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GRAPHIC DESIGN ENEWSLETTER, AUGUST 12, 2008
SPECIAL REPORT ON CREATIVE LEADERSHIP

PUBLISHERS NOTE: THE END OF PARENTING

The issue of leadership is critical for creative firms, agencies and departments. A positive manager can bring out the best in a team and its individuals, and a negative manager can undermine creativity, growth and trust. A new survey of 180 winners of GDUSA’s 2008 American Inhouse Design Awards — executed by The Creative Group — suggests much about the extraordinary challenges and changing nature of leadership in today’s design firms, ad agencies, corporate and institutional departments. Among the provocative findings: the boss as parental figure is yesterday’s news. Excerpts from the study are published below; a full Guide with tools, tips, techniques and case studies will be available in the Fall.

— Gordon Kaye

HP: THE COMPUTER IS PERSONAL AGAIN

This special enews blast is sponsored by Hewlett-Packard as a service to the creative professional community. For information on HP Workstations, click HERE

THE CREATIVE LEADERSHIP STUDY

Leading a creative team has always meant wearing many hats: coach, advocate and communicator, to name just a few. But today’s creative leaders also must keep pace with constantly evolving digital platforms and tools, monitoring new trends and adapting swiftly. Perhaps as a result, the qualities that define creative leaders have changed. The traits people traditionally have valued in executives — loyalty, self-confidence, initiative — have been surpassed by attributes such as open-mindedness and adaptability. Essentially, today’s leaders act as change agents who must adjust a team’s direction at a moment’s notice, often forging new ground. The good news is that many leaders are doing this well. While the results offer encouragement when it comes to team-building and adaptability, they also shed light on areas for improvement: The research indicates a lack of leadership training and little succession planning in most creative departments.

AGENTS OF CHANGE

Our survey results paint a clear picture of a creative leader as change agent, open to new ideas, quick at overcoming roadblocks, and effective at building team spirit. In fact, six out of 10 of the Inhouse Design Award winners polled ranked open-mindedness and adaptability as one of the five most important traits of a creative manager. Just as telling, however, are the qualities viewed as least relevant in today’s leaders: patience and loyalty.

Indeed, the leader as “parental figure” who generated stability and trust has given way to one who finds strategic ways to navigate hurdles and generate exposure for the team. This evolution may be due to the fact that qualities such as loyalty are not as highly prized given that most individuals don’t expect to remain at the same company for a lifetime.

UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS

During the course of their careers, creative professionals are more apt to play a strategic as well as design role. According to Mary Scott, chair of graduate studies at the San Francisco-based Academy of Art, many corporations have elevated designers into design management roles as a result of strategic thinking and the recognized value of the design process: “Designers who are trained to solve complex visual communication problems and possess business acumen are well suited to more global roles in corporations,” she said. “Under the best conditions, a good creative leader understands the business model as well as the design model.” To speak the language of a company’s senior executives, creative leaders must possess strong interpersonal abilities. Three out of four respondents said soft skills would be most valuable if two candidates interviewing for a creative role had similar creative and technical skills.

VIEW FROM THE TOP

Most survey respondents feel their leaders are doing a good job, whether it’s communicating vision and goals or earning respect for their teams by promoting the value of design to others in the organization. Even more intriguing: Nearly six out of 10 respondents don’t think they could do a better job than their boss in the same position. Still, creative managers have room for improvement when it comes to supporting risk-taking and creative exploration: Four out of 10 rated their leaders only fair or poor at this. As the industry continues to change rapidly, staying ahead of the curve has grown more important — and more challenging.

MOTIVATING ON A BUDGET

In 2008, motivating staff also is a great challenge, especially if budgets are lean. Many creative departments are finding it necessary to do more with fewer resources: Nearly one in four survey respondents said this is the greatest priority for creative leaders in the coming year. During lean times, recognition becomes a major motivator. Communicating successes to upper management and providing recognition at staff meetings or via company newsletters ranked among the top ways to recognize staff in the current economy. Not to be underestimated, however, is the power of the in-person thank you.

THE TRAINING GAP

Despite the challenges of being a leader, it’s an attractive option to many, with a caveat: More than half of survey respondents find the idea of managing projects “very attractive,” but just one in three shares the same sentiment when it comes to managing people.

The disparity may be due to the fact that managing projects is a familiar task to most creatives, while supervising people is not. Lack of training also may contribute to the reluctance to oversee others. The research indicates companies have few leadership development programs, despite clear interest in this type of training: Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they’d enroll in a conference or workshop to improve their leadership skills, and more than half would work with a mentor.

As business skills have assumed greater importance in creative departments, this has become another area in which respondents seek training: Nearly two-thirds would be interested in a combination MBA/MFA program. Companies may hold back on training because they haven’t identified the right people to invest in. According to the research, many organizations lack succession plans and don’t actively groom future leaders. Consequently, nearly half of the respondents said they weren’t confident someone could fill their shoes if they stepped down from their position.

MORE CLOUT

The good news: Creative teams have gained more clout in recent years, demonstrating that there’s tangible value in design, particularly when a creative department receives exposure throughout the organization. However, these strides have boosted the pressure on creative leaders to understand every aspect of the business and contribute on a higher level, all the while keeping up with a rapidly evolving industry. To help managers with these tasks, firms must have programs in place to identify creative professionals with leadership potential and help these professionals enhance their business and management skills. This not only ensures continuity in the event of personnel changes, but also provides strong performers with a defined career path that can instill loyalty and aid retention.

The complete guide to creative leadership will be available this Fall from The Creative Group, which specializes in placing highly skilled creative, advertising, marketing and web professionals with a variety of firms and companies.
http://www.creativegroup.com or 1.866.846.1668

HP: THE COMPUTER IS PERSONAL AGAIN

This special enews blast is sponsored by Hewlett-Packard as a service to the creative professional community. For information on HP Workstations, click HERE