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There is an entire industry of books written about this very topic. I by no means have all the answers, but I am happy to share what I have found that works for me personally... My approach has been that the AD role is more about learning how to direct and less about doing the work. "What got you here won't get you there."
Motivation: As an AD myself, I am the link between leadership and the day-to-day. You have to turn your mindset to becoming a coach and investing time in your people and their development. How you do that is getting to know them - and I dont mean how their weekend was. I mean, how do they learn best? How do they like to receive praise? How can you build an environment for them to operate from a place of confidence rather than a place of fear (the need to be flawless otherwise they freeze)? My job as a manager is to ensure that my direct reports have the knowledge and resources that they need to carry out the tasks I assign. If they dont have those things, it is my job to go get them.
Accountability: My 2nd thing is being super clear about my expectations. I personally HATE when someone is assigning me a task and says things like, "Let's draft an email..", "Can we be sure to ask the vendor about X?", etc. Instead, I say @charlie, please ensure that this goes out before you log off. Make it clear who is being assigned and give credit that they are doing it. Then, and this is so key, offer what my role is as support in that particular task. For Charlie, I am happy to take a quick peek for a 2nd set of eyes before you send. In meetings, dont be afraid to say, "As your leader, it is my job to... ask for more time" or "In this instance, I would coach you to... consider phrasing the sentence this way so it focuses on benefits rather than inviting unnecessary questions", etc. Articulate to them what inputs you need them to assist with in order to package up what you need to do. Like in all sales roles, they need to understand how their helping you will ultimately help them in their day-to-day. Offer to share screens to walk through together, grab time to have a work session, pause while explaining something to ask what questions they have because you're happy to explain further. If you ask someone to draw a house and you didnt specify that the door should be in the center of the house instead of being off to the side, is it wrong or just different? If you need the door in the center, ensure they know that when you assign it. End every assignment in a sentence that articulates what success looks like. Clear is kind. Then praise them for a job well done (in the way they like to receive praise).
Respect: The last item is that I always appreciated it when my managers would tell me what they are doing. Obviously, there is no obligation. They have no idea, though, unless you tell them. So much of what I do that they dont have visibility to is having 1:1s with other teams to establish ways of working or push/establish timelines to help balance workload. It doesn't have to be formal in a status. But quick pings like, 'I know that this issue we have been facing is causing swirl and increasing time spent to complete the task. I am meeting at 1pm with Dana to chat more about how we can work together to streamline.' And then they naturally arm me with more specifics that I can reference if needed.
That's a lot, but in summary, it is about motivating and willingness to show vulnerability to open lines of communication, learning who your people are, and being willing to teach/coach. Offer to share screens, don't assume they've done it before, and have empathy. Your people need to feel valued and appreciated. Last piece, I'll say... say 'thank you' and 'great work' often. We need more positivity in the workplace. If you need them to step up, then you need to step up too.
1 book that was extremely helpful was Dare to Lead. Highly reco.
GOOD LUCK!
This was such a well thought out and complete reply to OP. I love Brene Brown too!
Despite such great insight and thought leaders out there, very few organizations give a second thought to any of this great mindset and healthy approach to managing people.
It takes time, so it costs without an immediate ROI, so no one does it when deadlines and pressures loom day-to-day.
Larger companies may veer in this lane and offer training, but even rarer to see it out right required, training/time paid like they mean it.
💯 agree if you want to be a great manager, do your own training, run meetings and have 1:1s with direct reports in a way you would have preferred your managers to do them.
The best inspiration is seeing where your managers have fallen short and be the example you wish they had been.
Think about all the managers you’ve had: great ones and horrible ones. You learn just as much from both of them and your experience will help set the foundations for your leadership style.
If you’ve just been promoted. Think about the tasks you used to do and work to train your junior employees how to master it themselves. Spending extra time with them in the beginning will pay off in the long run. It can be painful if you’re swamped but it won’t be wasted time. Every time I train someone I try to write out processes & workflows to share with them & I have it saved in a dedicated training folder that has now grown to a strong resource where my team can self-serve.
If you don’t have time to let them work on a project by themselves, let them shadow you and talk through your process for doing it.
Start delegating small things (even meeting notes/recap, calendar invites) so they can have a sense of ownership and begin taking things off your plate. Keep an eye out for new projects for them to own and add them as they get ramped up to speed.
Don’t wait for them to train you. They never will, sadly. Find a training program you like or that looks interesting, get the cost and tell your manager. Most holding co. agencies have an education/training budget for individuals. You pay for the training and they expense you back.
LinkedIn has good online webinars on “Becoming a Leader” and I have all of my ACDs read “Welcome to Management” by Ryan Hawk, and “Creative Directions” by Jason Sperling. It’s great that you want to become a better manager and a leader. I’m sorry your agency and your ECD aren’t investing in that for you, but you can take it on yourself. And you should, because the job of an ACD and a CD and all of the rest that come after it have more to do with leading and managing than they do with creating the work. Leading creatives is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. I also recommend HBR articles.
And by the way, the fact that you care about it and want to invest in yourself means that you’re gonna be an amazing creative leader.