Leading creatives can be difficult. In fact, I love having creatives on the teams I lead, but, honestly, they can make leading much messier.
In case you’re wondering, here’s a definition of a creative: relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.
Creatives’ minds are always wandering. It makes leading a team meeting harder. They get bored easily. They are never completely satisfied.
And before you creatives get too defensive … just so you know …
I’m a creative.
I’m not an artsy creative. I don’t paint, do music, etc. And that always confused me and kept me from considering myself one.
But I’m a dreamer. I have a vivid imagination.
I’ve never met a day I didn’t have a new idea. My mind wanders quickly—randomly—often.
Wait, what were we talking about?
Oh, yeah, creatives.
When I began to understand these things about myself, it helped me understand the minds of other creatives on our team.
And I love creatives being on the team. They bring new ideas. They stretch others. They add energy. They challenge mediocrity.
One huge paradigm for me was realizing the quandaries of being a creative. I think that’s the word. A quandary—“a state of perplexity,” confusion.
It is in some of these quandaries that might make us creatives more difficult to lead.
See what I mean … and see if this is familiar to you—or the creatives you lead.
