A slide presentation for Podcamp Nashville 2011 based on my experiences and frustrations with building and leading a marketing team.

1. LEADING AND
MOTIVATING
CREATIVES
By @Jeff_Goins
#pcn11creative

2. WHAT IS A CREATIVE?

3. A CREATIVE IS...
“…someone who reveals truth, who sees & understands a need
& articulates a solution in whole or in part, signposting what’s
next.” [Ian Finch]
“...someone who is able to pull art (beauty) from life.” [Melissa
Greene]
“Someone who dwells in possibility.” [David Ballard]
“…someone who uses the arts to intentionally communicate a
story in an engaging and inspiring way.” [Drew Brown]

4. WHO AM I?
Kind of a cool dude.

5. STUFF THAT I’VE DONE
• Won the 6th grade spelling bee.
• Peed my pants... on purpose (in college).
• Traveled the world.
• Lived in a van.
• Started a marketing team.
• Got married.

6. STUFF THAT I DO
• Work for Adventures in Missions (adventures.org).
• Tweet (@jeff_goins).
• Blog (goinswriter.com).
• Run.
• Read a lot of books.
• Eat a lot of Mexican food.

7. HOW TO LEAD CREATIVES
• Acknowledge that creatives are different.
• Realize that you need them to be different.
• Treat them differently.
• Devise a unique system to lead them.

8. THREE QUALITIES OF A
CREATIVE
• Nonlinear
• Imaginative
• Introspective

9. CREATIVES ARE DIFFERENT

10. THREE STRUGGLES OF A
CREATIVE
• Productivity
• Authority
• Insecurity

11. CREATIVES ARE DIFFERENT
You need them to be.

12. WHY YOU NEED CREATIVES
• No process jams.
• See what others cannot see.
• Not limited by precedent.

13. CREATIVES ARE DIFFERENT.
You need them to be different. And you need to treat them
differently.

14. BEFORE WORKING WITH CREATIVES
(READ THE WARNING LABEL)
• Warning#1:
Not process people.
• Warning# 2:
Not usually action-oriented.
• Warning#3:
Can be hyper-sensitive.

15. THE HARDEST PART
(MANAGEMENT’S PERSPECTIVE)
• “Focus is the hardest part. Ideas are great but they can also be
a distraction. Be crystal clear on the main outcome you're after
and then give them the freedom to be creative.” -John Morgan
• “The hardest part in working with a creative [is] to provide
enough structure to help and challenge while not inhibiting,
discouraging or placating. Helping a creative to share ownership
or give up ownership is a challenge.” -Rich Kirkpatrick

16. THE HARDEST PART
(CREATIVE’S PERSPECTIVE)
• “With writing or art, any creative field really, people get
frustrated with deadlines because creatives have to think and
work through things--it's not a push button job.” -Erica
Cosminsky
• “For me, the hardest part about being a creative is putting my
heart into the creation of a designed piece that I feel serves
the market well only to have it picked apart by people who I
feel are not qualified to do so.” -Frank Burder

17. THE HARD TRUTH
“I am unmanageable, avoidant, and lazy.
I need a strong system around me or everything fails.”
-Julien Smith

18. YOU NEED A SYSTEM.
And it needs to actually work.

19. A SYSTEM TO CAPTURE
CREATIVITY (WHAT YOU NEED)
• Translators.
•Aprocess that works for the
whole team.
• Limitations to spark
creativity.
• Fun.

20. WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT MYSELF
This is where I get profound...

21. WHAT I (THE CREATIVE)
NEED TO DO
• Acknowledge the Resistance.
• Put myself to work.
• Give myself freedom to play (once in awhile).

22. TAKEAWAYS FOR MANAGERS
AND CREATIVES
• Beware of the pure artist. • Bewareof unrealistic
expectations.
• Beware of the head-in-the-
clouds creative. • Beware of a lack of
translators.
• Beware of the creative
narcissist. • Beware of the lone genius.

23. SUMMARY
• Creatives are different.
• You need them to be
different.
• Treat them differently.
• Youneed a system to
capture creativity.

24. RESOURCES
• Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky [for managers]
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield [for creatives]
• The99%.com [for anybody]
• Linchpin by Seth Godin [for artists and entrepreneurs]
• Orbitingthe Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie [for
creatives]

25. PHOTO CREDIT
(CREATIVE COMMONS)
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/
aegishjalmur/ 33852688@N08/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/
juhansonin/ orangeacid/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/
eschipul/ hisgett/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/
newtown_grafitti/

26. QUESTIONS?
@jeff_goins | goinswriter.com | facebook.com/goinswriter