Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need

A practical handbook for every manager charged with leading teams to creative brilliance, from the author of The Accidental Creative and Die Empty.The old adage that leading creative people is like herding cats is wrong. It's more like herding tigers.The jump from being responsible for your own creative output to managing the creative output of others is difficult. You have to master the transition from maker to manager, and give ownership and projects to your staff when you could do them yourself better and faster. You are juggling expectations from managers who demand consistent, systematized output from a volatile creative process. And you're handling pushback from your team of brilliant, headstrong, and possibly overqualified creatives. But it's not impossible to make the leap--it just requires a skill set different from the one conventional management books offer. As a consultant to creative companies, Todd Henry knows firsthand what prevents creative leaders from guiding their teams to success. In Herding Tigers he provides a bold new blueprint to help you be the leader your team needs.  Lead by influence, not by direct control. Provide stability in your team to allow them to reach their  full creative potential. And protect the time, energy, and resources they need to do their best work. No matter what creative field you're in, Herding Tigers will give you the confidence and the skills to foster an environment in which clients, management, and employees have a product they can be proud of and a process that works. Read more