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A Specialist Course for Managers and Creative Directors in the Creative Industries
The ability to get the best out of teams of creative professionals is becoming increasingly valuable in the Creative Industries. These are companies where creativity is key to their competitive advantage, and the management and development of creative talent is therefore at a premium.
This is why I provide coaching for managers of creative teams, as well as this unique coaching and training programme, 'Coaching Creative Professionals'. You can read more about the issues facing managers of creative teams on the page Direction - Inspiring, Managing and Developing Your Creative Team.
Having trained over 200 managers in coaching skills, and coached hundreds of professional creatives over the past 10 years, this course is a distillation of my learning about coaching, creativity and management. It is an opportunity for your managers to hone their coaching skills and facilitate outstanding artistic and commercial performance from your talented creatives.
Format of the 'Coaching Creative Professionals' course
This is not a typical off-the-shelf programme, and it is not confined to the training room. The only justification for taking people off-site and away from their desks is to enquip them with tools that will have a real impact on their work when they get back to the office.
I ensure that 'Coaching Creative Professionals' delivers concrete results by working with delegates in three stages:
1. Pre-seminar interviews
I
begin by speaking to everyone involved in the programme. I
start
with the manager(s) responsible for commissioning the training, to
learn about the big picture of the company's culture and strategic
goals. Then I speak to every
person who will attend the training
to learn about their individual background and goals. This
process enables me to tailor the programme to the unique needs of your
company - and maximum impact on your business.
2.
Training seminar
The 2-day training seminar is an opportunity for your managers to 'stop
the world and get off' - to review their approach to people management,
learn new ideas and do some concentrated practical work in order to
develop their coaching skills.
The content of the seminar includes the key skills taught on most business coaching programmes, such as professional goal setting, active listening, questioning skills, feedback and evaluation. It also includes material that is specific to working with creative professionals, such as creative flow states, motivation and creativity and how to work with individuals' idiosyncratic creative processes.
3.
Post-seminar coaching
It's
relatively easy to be a good coach on a training seminar - the hard
part is using the skills effectively when you're back in the office. I
use individual coaching to help each delegate apply the skills
they learn on the seminar, and to achieve practical, measurable results
in their day-to-day work with creatives, colleagues and clients. This
is usually the part of the course where the most profound learning
takes place, as people test their coaching skills by using them to
achieve important creative and commercial goals.
The value to your managers
- A chance to 'stop the world and get off' - for focused review of their coaching skills and people management style
- Increased clarity about their management goals and options
- Building on their existing coaching skills to develop their personal management style
- Group
learning through sharing ideas and experiences
- More confidence and competence in their 'people management' skills
- More
influence over team members, colleagues and business partners
- More
flexibility in adapting to the needs of individuals
- More effective collaboration with colleagues and clients
- Better working relationships
The value to your creatives
- Clearer understanding of what is expected of them
- Optimum balance of challenge and support
- More useful feedback on their performance and behaviour
- Learning and development tailored to their individual talents
- Tapping into powerful 'creative flow' states
- More assistance in delivering work on brief and on time
- Better working relationships
The value to your company
- Better creative work
- More
commercially effective work
- Improved morale among managers and creatives
- Better communication and collaboration within your team
- Better
communication and collaboration with clients and business
partners
- Developing
your talent pool - increasing the 'creative capital' of the business
- Attracting and retaining top talent
- Reduced interpersonal conflict
- Reduced
absenteeism
What makes this course unique?
'Coaching creative professionals' differs from other business coaching courses because it has been developed specifically for managers of teams of creatives. Its unique character is the result of combining the following elements:
- I
have over 10 years' experience of coaching professional creatives and
artists, in fields as diverse as literature, theatre, advertising,
marketing, film, television, radio, dance, fashion, popular and
classical music, computer games and new media
- Since
2000 I have provided management coaching and training programmes for
clients including Transport
for London, Gist, Vodafone, BT, Servier Laboratories, Monkey
Communications and the Arts Council; this includes training over 200
managers in coaching skills
- As a published poet and poetry editor I have first-hand experience of the creative process, which helps me relate to creatives' situation and build a good working rapport with them
- I have a wide range of professional training and experience - as well as current business coaching models, I can draw on my learnings from hypnotherapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), psychotherapy, Reverse Therapy (bodymind healing), systems thinking, meditation, the Enneagram, creative writing and improvisational theatre
- For
the past 2 years I have been studying part-time for the MA
in
Creative and Media Enterprises at the University of Warwick -
this
has greatly added to my understanding of the Creative Industries and
the creative,
organisational, legal, strategic, marketing, techological and
economic issues that impact on a creative business
Request a free consultation
I offer a free
consultation service to assess your company's needs and
discuss how Wishful Thinking can help you reach your creative and
commercial goals.Receive free articles about managing creativity
You can sample my approach by subscribing to FREE updates about coaching, creativity and creative business from the Wishful Thinking blog - either by RSS or e-mail.
If you are a small company...
Many
companies within the creative industries are small in size,
either
because they are in the early stages of growth or because they prefer
it that way. If this applies to you, you may want to consider
booking the course jointly with other small businesses. 'Coaching Creative Professionals' is designed for groups of 8 managers, so can easily accommodate people from 2-4 small businesses. Benefits of sharing the course in this way include:
- Keeping
costs down - by sharing the seminar, you share the cost,
making it a more attractive proposition for all concerned.
- Sharing
ideas and experience with
people in a similar situation to you. To really appreciate
the
challenges of running a small business, you have to do it yourself -
sharing experiences with others in the same position can be a very
valuable learning experience.
- Networking with
people in your industry or a related field. You've probably
realised by now that creative business is often as much about who you
know as what you can do, so establishing relationships with other
business owners opens up new contacts and sources of information for
the future.
If you are interested in booking a joint programme, please contact me so that I can discuss your needs. I take great care to ensure a good 'match' between all interested companies before settling on a final programme booking.
Phone/Fax: +44 20 8691 2475 E-mail
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Wishful Thinking is a coaching consultancy for creative professionals and the Creative Industries.
Based in London, Mark McGuinness works with individuals and companies across a wide range of media - including design, film, literature, advertising, music, acting, computer games, architecture, marketing, photography, fashion, TV and radio.
As a published poet with a track record of coaching and training for large and small organisations, I offer a unique blend of creative and business expertise. In addition to my coaching experience and professional qualifications I am nearing the end of a part-time MA in Creative and Media Enterprises at the University of Warwick.
Please ask if you'd like to discuss how I can help you realise your creative and commercial goals.