Creative Leadership

The China Experience - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:51:00 +0000

So I am back....

I have been in China for the past 10 days on a Cultrual and Creativity exchange with the British Council hosted by the All China Youth Federation. The experience was intence, profound and challenged me and my leadership in many ways. Over the next few weeks I will be refelcting on these experiences in order to make sense of some of the creative and cultural differences between China and the UK.

I am now needing to deal with my jet lag!

Quote of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:43:00 +0000

"Every child is an artist;
the problem is staying one
when you grow up"

Pablo Picasso 1881 - 1973

Influence and Expectatons....

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:15:00 +0000

Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale, using audience participation, at the event "Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus", from the 2009 World Science Festival, June 12, 2009.

For more of Bobby McFerrin and the science behind this program, please view the full "Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus" event video at our website:

worldsciencefestival.com/video/notes-neurons-full

The Cultural Leadership Programme

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:46:00 +0000

For all those Cultural Leaders out there...

The Cultural Leadership Programme (CLP) is a Government funded investment in excellence in leadership across the creative and cultural industries. By supporting an ambitious range of activities and opportunities, the programme aims to nurture and develop world class, dynamic and diverse leaders for the 21st Century.

Website: http://www.culturalleadership.org.uk

Can we fail sucessfully?

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:34:00 +0000

"The essential part of creativity is not being afraid to fail."

Edwin H. Land

I used to be petrified of failure. I thought that it would expose me as being a fraud or show that I bad at what I did.

Reflecting on this I now think that this was a load of rubbish!

How would I have learnt anything if I had not failed or got things wrong? It is intrinsic in human evolution that we make mistakes and then learn from them. However, I was always afraid of failure as it was drilled into me at school that failure was bad; you would be doomed, jobless, homeless, unhappy and lonely. Ok maybe a bit dramatic but being at school I vividly perceived that if I failed GCSE's then I would not get a job; if I failed A-Levels then I would not go to University.... and it goes on. I now know this was rubbish and had nothing to do with me but the schools league tables...I digress.

In the rehearsal room it is intrinsic that I make sure that my actors feel comfortable enough to get things wrong; if I didn't then my shows would become stale, boring and uncreative. A rehearsal is just that; we rehearse, we repeat, get things wrong and try new ways of working until we can make a show as well presented as possible.

In the real world and outside the rehearsal room is different; we don't always have the safe space to fail. We don't always have the chance to go back and change a line we just said; there is no script or stage directions.

So, as leaders how can we fail successfully? How can we create a rehearsal room environment to cushion the blow of failure and learn from it?

Ultimately, if we don't have that safe space to fail then we will never take risks and things would never change...

I just wish I had found this out when I was at school!

Is belief the start of leadership?

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:40:00 +0000

“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right”

Henry Ford

A strange thing happened to me when I started the Common Purpose International Navigator Emerging Leadership Programme; I became a leader! Now this sounds obvious and a bit strange but I have a strong belief that as soon as you start calling yourself a leader then you become a leader.

I talk to young people a lot about belief; generally if they believe they are trouble makers or they can’t succeed then generally that is what happens – that are trouble makers who don’t succeed. However, a powerful change occurs as soon as they start to think that they can achieve anything – they start to achieve! Belief is a powerful force.

Now, I am not in the realm of following self help books or their philosophy but in my experience as soon as you start talking about yourself as a leader and believe that you are a leader then you get identified as a leader and start leading.

So is belief the start?

Cultural Leaders are...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:37:00 +0000

"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers."

Ralph Nader

To begin with cultural leaders are Reflective: What distinguishes them is genuine humility and not being afraid to show vulnerability on occasions. This comes from regular periods of reflection and an unquenchable thirst for learning.

Courageous & creative risk takers: They have a marked tendency to ‘bend the rules’, take risks, and, on occasions, be guided by their gut-feelings. They also encourage this in other people, recognising that a certain amount of flexibility is essential to adapt to circumstances and make real strides forward.

Accessible: They make time to get out and speak to people. This informal and personal contact is a very powerful motivator.

They also encourage entrepreneurial creativity and experimentation in the work they do. They involve everyone, empower and trust the communities they work in, build teams and leverage diversity.

They are passionate and draw people into thier world and vision; building coalitions as they go.

Fundamentally they motivate, inspire and cultivate new cultural leaders.

Shanghai Here I Come...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:24:00 +0000

I have been given an amazing opportunity and I am so excited; I am off to Shanghai in a few weeks. This trip, consisting of 100 Cultural and Creative leaders was part of an exchange programme of 400 British and 400 Chinese young people (!), supported by Prime Ministers of both countries.

