We at Skillset are embarking on a journey of discovery around leadership and management skills in the creative media industry. There is a strong-held belief that this area isn’t up to scratch in our sector. Maybe because we are made up of “creatives”, maybe because the business model is different, maybe because we have very little professionalisation going on – I don’t know why, but this I do know (or at least I think I do!): 

• A large amount of evidence shows that all parts of the creative media sector face serious issues with the standard of leadership and management skills.
• The fundamental business models of our industry are rapidly changing, and with this is a need for improved understanding of management.
• Many managers and leaders in our industry have had no formal (or informal) training to help support them be better managers.
• Our industry is different from other sectors and so needs specific, contextualised, quality solutions to meet these needs.
• It is in the transition phase of a career that best suits a leadership and management intervention:- i.e. when the shift to 1st time manager, supervisory manager, line manager, departmental manager, etc occurs.
• There are a number of sector-specific leadership and management issues that need addressing – i.e. health and safety responsibilities or managing creative talent.
• There is a issue around values – the badge of honour that is “I started at the bottom as a runner and never had any training…” is a strong one.

I am sure there are others.

I recently asked a number of industry people what they thought of leadership and management for the creative media industries on twitter (@triston, by the way, and thanks to all those that responded)

Question: do the #CIs (Creative Industries) need specific leadership & mgmt support that’s diff from those needed/offered by/to other industries?

• Definitely. Primarily because us creatives are very different to usual business types. Dahhlink!
• There are universal biz truths but perhaps #CIs need to approach them diff because of the make-up of peeps involved.
• have a quick word with someone at NESTA – they’d probably have a good handle on leadership matters in #CIs
• I think good management and leadership are all about context – good in one field or team may not be good in any other.
• The expectation from the #CIs seems to differ from industries that have decades of process driven, SLA based workflows.
• How do we find those with relevant biz experience who can “talk” to those in #CIs? I’ve had mixed experiences.
• Biz models drive everything but my experience the #CIs is they want to innovate all the way despite inherent risk. Which I love.
• Innovative organisms require different approaches to more conservative bodies. Its all about risk & managing it. #CIs like risk.
• But is it nature or nuture when it comes to those skills? I think we can lend helping hand but without personal drive biz fails.
• Def agree about instilling skills during mainstream ed.
  

We will keep you up to speed on where we get to on this journey, but whatever we come up with has to be right for you guys, the creative media industry, so let us hear your views.

Some prompting questions to ponder.

Do you agree with these assumptions?

Do you think that the Creative Media industry needs specific (as opposed to generic, off-the-shelf) support?

Is there a compelling case for prioritising interventions – i.e. at MD or CEO level rather than new entrant, or in TV before Games, etc?

Do you know of any specific, high calibre, high impact solutions to leadership and management issues that we should be looking at?

Looking forward to the discussion.