Career Development Plan
For a very long time, I’ve wanted to find a way to give expression to how organizations can enhance loyalty in their business development plans for those who value creativity.
After almost twenty five years, last week I met a friend who I met during the early days of our careers. He is now a CEO and has a very successful career which will leave an enduring legacy in his locality creating employment while promoting new technologies.
Afterwards it struck me that we were not only colleagues at one time, but our friendship had at its core, music. If you play music or are interested in it, it is an expression of creativity. There are many other forms, but as it's my favourite, I'll stick with music in this blog. His career choice gave him abundant access to creativity.
When we first met in the workplace, we fell into conversation and music came up, as it does when you’re brought up to love music. He liked folk and punk music and so did I. We both still do. We enjoyed listening to musicians who went against the grain and spoke up about important things like social justice, romance, love and the less trodden path.
From those I’ve met, those people have a musical background, like the sound and the fluency of sound and it invigorates them. They are spiritual non-conformists and when they enter the structured workplace they then operate in an environment that does not always accommodate that form of creativity. This is particularly the case in large organizations (#corporatelife) where there can be a larger degree of structure than there often is in smaller companies or Small Medium Enterprises (#SME). Larger companies with offices and factories and centres all over the world need a higher degree of conformity to support their brands and to copper-fasten the reputation they have worked so hard to establish. They work hard to have a local culture under the overall corporate banner. (#inclusivity)
Artistically creative people are often smart, clever, in tune with the written or spoken word and they learn to curtail their passion in order to sate a specific need (paying the bills) and companies benefit from this. But the question arises, how do these people and how do companies get the right balance? It’s very rare to find to a song about gross margin, Return on Investment, or shareholder satisfaction, let alone imagining that it could be enjoyable.
People who love music - and music can be anything to anyone - enjoy the themes within the music. My favourite type are those that tell stories about the underdog or about love. So then, for example, how can you empathize about the underdog or express love when there are millions of dollars of revenue on the line or when your team is working hard to keep the organization together at a challenging time?
What if there was a cohort of people dutifully performing their tasks to a high standard and weren’t fully able to express their views, be forthright, and while having a holistic understanding of the need for business and the need for profit, they get tired or disillusioned but at the same time are smart enough to put on the mask of contentment and motivation. Doesn't that sound tough? They create trade-offs. Duty and responsibility vs the traditions of self-expression. They adjust their language and their dialect, such is their talent.
There is a strong tradition of music in many countries around the world. Ireland has a deeply embedded culture of music; traditional, folk, country and western and rock music (and others). #folkmusic
All these people with creativity, with talent with a dulled voiced. High performing people, in a confined workplace. The kicker is, most of these people have very little interest in wealth, they have more of an interest in society and the possibilities of talent. They are interested in people. They are perfect workers, they have a high work ethic and they understand values like loyalty, creativity, kindness, fun, expression and empathy.
I watch Curfa on TnaG (#TG4). It’s a show where choirs get to showcase their talents. The HSE (#HSE) in Ireland is subject to high profile scrutiny in the media. The provision of health services is a life and death one. High stakes.
In this TV show, they sang together brilliantly. Those workers are under pressure to meet customer expectations with low levels of recognition nationally. From a public perspective are simply not performing. My own personal experience has been a positive one so far.
It was terrific to see them sing together; a natural stress buster for them and an opportunity to see the HSE through a different lens. It was brilliant. (#stressmanagement)
In one sense music is a past time, it’s entertainment, and if you’ve enough talent - go and be a musician. It’s not like that with music or having an artistic flair. It can be important without having any talent to play an instrument or write a lyric. We can pay passing glances to the message and talent of the musician and not everyone enjoys music in the way that many do. But why overlook that natural part of peoples’ lives? #diversityintheworkplace
I know someone who has a young daughter. She is highly talented artistically and academically with a deep conviction about women’s rights and social justice. She plays the piano and sings for her own pleasure. She has a handle on maths and science and has an easy way about her when it comes to dealing with people.
She studies and has as a part time job, where she excels as a young salesperson. She is torn between continuing to understand and contribute to the advancement of women’s rights in society, but is afraid that after all her efforts she wont be able to pay her bills and life in humble comfort. How can she generate an income to support herself in life?
Could she work in a manufacturing, in a services environment, and work her way up to be a manager or a director, or VP? – absolutely, unequivocally she has the talent, the work ethic and natural leadership characteristics. But she’s so reluctant, would she find an outlet for that creativity within a company culture. She is taking the time to work the trade-offs and the pros and cons. She is anxious. The allure of the dollar is strong. Where is the balance? Soul vs practicality.
Self-awareness, trust and standing by your convictions are key. #selfawareness
What advice would a career coach (#careercoach) give to someone who has these sensibilities at any stages of their careers:
· Recognize creativity as an important value and as a source of enjoyment for you.
· If your role doesn’t give you sufficient latitude to express your creativity then find an outlet - it can often happen that talented people go from one fire fight to the next in the workplace requiring long hours and deep stakeholder engagement - this can limit the available time for artistic flair in the evening or weekends. Time will eventually be available. Having patience and having a purpose helps.
· Dissonance between your natural talents and your role can give rise to stress and upset. Recognize that and find different outlets for your talents.
· We can find creativity in all our roles, it’s a matter of identifying the value of creativity and serving it.
· Good leaders will give you the opportunity to find an outlet, poor one’s wont. Identify and explore that #strongleadership
· Work your trade-offs. What am I trading off and is it worth it?
· Loyalty to yourself is key, and there are many outlets for creativity
And for companies:
· Many people are brilliant at steering between the lines and enjoy straightforward routine, others get drained from it eventually. Promotions or role changes often act as a temporary fix for them.
· All companies want their colleagues to find fulfilment in their roles, be motivated and contribute to society. #motivation #careerfulfillment
· Your leaders should be able to develop their skills to identify creative talent and nurture that that in some way. I had a boss once who would push me into areas such as marketing and community engagement even though my role was in procurement. I could accommodate my own role and take on new tasks in areas I had a flair for. It was a great way to sate my value of creativity and it was fun and enjoyable. It was a highly enjoyable part of my career. He was an insightful guy. It worked worked for me and for the company #strongleadership
· Those with an artistic leaning or value have an inbuilt flexibility to adjust and adapt within organizations as long as there’s an incentive and the incentive doesn’t always have to effect financial performance #costcontainment
It's about being loyal to yourself.
Nice perspective