The traditional way of business is "up or out." That is, if you don't advance up the food chain, moving from employee to manager, well, you must be be doing something right.
But in the creative fields, it's time to rethink that philosophy.
Consider this: you've spent years going to school, practicing your technical skills, learning about what works and what doesn't, developing new ideas, building a reputation...and now you're going to watch other people do that while you manage the budget. Is that really what you want to do?
For many people, it is. Leadership is a challenge, and many people who get a taste of it -- whether by being in charge of a team working on an ad campaign, or maybe having fond memories of being a Boy Scout patrol leader when they were 14 -- want more. Truthfully, leading other people is one of the most challenging things you can do in business. You can still have the chance to use your creative skills but now you can also use your experience to help others grow. If you're one of those employees who says "if I were in charge, things would be different," this is an opportunity to put your ideas into practice. It's a way to continue learning and growing in a new way, and if you're someone who gets bored easily then maybe doing something new is exactly what you need to stay excited about your chosen line of work.
But if you see yourself going into a leadership role simply because you feel you HAVE to, then you're making a mistake. If this isn't something you really want to do then don't do it, because it takes a commitment to do it right, and if you don't feel that, then you have the opportunity to screw up in a big way. I mean, if you're a solo employee you could mess up your own work and have an impact on, say, a single project, but as a leader you have the chance to screw up EVERY project. And if you're high enough up in the hierarchy, you could even bring down the business. So don't get into it unless you really want to.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with staying in your field as a creative expert rather than as a leader. Lots of stylists are content not to own their own salon, plenty of interior designers are only too happy to have someone else handle the budget while they go out and design. If you want to commit yourself to your craft, then do it.
Now, there may be a price to pay: in many traditional business models the leadership gets paid more because of the increased responsibility. If you're in that environment then recognize you might not make as much as you otherwise could. But if you make more money while making yourself unhappy, is it really worth it? If you're willing to accept less money in return for enjoying your work more, that seems like a fair trade.
Some businesses are getting smart and moving away from that model. They realize that the rules for pay should be different for different specialties. Rather than encouraging someone to leave behind what they love and what they're best at, the smarter creative firms will reward their Creatives who become amazing at their craft while leaving the leadership to those who are more interested in that. With such a model they're more likely to end up with leaders who want to lead and Creatives who want to create.
Bottom line: before becoming a leader, ask yourself, "is this really what I want to do?"
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