Messy Leadership

Navigating through the cre:ate 2010 thinktank/arts conference last week, I was reminded of the importance of messy leadership. Leading today’s cultural creatives is never an easy task. Perhaps that’s why invaluable talent continues to flee corporate America and the church. The hierarchical alpha leaders from a time long since past still lead most of these organizations.

I believe every leader that desires to create culture must practice messy leadership. Here are a few principles:

1. Messy Leadership requires forfeiting our natural needs. In order to release today’s creatives to their full potential, a leader must find his greatest satisfaction in their success.

2. Messy Leadership requires tenacity. This is no place for leaders who straddle the fine line between Carpe Diem and “Who gives a s#@t.” Leading cultural creatives guarantees discouragement and exhaustion. Many artists are only able to see beauty through the lens of a tortured past.

3. Messy Leadership requires trust. Wise leaders find the right team of people, collaboratively determine a goal and then get out of the way and let things happen.

4. Messy Leadership requires forgiveness. Get ready. Disappointment will happen. But the messiness of grace provides an artist who fails the opportunity to try again with our blessing. Not our condemnation.

5. Messy Leadership demands loyalty. Not perfection – loyalty. Not dysfunction – loyalty. Artists rarely remember who “brought them to the dance”. They must be reminded that they stand upon the sacrifice and shoulders of others and in turn, must provide the gift of their shoulders for others. When loyalty is violated time and time again, it may be time to make a hard call.

6. Messy Leadership requires the understanding that we have not been called to change the world, but we have been called to create culture. It is vital for us to realize that the whole world is not riding on our shoulders.

7. Messy Leadership requires emotional intelligence. In the world of cultural creatives, EI is far more important than IQ.

What other Messy Leadership principles have you found invaluable?

4 responses to “Messy Leadership”

  1. JVo Avatar

    Like the new clean layout. Good job.

  2. Chad Jarnagin Avatar

    well done sir. dig it.

  3. Bill Todd Avatar

    Like the look of the new site. Clean, easy to navigate.

    My addition to the (spot-on) thoughts above is that this applies not only to artists, but men and women in all professions. With the inflated and unsustainable financial promises of the past 20 years now busted, people are focusing on the inner voice that has been prodding them for years.

    I count among friends construction managers, physicians, audiologists and who are simply to the point where they are admitting that s*%t is broken, and they don’t want to fix it. They need something entirely different, and are unwilling to settle until they find it.

    What a hard and wonderful time to be asking questions.

  4. adam herod Avatar

    Randy…the new site looks great. Very clean.

    Really digging this post on messy leadership. One thing I’m finding is that “messy leadership” requires transparency. The more I give of it the more I receive in return. It also breaks down any barriers of trust when I’m willing to share my broken spots before asking it of them. The walls seem to crash down when they realize that it’s ok to not have it all together before beauty can come from life. I always say that one of the things I hope is that people who get to know me can say “if God can use that guy, then I’m golden”. :-)