It is valuable to get out of your own head, and see what others are thinking.
It is even more valuable to get out of your own industry and see what others are struggling with.
This summer, I had the privilege of attending Spark Camp: Visionaries, Leaders, and Managers. Spark Camp is a gathering focused on media and newsroom folks that also pulls from external areas including the arts and technology, and I was invited to attend as a representative outside of media.
To be honest, on the first day I was rather intimidated. I am not a creative. I am not a writer, a media luminary. Everyone there had done so much. Here was the choreographer of a famous musical! There was the editor in chief of a major magazine! The mayor of a city! The writer of a blog I love and admire! The head curator of my favorite art museum! (hello, impostor syndrome)
The sessions started, and we talked about problems we faced as managers. The challenges of performance reviews. Managing people from different generations. Some of the notes I took include:
"Performance reviews as a measure of culture"
"Vulnerability inspires investment. Management is not performance art."
"Designers and engineers both define themselves often by their process"
"Conversation's role in creativity"
"Victim vs Player: Teaching folks how to be players" (more on this some other time)
My biggest takeaway was that we in tech think we are dealing with a special situation, a special workforce. Knowledge workers who have options, who can strike out on their own, who are temperamental and amazing and can change the world or give us migraines. We are not alone. In fact, people in the media industry (and beyond) deal with the same thing. Writers and artists are not all starving, and the talented ones have as many options as talented engineers.
Similarly, I'm not alone in feeling creatively stifled by the challenges of management. People with backgrounds in the creative arts discover themselves with leadership positions that offer little time, space, or appropriate opportunity for creativity. Finding that creative outlet is a universal leadership struggle.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to get some perspective on my own battles, and share my experiences with a diverse group of leaders. We often see writing on "impostor syndrome" and tricks for combatting it. Here's my trick: say yes to situations, and try to handle them with grace even when you feel completely out of your depth. Because under the surface we all struggle, and we all doubt, and sharing those struggles and doubts with strangers is sometimes the best way to free yourself from them.
It is even more valuable to get out of your own industry and see what others are struggling with.
This summer, I had the privilege of attending Spark Camp: Visionaries, Leaders, and Managers. Spark Camp is a gathering focused on media and newsroom folks that also pulls from external areas including the arts and technology, and I was invited to attend as a representative outside of media.
To be honest, on the first day I was rather intimidated. I am not a creative. I am not a writer, a media luminary. Everyone there had done so much. Here was the choreographer of a famous musical! There was the editor in chief of a major magazine! The mayor of a city! The writer of a blog I love and admire! The head curator of my favorite art museum! (hello, impostor syndrome)
The sessions started, and we talked about problems we faced as managers. The challenges of performance reviews. Managing people from different generations. Some of the notes I took include:
"Performance reviews as a measure of culture"
"Vulnerability inspires investment. Management is not performance art."
"Designers and engineers both define themselves often by their process"
"Conversation's role in creativity"
"Victim vs Player: Teaching folks how to be players" (more on this some other time)
My biggest takeaway was that we in tech think we are dealing with a special situation, a special workforce. Knowledge workers who have options, who can strike out on their own, who are temperamental and amazing and can change the world or give us migraines. We are not alone. In fact, people in the media industry (and beyond) deal with the same thing. Writers and artists are not all starving, and the talented ones have as many options as talented engineers.
Similarly, I'm not alone in feeling creatively stifled by the challenges of management. People with backgrounds in the creative arts discover themselves with leadership positions that offer little time, space, or appropriate opportunity for creativity. Finding that creative outlet is a universal leadership struggle.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to get some perspective on my own battles, and share my experiences with a diverse group of leaders. We often see writing on "impostor syndrome" and tricks for combatting it. Here's my trick: say yes to situations, and try to handle them with grace even when you feel completely out of your depth. Because under the surface we all struggle, and we all doubt, and sharing those struggles and doubts with strangers is sometimes the best way to free yourself from them.