Cirque du Soleil CEO and President Daniel Lamarre shares what it takes for anyone, regardless of position or industry, to embrace the value of creative leadership in his upcoming book, “Balancing Acts: Unleashing the Power of Creativity in Your Life and Work.” The new title is set to release on Jan. 18, 2022 via HarperCollins Leadership.
As the executive who makes Cirque du Soleil’s lavish, multimillion-dollar productions come to life, Lamarre has mastered the ability to bring business and creativity together across multiple languages and cultures in a way that has never been done before. Now, he shares those secrets in “Balancing Acts” to help shatter the perceived limitations standing in the way of our ability to think creatively and act with boldness and imagination.
Guided by a tremendous faith that creative thinking can lead any organization to new heights, Lamarre provides key principles he has learned throughout his own professional journey that can strengthen and accelerate any business in any industry, in any country on the planet.
In “Balancing Acts,” Lamarre shares revealing stories about the invaluable lessons he’s learned along the way through personal triumphs and trials, showing how the reader can achieve new levels of success, including:
• How to shatter the roadblocks standing in the way of your ability to think creatively and act innovatively.
• When to step up and when to step back so that your team can create masterpieces that don’t break the bank.
• How, in using the methods Lamarre has uncovered, modern companies with entrenched bureaucracies can bring creativity and business together to foster greater innovation and boost profits.
In addition to providing successful business and leadership strategies, “Balancing Acts” chronicles the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the entertainment industry and how, under Lamarre’s leadership, Cirque du Soleil managed to not only survive (after plummeting to zero revenue), but bounce back stronger than ever. With nearly five thousand employees and forty-four shows playing across five continents at its peak, the company today is well on its way to returning to pre-COVID sales of $1 billion annually, profit margins of twenty percent, and fifteen million tickets sold around the world each year, more than all Broadway shows combined.
“I want to be an advocate for creativity in business, encouraging companies to throw off the old rules and restrictions of conventional thinking and unleash the creative spirit of their people,” says Lamarre.
He adds, “Whether you are an entrepreneur, an executive, or a professional, if you are not prioritizing creativity (making or bringing into existence something new), you are wasting your time. No company deserves to exist unless it is constantly discovering new ways to make its customers’ lives better. In short, without creativity, there is no business.”
A French version of “Balancing Acts” will also be available via Éditions Michel Lafon. For more information, please visit www.balancingactsbook.com
About Daniel Lamarre
Daniel Lamarre is a French Canadian and citizen of the world whose talent for leading creative companies became evident during his nearly two decades at Cirque du Soleil, during which he instigated and guided the astounding growth of one of the most inspiring firms on the planet. When he joined Cirque du Soleil in 2001 as president of new ventures, the organization had two thousand employees and seven shows in performance. Five years later, Daniel became chief executive and, today, the organization is well on its way to returning to its pre-pandemic peak of nearly five thousand employees and forty-four shows playing across five continents. Hometown: Montreal, Canada.
About HarperCollins Leadership
HarperCollins Leadership feeds your inner drive to grow as a leader. With integrated, values- based development experiences, including books, video courses and business tools, HarperCollins Leadership guides individuals to activate the leadership potential that’s already in them.
