Last week, a colleague and I had the chance for a rare social evening out together. As we were brainstorming what we were going to do, we came across a salsa club that offered two sets of salsa lessons prior to the official club opening. So, we figured, why not?
We arrived for our lessons and proceeded to learn the basic salsa movements without a partner. Then, we got in a line and rotated partners every few minutes. It was tricky, but we kept trying to improve and move through the seemingly complex movements. From the outside, Salsa seemed pretty complicated, with a million moves and parts: a tricky dance to manage.
When I finally got my turn to partner with the instructor, as we moved our feet and bodies about, his only feedback was to “relax and feel the beat.” I didn’t realize in the moment what a powerful leadership lesson that would be.