinary?

Esther: So you give professional seminars to a lot of different types of groups, from business executives to theatre professionals, and I want to know who's your typical client?

Michael: It's a great question. I'm not sure I know the answer to it. I know what's evolved lately. And what's evolved lately-and by lately, last couple of years-my typical client is a business that passionately cares about its employees, and inspiring its employees, and valuing the employees. So that it's typically not a theatre organization of late. It's of a wide variety of other businesses, but the commonality is that they want their employees to be better, and they believe they can be.

And so many times I'm brought in of late to work with a team-sometimes it's very small. Sometimes it's very large-of people that the CEO believes are excellent, but perhaps are not realizing their full potential, perhaps are underachieving, or perhaps are achieving beautifully, and they just want them to even perform better. That's, if I had to answer your question in one way, that's how I would answer it.

Esther: I'm talking with actor and entrepreneur Michael Alloso, and we'll have more with Michael after this. I'm Esther Steinfeld, and you're listening to The Business Makers show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.

[Aflac Commercial}

Esther: This is The Business Makers show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld, and I'm talking with Michael Alloso, professional actor and entrepreneur, and winner of the 2007 Vistage speaker of the year award. Michael, let's talk a little about your experience with Vistage, and you want to tell us just a brief summary of what Vistage is because I'm not sure everybody knows about that.

Michael: Vistage is that largest CEO enrichment company in the world. So what Vistage's mission is, is they take high level executives, place them in meetings all over the world. And these folks meet once a month. And many times during the year they have a guest speaker, and I'm one of those guest speakers. And that's only a small part of what they do for their members. Each group has a chair, and the chair coordinates discussions and feedback so that you have a group of, say, 15 professionals in a room every month constantly giving each other feedback.

So the idea one brings a business issue to the meeting, you have all these other minds and all this business accruement sitting in one room to help you. Then you have a network worldwide. You have access to all the other Vistage members everywhere in the world. It's an extraordinary company. I'm so proud to be a part of it. And my part of it is, I'm one of say, 1500 to 1700 speakers, and I have been speaking for Vistage since January of '04. Today I just finished my 536th presentation.

Esther: Congratulations.

Michael: Thank you, and as you can tell, I'm proud of that. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing, but I do my You On Your Best Day program, and I have levels 1, 2, 3, 4, as many times as people want to have me back. And what I'm concerned about is upgrading the leadership and communication skills of the folks in the room. And I approach that through the same concepts and training that I would if I were coaching actors.

Esther: So how do you apply that expertise as an actor and a director, to the business world and to these CEOs who are looking for better ways to communicate?

Michael: What I ask the CEOs to think about, one of the things I do typically, early in my program, is I ask them to make a list of the skills and talents they associate with actors at the top of their game. And we make the list together, and it's always a different list. That's why I've done so many of these, because it's different every single time I do one. Then we look at the list, and I ask them which of those skills and talents do they not need in order to be outstanding at what they do. And guess what, Esther, the list is?

Esther: It's zero.

Michael: Right, it's zero.

Esther: Uh-hunh (affirmative).

Michael: So that's how we embark on it, and then what I do is I give them what I call 35 secret weapons to help you be you on your best day. And basically, these are 35 ideas that I have cultivated by working with actors that are completely applicable to leadership in the business world, and how to motivate others to excellence, and how to upgrade one's own communication and leadership style.

Esther: So tell us about some of the CEOs and businesses that you've worked with in the past, because I'm sure you've worked with some big names, being a part of Vistage.

Michael: Yeah, and here's the thing about that. I don't kiss and tell.

Esther: Oh, okay.

Michael: It's because part of the service that I do, Esther, is that I ghost write speeches, and some of my clients are not even out, as it were, to their own employees. And so it's a very personal thing. Others don't care, but I would prefer not to list individual names, except to say that of late, what seems to be a very dominant theme in what I'm doing is construction companies throughout the United States. So I have some very wonderful CEOs of construction companies where they are actually having me come in and work with their teams who pitch projects, and architect firms as well.

Esther: Okay.

Michael: That seems to be the latest trend.

Esther: I'm talking with actor and entrepreneur Michael Alloso, and we'll have more with Michael after this. I'm Esther Steinfeld, and you're listening to The BusinessMakers show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.

[Aflac Commercial]

Esther: This is The BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld and I'm talking with Michael Allosso. Your presentation, it focuses on communication best practices, so what is the number one thing that entrepreneurs are doing wrong?