The UK-China 400 programme looks to inspire and motivate people in China and the UK to develop themselves as global citizens; who are potentially mobile, and may aspire to international education and employment; who are interested in and understand other cultures; and who engage in debate and collaborate with others locally and internationally on key issues facing the world.

The programmes Key Objectives are;

- to broaden the international perspective of young leaders

- to change perceptions of young people in both countries

- to develop existing and new community links between the two countries

- to meet the personal and professional objectives of the individual participants

I don’t know too much about the programme yet but I will be using this blog to reflect on my experiences.

This is going to be amazing…

Links:

British Council

Quote of the day...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:02:00 +0000

"A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm."

Henrik Ibsen

Missed oppertunites...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:29:00 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to give some honest feedback to a cultural leader and I bottled it.

I was part of a group who were exploring change within an arts organisation who had opened their doors to us to allow us to share and reflect on a challenge they were facing. Throughout the process we became aware that the cultural leader who was sharing the challenge was part of the problem. She would not enter into a dialogue with us about our reflections and it became apparent that her leadership should have been brought into question. The group and I however did not step up and challenge this. We sat in a place of abstract reflection and did not go to the heart of what we really wanted to say, which was "Where is your leadership in all of this?". If we had had the courage to ask those difficult questions then possibly the cultural leader would have gained more insight into her leadership and the impact that was having on the organisation.

So what is the solution. Courage! To have the courage to step up in those moments and lead, give feedback, reflect, say the thing everyone's thinking... I always say to actors that if they don't have butterflies before going on stage then I am worried. As leaders we should have more pre-show nerves; it tells us we are learning, having impact and stepping up to a challenge.

My moment came and went with that particular cultural leader and it left me feeling very frustrated. It, however, has taught me to seize the moment and have the courage to step up.

A large serving of pre-show butterflies please!

Quote of the day...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:28:00 +0000

"If theatre fails to react rapidly to current events, whether it be the Middle East crisis or the global financial meltdown, it will be reduced to the role of an impotent bystander."

Michael Billington

A creative snapshot of my work...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:24:00 +0000

Quote of the day...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:48:00 +0000

“A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”

John Maxwell

People that bring other people together...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:16:00 +0000

I came across this video that looks at how some design students from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) simply define leadership as "people that bring people together"...

Creative Leaders at RISD from John Maeda on Vimeo.

RISD Website

Quote of the Day...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:54:00 +0000

Leading beyond authority...

“Leadership is action, not position.”

Where do I fit in?

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:48:00 +0000

I took the Belbin Team Roles assessment the other week. For those who are not familiar with the assessment Belbin suggests that, by understanding your team role within a particular team, you can develop your strengths and manage your weaknesses as a team member, and so improve how you contribute to the team.

Team leaders and team development practitioners often use the Belbin model to help create more balanced teams. Teams can become unbalanced if all team members have similar styles of behavior or team roles.

If team members have similar weakness, the team as a whole may tend to have that weakness. If team members have similar team-work strengths, they may tend to compete (rather than co-operate) for the team tasks and responsibilities that best suit their natural styles. So you can use the model with your team to help ensure that necessary team roles are covered, and that potential behavioral tensions or weaknesses among the team member are addressed.

So I went through the assessment and I came out as a Plant! So to give you an idea of my what my 'default' behaviour is I have described it below...

The Plant is the creative innovator who comes up with new ideas and approaches. The plant is a specialist idea maker characterised by high IQ and introversion while also being dominant and original. The plant tends to take radical approaches to team functioning and problems. Plants are more concerned with major issues than with details.

I am not sure what I am going to do with this information at the moment. My boss used a great analogy about really enjoying reading horoscopes but taking it with a pinch of salt and using it as a talking point rather than a something to rule your life by.

"Do you want a collection of brilliant minds or a brilliant collection of minds?"

Further Reading:
Official Belbin Website

Quote of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:40:00 +0000

This quote resonates with me at the moment...

"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better."

King Whitney Jr

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:57:00 +0000

"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."

Pablo Picasso

A teacher is holding court at the front of her class of students. She gives the children arts materials and paper and asks them to draw whatever they like. After 20 minutes of walking around and looking at pictures of cars and flowers she comes to a girl at the back of the room. The teacher asks the girl what she is drawing; she replies with enthusiasm "I am drawing a picture of God..." "Well that is interesting, but how can you draw God when no one knows what God looks like?" replied the teacher. The girl looked up with a determined glance and said "Well, everyone will know now because I have drawn Him!"

