I’ve been leading creative teams for 20+ years. I work closely with my team members to ensure they have the resources they need, feel supported and heard and encourage them to bring their best efforts to every project.
As a team member, I seek to understand the knowledge and expertise other team members bring to inform my contribution. To me, being an active listener and learner are critically important to successfully contributing to collaborative efforts.
As a team leader, I bring those same values to the teams I lead. Everyone is on a team for a reason and I place high value on and encourage active participation.
Leading teams is not about individual accomplishment. Instead, every member’s contribution should be collaborative, valued and inform project success.
Empower team members
Empowering my team members is one of my most important objectives. I work help my team learn and succeed. I build collaborative, respectful relationships with my team members and assist in solving problems when they arise.
I believe it’s important to provide the necessary coaching that helps team members bring their best effort to a project. I encourage my team members to take on new challenges and help them get back on track when things go wrong.
Open and supportive
My best managers have been excellent at open, clear communication and highly supportive. I’ve learned from their examples (and some lesser examples) and apply the lessons to my own leadership efforts.
My team members are comfortable talking about difficult subjects and I work to ensure that even the most challenging discussions are amicable.
Be a cheerleader
Everyone deserves to have their accomplishments recognized and praised. I make sure that my team member’s successes are noticed. Sometimes, it’s a simple ”thank you” or ”that’s amazing,“ other times I‘ll escalate their accomplishment to the appropriate higher management level.
I‘ve been fortunate to work in environments where my leadership appreciated that amplification and echoed their kudos to the team member. Feeling seen like that is very rewarding.