Innovative leadership needed in the era of the Creative Class (AKA: What’s a Master Class?)

To be a great leader or manager it requires you to learn how to lead and coach. And things have changed–or have they?

Coming from a performance background, master classes are unique events, which publicly illustrate the best in coaching, when done well. In a master class, a master artist works with performers on their instrument in front of an audience of their peers. Several participants/attendees have an oppotunity to work one-on-one with a master performer, and likewise all attendees watch this master teacher work one-on-one with certain performers. It is a remarkable learning experience, charged with energy, opportunity and countless ah-ha! moments.

Unfortunately, it’s unique to the performing arts. But, can we take the concept outside of the arts and apply it to traditional business? It’s far more than role-playing or lecturing or even workshopping. It’s a then-and-there charged experience of performance, exploration and discovery of your craft alongside a master mentor with peers looking on and learning from your experience.

Violinist Maxim Vengerov shows the best in coaching in this video. What can you learn from his style? http://bit.ly/2fp…hgG 

Great leadership requires extraordinary communication coaching and identifying and tapping into unique teaching opportunities.  Regardless of your craft, talent or business, we have a responsibility to continue to explore new ways of connecting with, coaching and mentoring new leaders: artists, thought leaders, the creative class. 

What can we learn from the arts and the concept of a master class? How can a similar experience be duplicated to help cultivate and nurture thought leaders and emerging thought leaders in our culture? Regardless of your particular brand of art, the best is always the best. Only model the best.

The Rise of the Creative Class: leading talent often means getting out of the way

 

 

Itay Talgam at TED 2009

The greatest conductors on leadership & managment. Cultivate the BEST talent, then let them do their job. How to lead, direct, correct… Different styles:

http://www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_conductors.html

Itay Talgem is one of the world’s most esteemed conductors, and in this TED Talk, he breaks apart leadership skills of other world renowned conductors. It’s fascinating in and of itself, but it’s more enlightening when thought of in terms of business and project leadership and management. Also, community and cause leadership–it is critical to cultivate and nurture the creative class in a style that helps them bring the best they have everytime. Conductors have been doing this well for centuries. Let’s take a lesson from the best.

Archaic management styles of blind obedience and linear hierarchies reap the worst in productivity and progress within your workforce. It’s time for every business and leader to change from this mindset or risk becoming miserably irrelevant. The most valuable thing a leader has to give is to empower others to lead, but if you’re stuck in the ineffective beliefs of traditional role delineation where insecurites and power-mongering run amuck within leadership, you essentially create an oppressive regime. Here, creativity and buy-in become stiffled amongst your team, and this directly errodes productivity and progress. You create an army of mindless drones instead of a team of empowerd, creative problem-solvers and critical thought leaders.

One of two things will happen if you put too many restrictions on creative professionals: 1) they will flee from you or 2) they will produce drab uninspired work. If you want them to create the masterpeices you hired them to create, step back a bit. Let them tinker and make mistakes (as long as the mistakes aren’t too costly), and they will produce masterpeices over and over again for you and your company.

What leadership style speaks best to you? Are there any lessons you’re taking away from veiwing this presentation? Has it changed your thinking in any way?