This story has been told to me many times through various guises but its message still rings with poignancy; young people's education is becoming less and less creative.

I was recently in discussion with some emerging leaders from across the UK and we were discussing just this. Our experience of the education system is too fragmented and is focused too much on literacy and maths; creativity has a bad name.

My personal experience of working in schools is that teachers are over worked, not encouraged to think outside of the box and are made to focus on exam results. There is far too much going on for teachers and and students to lift their heads from the education trough to even start to think about learning. I also have seen some amazing creative work that has young people engaging in education that stimulates and gets to the core of what great education is all about.

Sir Ken Robinson sums this thinking up very articulately at a TED conference in 2006. I would highly advise watching the video:

Ken Robinson - Do Schools Kill Creativity?

This post is the first of many about my belief that the formal education structure within the UK needs to change, where creativity is encouraged and embedded within young peoples learning.
Read More:

100 excellent online tools to feed your creativity...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:38:00 +0000

I can't say that I have compiled this list but it has some great tools... Check it out...

100 Creative Tools...

For all those aspiring Cultural Leader out there...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:06:00 +0000

City University: MA in Cultural Leadership

This two-year, part-time MA provides professional development for existing and emerging cultural leaders, giving you the knowledge, skills and confidence to assume new challenges and responsibilities at all levels.

The MA is one of the world's first fully-accredited cultural leadership courses to Master's degree level.

Structured around a series of short, intensive workshops, it is designed for people who aspire to greater personal and professional development but have demanding jobs and busy personal lives. This structure also enables students to relate what they have learned to the workplace.

In addition to postgraduate accreditation, you benefit from:

access to experienced leaders and sector analysts via workshops, mentoring and networking
facilitated Action Learning Sets
professional development and career planning
concentration on key leadership concerns such as strategy, governance and interpersonal skills

For more information click here

Quote of the day...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:29:00 +0000

"Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared."

Eddie Rickenbacker
World War I Hero

Its all (loose) change...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:00:00 +0000

“Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.” Robert C. Gallagher

In my experience, leaders of change often make the mistake of assuming that it’s all up to them to “make it happen.” – I know I did. So, they get out of the truck and start pushing; long days and long nights in the office; speaking from the soap box; being in many places at the same time; micromanaging…hypertension, here I come!

What I think we should be doing, as leaders of change, is applying the appropriate kind of leverage: formal power, peer pressure, well designed incentives, grassroots movement, influencing techniques and so on. You’ll turn the truck around if you know which controls to use.

I have been in organisations where people take some very loose orders from ‘upstairs’, jump on their horses and gallop into the fog. At some point, no one is sure where they are. Some dismantle and walk, eventually stopping altogether, some still ride into the fog for a while, but eventually, everyone is lost, confused, frustrated. The leaders thank everyone for their valiant effort and declare success.

The bottom line is the need to measure progress, adjust the means and, if needed, have the courage to change direction. Only then will we make it through adversity, uncertainty and the changing ‘foggy’ landscape.

So how do I feel about being a better Change Leader? Well, it is all very easy for me to finger point at the people who I think have dealt with change badly (notice I didn’t say lead). However, I am sure that I have been one of those leaders who charge their troops into the fog without a map. I need to accept that if change is inevitable I should make sure me and my troops know where we want to be going especially if we are not sure how we are going to get there.

I have just got Civil Partnered and more than ever I am feeling change – and, to be honest, loving it. I have not been given a map but me and my partner know exactly where we are going and looking forward to the journey.

"People don't resist change. They resist being changed!" Peter Senge

What's Your Passion?

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:33:00 +0000

Passion: // an intense emotion, compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something. from the Latin verb patior, meaning to suffer or to endure.

So, I got asked the question yesterday...

What’s your passion?

My palms started to sweat, my heart started to race. Am I going to sound stupid? What am I going to say? Do I even bloody know what my passion is?

It got worse... I found myself volunteering to give a one minute sound bite of what my passion is... I am not sure how this happened, but there I was, on stage in front of 35 people. Why, when I am not even sure what my passion is, was I stood up on stage looking ready to present an inspiring nugget of what I am passionate about?

There were 4 of us on stage; one brave sole decided she would present first. She says her passion is ‘supporting Nigerian farmers’...GREAT! I may not really know what my passion is but I know it will not be as laudable as that –my hands sweat more! Come on THINK!

The next person steps forward; he is passionate about ‘supporting people to take creative risks’. Great passion, why didn’t I think of that? He even used some great imagery – my heart starts to beat faster! Why am I up on stage?

