Leading Artists
Being a leader of artists requires that you fulfill two rolls at once. Being an artist requires that you be a feeler, while being a leader requires that you be a thinker, and balancing the two can be extremely difficult. As an leader/artist, make sure that your gift does not get neglected. God gifted you as an artist and you need to really work hard at continually improving. This is the easy part to let slide because there are alot of administrative things that need to be done. Make sure that you are a full time artist. At the same time we can not neglect the paperwork that needs to be done either, we must be full time leaders. This can be a daunting task, there just are not enough hours in the day! That is why we must not be too proud to involve others in key areas of our ministry. Its ok to give others things to do, delegation is a sign of a good leader! Without delegation, you will burn out very quickly, and then in spite of all your talent, you will be benefiting no one. Giving others ownership in your ministry will increase loyalty and improve morale as well as give you some much needed down time! Being a leader doesn't mean doing whatever you want with your ministry, it means doing whatever God wants with His!
Artists are a different breed. There are some leadership styles that just don't work with them:
The Demanding CEO- 'its my way or the highway'
The Overbearing Coach- 'no pain, no gain'
The Overly Protective Patron- spoils artist because they are 'so misunderstood'
The Silent Type- gives no feedback or direction
Artists need to be encouraged, but they also need to be challenged to get better constantly. Like anything else, when you stop growing in your art, the quality doesn't stay the same, it diminishes! A true leader of artists is one who can celebrate with them and help build a solid team of artists where the focus is, where it should be, on God.
Enjoy the Journey
No comments:
Post a Comment