Do the people working for you seem to spend all their time working on smart, creative projects—but just not the smart, creative projects you hired them to do? That can be frustrating. As a leader of a creative team, it’s your job to make sure your people are all moving in the same direction. That takes leadership — explicit leadership — especially in a creative environment where divergent thinking is both cultivated and celebrated. Because, fair warning, divergences can lead us down paths that sure, are interesting, but not necessarily “on target.”
How to deftly execute leadership without being heavy-handed and serving as an impediment to forward motion?
- Operating Standards: your rules of engagement, the values that steer and guide your work.
- Directions or Objectives, presented in whatever timeframes are relevant.
Directions or Objectives are the end states we are looking to achieve in particular time frames that are important to the prosperity of the creative organization. These could be profitability, number of projects produced, or number of accolades received, for example.
“But, Wayne” – you might be thinking – “creating all this, cultivating it, reviewing it… sounds like it’s gonna take so much time?“
Do you have a success story to tell? Or is your team particularly challenged in this ARENA? I’d love to hear from you!