Volunteer 3 stepped forward and delivered a great minute presentation of how she is passionate about mitigating people wasting their potential... fabulous! Another brilliant answer... Ok maybe I should just step off the stage and no one will notice...

The spotlight is on me... I don’t usually shy away from the stage, I am a theatre director after all, but I don’t generally get on stage without a script. So I took a deep breath... I thought well I must be passionate about something, actually I know I am passionate about lots of things but I just haven’t been asked to crystallise it into a one minute sound bite before. So I stepped forward and trusted something would come out I said...

“Giving people a voice...”

Yup! Giving people a voice, can you believe it? Firstly, I am glad that I actually said something. I was able to formulate and articulate something that I knew was there but couldn’t find the words to describe. Secondly, the irony of my passion; I strive to give people a safe and creative stage to tell their stories but when given the chance I found it quite a harrowing experience.

‘You can lead a person to a stage, but you can’t make them tell their story!’

So what now? How is this anything to do with leadership?

I have had time to reflect on this experience and believe that passion is a huge driver for leaders. Do I need to have my one minute soap box moment though? Well not necessarily – I think it would help to connect with people so they come on board and start to share your passion. Some passions are driven by anger, some passions are driven by love, and some are driven by a force you can’t really describe or understand; you know you have them you just can’t quite find the words to describe them. If I was in Star Wars I would have the force!

What I do think is important is to keep asking the question – ‘What is your passion?’ maybe there will be times of sweaty palms but maybe there will be times of complete lucidity where you know what drives you, how to connect with people and communicate that. I look forward to more of those moments.

May the force be with you...

“A great leader's courage to fulfil his vision comes from passion, not position.”

John Maxwell

No One Died!

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:29:00 +0000

“...our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” M. Scott Peck

I love conflict; without it my world would be a boring place. The greatest novels, theatre and films are full of it. It’s in our homes, it’s on our streets, it’s in our newspapers, relationships and lives... So why was it up until a few years ago I feared conflict, especially at work?

Conflict, as a definition, is the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests and conflict as a concept can help explain many aspects of social life such as social disagreement, conflicts of interests, and fights between individuals, groups, or organisations. It when your colleagues disagree with your idea, it’s when your boss gives you unrealistic deadlines; it’s when your partner is always late for your date...

As a theatre director I am always looking to find the conflict in a story so I can build up to those moments and then look as the consequences of that conflict. In a rehearsal room I feel safe; I am dealing with characters, other people’s stories and can distant potentially combustible issues. I am able to direct and influence conflict, I can replay it, I can deconstruct it and put it back together in a different shape.

However, it took me a long time to realise that the skills I use as a theatre director can be transferred into working as a leader. My office, my home and my street are very similar to the rehearsal room; there are lots of characters, lots of stories being told and always potentially volatile situations.

I used to fear conflict, I would find any excuse not to have the difficult conversation, give negative feedback or address contentious issues. I would hide, feel nervous, worry that I was going to damage a relationship or fail. This led me to be in a cycle of conflict or more appropriately be part of the drama triangle (see further reading below). I used to play the role of rescuer; I would listen, observe from a distance and not intervene. This got me nowhere. My fear of conflict stopped me from expressing my true feelings, opinions, needs and wants. This, ultimately, created a lack of understanding which resulted in – more conflict! In my experience our fears attract the very thing we seek to avoid.

A couple of years ago I had one of those ‘eureka’ moments. I had the courage to address a contentious issue with a colleague. Previously I had avoided saying what I really thought and didn’t get to the core of the conflict. This resulted in a win - lose scenario; they won, I lost! I then realised I needed to approach the situation differently. I decided that I would be honest, sensitive but get the real route of the conflict and guess what? No one died! The world didn’t explode and over a period of time actually resolved the conflict. Overcoming my fear of conflict was the way to achieve an equal relationship. I was able to acknowledge and embrace that ‘I am afraid of conflict’ which the ironically cleared it.

I now embrace conflict. I use it as an opportunity to explore difference, to apply empathy and to give people a safe, creative, honest space to express themselves.

I love conflict!

“Conflict is the beginning of consciousness.” M. Esther Harding

Further reading:
TOOLS FOR CONFLICT ANALYSIS
DRAMA TIANGLE

The Journey Begins...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Watt) — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:04:00 +0000

I have just been accepted on the International Navigator programme with Common Purpose. This is a new journey for me, a journey which I am looking forward to with much anticipation. For a long time now I have wanted to use my skills as an arts practitioner to develop a creative leadership style. I have decided to keep this blog so that I can keep a record of my development, ideas and issues I face on this journey.

Let’s hope I don’t get lost!

I will keep you posted.