Michael: If I had to choose one thing, I would say it's the style with which they motivate others to excellence. So specifically what I'm talking about is-and you approached it from a negative, Esther, which is something I don't do. What entrepreneurs are very excellent at is understanding what needs to be done in order to make a project, a company, wonderful. Where they perhaps take a circuitous route is how they motivate others to jump onboard and do that.

And so sometimes their style, their manner, in communicating ideas to the people who report to them, is not one which ultimately motivates others to excellence. So the number one thing that I think that if I had to, again, generalize, is how to give feedback to others in a way that makes that other person actually improve. That's what I think the number one thing would be.

Esther: Okay, and you talk about how a CEO's personality can make or break a deal when you're selling.

Michael: Yes.

Esther: Talk more about that.

Michael: Sure. I think people communicate by one of three zones, either the head, the heart, or the groin. So head communicators are very data based. They're very factual. They synthesize data. They respond factually, intelligently. They craft words well. They're not necessarily sensitive, warm. They're not in your face. They're not caring about feelings. They're very discrete, wise.

Heart people, heart people are people who are hugely empathetic, who care passionately about how they are being received by another human being, and they go out of their way to nurture, to be warm, to be kind. Groin people, who are they? They're best friends-

Esther: I'm afraid to ask.

Michael: Yeah, here we go, yeah. Let's, let's put it this way, their best friends are speed and truth. Subsequently, they have no filter or edit button.

Esther: I know a few of those people.

Michael: Exactly, and they just say what they want whenever they want to, and subsequently, people either embrace them because they never waste your time, or they never lie to you. Or they dismiss them as being tactless. So, Esther, what do you think, what's best, head, heart, or groin?

Esther: I'm a heart person, so I think that's the best.

Michael: Of course you do. Good for you.

Esther: The, the issue is, imagine if were 100% heart all the time. Imagine, this interview you haven't conducted yourself 100% heart at all.

Michael: Well, thank you.

Esther: In fact, you have been more head than heart. And so what I think, my opinion is, is that the best CEOs, the best leaders, the best communicators, surely, like you, all lead with one more than the other too, but actually can bring the other two into the picture in a positive way. I love how you were very dismissive of groin. You sort of made a perjuritive remark, "Oh, yeah, I know people like that." Groin doesn't have to be negative. Often groin is. The other two can be negative as well, but groin we often see, CEOs especially, use negative groin.

The whole thing is that groin can be very, very positive. If I brought my puppy with me today to this interview, and you tried to harm her, you watch me kick into groin. Or you challenge my morals, my ethical point of view right now, you watch me kick into groin. You tell me your mom's dying of cancer, you watch me kick into heart.

Esther: Right.

Michael: And so this idea that we call personality, that we sometimes call presence, I think it tied into these three zones, because I, I really do believe that just about all God's children have all three going for them. And it's just we dominate with one. So how do you get the other two truthfully into the communication style, so that you're more well rounded, you're more interesting. Imagine, Esther, if you ran every single interview 100% heart. Your listeners would not get what you need to deliver to them.

Esther: Absolutely, and it sounds like part of what you do is allow CEOs to relate to all different types of people. That sounds like-what I'm taking from you is if a CEO is all heart, you want to bring out the head aspect, so that he can relate better to those head people?

Michael: That's very, very perceptive of you. Diversity in the workplace is not just about black/white, male/female, gay/straight. People connect to you from very different zones themselves, and if you as a leader have access to all three, then you're able to connect more effectively with different kinds of people. That, that's a great takeaway. Most CEOs don't take that away right away. That's pretty sharp of you.

Esther: Well, I'm a little-I'm not a CEO, but you know, I have a few things going for me.

Michael: I would say so. And those of you at home, what you couldn't see, or on your drive, is that Esther, what you did, was you also gestured from what we call the power center, because body language is a huge part of this. And as you were stating your point of view about that, you were gesturing from what we would call in theater the power center, which is chest level. And that's where dynamic, energetic, vibrant communication comes from.

Esther: Well, great, I'm glad to know that I'm giving off that body language just without even meaning to.

Michael: There you go.

Esther: That's great.

Russ: Ok, well unfortunatly we have run out of time for the radio broadcast of Esther Steinfeld's interview with Michael Allosso, but obviously there is more. So go to thebusinessmakers.com and on the front page you will find the Michael Allosso guest page and on that page you will find The BusinessMakers WebXtra a continuation of this cool interview. You've been listening to The BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.