Direction – Inspiring, Managing and Developing Your Creative Team
Managing a team of creative professionals is a fascinating challenge, with no easy solutions.
Firstly, there’s the creative process itself – by definition, creativity must contain something new and surprising, so creative work involves a constant quest for new approaches to keep things fresh and original.
Secondly there are the creatives. Whether or not you subscribe to the view that ‘creative people’ are inherently special or different to the rest of us, if you are working with professional creatives then you are dealing with highly skilled and intelligent individuals, who require plenty of stimulation, challenge and support.
Then there are the managers themselves. To take liberties with Shakespeare, in a creative business “some are born managers, some achieve management and some have management thrust upon ‘em”:
- Professional managers – sometimes stereotyped as ‘suits’ – who are quite comfortable with the language and discipline of management.
- Senior creatives whose achievements mean they are singled out for promotion, and have to adapt to the new challenges of a leadership role.
- Creative entrepreneurs who discover that to realise their vision they need to engage other people and delegate responsibility to them.
So it’s clearly impossible to take a one-size-fits-all approach to management and development, and in many cases, conventional approaches are unlikely to be well received.
This is why I have developed a specialist coaching service for creative businesse, which is flexible enough to take account of the needs of different types of creatives, managers and companies.
I am experienced at coaching managers in many different contexts, and have trained hundreds of them in coaching skills to use with their teams..
My experience as a coach in large and small organisations means I appreciate the commercial pressures people are under in a creative business. And because I am also a poet with first hand experience of the creative process, I find it easy to relate to professional creatives.
If you’re curious about how I can help your managers get the best out of their creative teams, have a look at the pages about the services I provide as a business coach and trainer (especially the courses ‘How to Motivate Creative People’ and ‘Creative Exchanges for Managers).
You’re welcome to download my e-books on How to Motivate Creative People (Including Yourself) and Creative Management for Creative Teams.
And for a free confidential chat about your current challenges and how I can help, please e-mail me or give me a ring on 01707 644 665.
