Creative leadership

I’m a Creative Leader, it’s my job title and it comes with a set of objectives and responsibilities which tell me what’s required for the position. In short my role is to provide strategic and creative insight, challenge expectations and deliver effective solutions. Working across different types of sector, client and project.

I often wonder how different it is for other kinds of leadership. What is peculiar about leading creativity compared to other managerial, consulting or coaching roles?

Surely leadership has to be earnt, you need to prove your value and warrant the trust that a team gives you. It’s not about rank but it might be about ownership. If you’ve started a business or built an offer then you feel protective and people respect that it’s your baby.

In hard times businesses who don’t look after each other start to break up. If the circle of trust only includes the leaders then teams start to use their energy to protect themselves rather than the business. Leadership has to be about caring; looking after the company, those around you, standing together. You need to have empathy, give others hope and champion the human spirit. People are brilliant, resourceful and frequently surprising.

Be a good listener and give feedback but please don’t book a room. Why put that stress on people and create unnecessary worry and division. Talking to people a little and often feels the right way to nurture teams.

Leaders are given special treatment. The alpha is allowed to eat first and take more. The deal being that when danger comes you meet it first, give up the perks and work harder for the group. Make sure you have their backs.

You might not be aware of it but your ego could be getting in the way. Or at least it might cause others to tell you what you want to hear rather than what you need to hear. People can also be wrong or only see half the picture.

Most egos are delicate, especially in those who haven’t built a thick skin. Experience helps us to carry criticism and doubt. It’s important to recognise potential and reward the right attitudes even if the aptitude hasn’t developed. It’s demotivating for everyone when leaders fail to recognise the effort of others.

Putting your name to something can be scary but it helps if leaders put their name on it too. It is easy for ‘creatives’ to become scapegoats. Delivering the wrong solution because the original brief or received wisdom was flawed.

It helps to make clear the desired outcome from the beginning; what’s the real job. Not a final solution but what does good look like. It’s great to have a vision but starting with a solution can make it a challenge for others to get onboard and up to speed. I wouldn’t dictate anything unless your team want it that way.

It’s obvious but saying “I told you” isn’t helpful. Besides a lot of the time that’s not true. What leaders think they’ve shared isn’t always what their team have heard.

Finally don’t be a soft touch, make sure responsibility and graft is allocated fairly. Even if you can do it all yourself doesn’t mean you should.

The creative process breaks down into three sequential phases, discover, define and deliver. What’s needed from a creative lead changes throughout these phases. You need to know when to leave alone and when to push on.

Discover

1. Know the destination but feel free to choose a route.
2. Giving orders or instructions will only limit the scope and asking the wrong questions will give the wrong answer.
3. Get the research done early because additions are distracting and cause you to question everything.
4. Back up opinion with evidence.
5. Provoke a debate and gather perspectives.
6. Make notes, sketch or doodle. It’s a lot more than recording things. The act of pen to paper helps you memorise, filter and prioritise things.
7. Use leading questions.

Who? Because being centred around people and being emotionally intelligent means we’re more able to anticipate needs, motivation and behaviour.

Why? Knowing the reason something exists, is done or created isn’t always apparent. But having a clear sense of purpose gives everyone the confidence to make decisions.

How? Faced with similar products, how something is delivered has become the differentiating factor. If you get the tone right you’ll make a better connection. Having an attractive personality will get you more attention and develop stronger relationships.

What? Let’s be specific about features and usability. Great experiences are built on details.

When and where? In the rush to go to market today it’s important to plan for tomorrow. Relationships can take time to develop and care should be taken not to loose people along the way. Unless you understand the context, distractions and the changes ahead a project is at risk of being derailed or overlooked.

Define

1. Define the challenge.
2. Be radical and disruptive. Why not?
3. Be inspired and inspire others. Seek variety and spice.
4. It’s healthy to disagree but don’t get too hung up.
5. Don’t shutdown things down too early, see the potential and have faith.
6. Feed egos and encourage ownership.

Deliver

1. It’s time to get hands on and make things happen.
2. Collaboration is the best way to get stuff done. There’s always someone else who can improve on your thinking.
3. Easier said than done but don’t compromise too early. Remember you can only have two of the three; 1. cheap 2. fast 3. best.
4. Indifference is the last thing you want to hear, seek out criticism.
5. Make sure you’re having fun and don’t be too serious. Apply the right amount of pressure, are you running a marathon or a sprint.
6. Keep asking why and push at the boundaries.
7. Mistakes are part of the process so fail fast and make good.

I hope you’ve picked up a pen and taken notes or doodled, if you didn’t here’s why I think you should:

Designers should take notes

Also I’m writing a book:

Oddballs, misfits and geeks

Thanks for taking time to read this. I really appreciate it.