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What if we didn’t call it “play”? Jay Guilford has been guiding the growth of leadership and teams for over 20 years. And yet, like so many before me, I was first curious about his roots in the circus. Does “play” have a branding problem? We talk about play in the DEI space as well as the legacy of the circus.
GUEST: Jay Guilford
Jay Guilford once worked with a bunch of clowns. Literally. Long ago in a land far far away, Jay ran away with Cirque du Soleil. There, Jay created Cirque’s corporate training program – SPARK. With SPARK, Jay strapped executives into apparatuses and flew them high across Cirque du Soleil theaters and training facilities. These “playful” activities helped groups experience trust, teamwork, and healthy risk taking in new and innovative ways.
Currently, as founder and managing partner of his own leadership consultancy – CoWorks – Jay infuses elements of play in his training activities. In 2023, CoWorks will launch a series of play based teambuilding sessions called ARTWRK. With ARTWRK, groups will learn and experience collaboration, communication, and trust through performing arts. ARTWRK sessions will be facilitated by Jay and other Fortune 500 trainers. ARTWRK activities will be taught by performers from Marvel, Broadway, Cirque du Soleil, and STOMP.
Jay has over a decade of experience in leadership and team building. He has designed and delivered training sessions for Google, Uber, Microsoft, Mastercard, The Empire State Building, Procter & Gamble, Kmart Australia, SwissLife, Club Med Punta Cana, SABMiller Brewery Latin America and other companies.
Jay holds a BA from Emory University and an MA from Columbia University.
Mentioned in this episode:
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Join the community bringing to life the book inspired by Lead with a dash to Play. Participate in my book campaign: https://books.manuscripts.com/product/play-works-lead-with-a-dash-of-play/ Closes September 28, 2026.
