The Accidental Creative

At some point in your career, you've probably had "that boss". You know... the one who's either obnoxiously aggressive and issues orders from on-high like the ruler of a small kingdom, or the one who wants so desperately to be liked that they refuse to speak the uncomfortable truth. Maybe - just maybe - you've even been guilty of being that boss from time to time. Kim Scott is here to help. She's the author of Radical Candor, and on today's show she will show you how to avoid Ruinous Empathy, Obnoxious Aggression, and Manipulative Insincerity and create a culture that thrives. 

Have you ever been in a meeting, and introduced an idea, then felt the urge to discount or qualify your idea with "well, that's just my opinion", or "just my 2 cents"? Or, do you find the need to apologize anytime you speak up or offer an insight? Please stop. If you're in the room, you have value to contribute and you shouldn't feel the need to apologize for your existence.

There are two fundamental fears that are endemic to the work of creative pros, and they both can prevent you from experiencing the work you're capable of doing. In today's episode, I discuss each of them and how they can cause you to self-limit your creating and your leadership and cause later regret.

Yes, work hard. Of course you need to put your full effort into whatever you’re doing at any given time. However, be careful not to fall into the hustle trap. You might find you’re only sprinting on a treadmill rather than making true progress. On today's episode I share three ways that the hustle trap can rob you of your best work, and what to do about them.

Over the course of this summer I'm going to share a few legacy episodes of The Accidental Creative podcast. These are some of my favorite conversastions of the past 12 years. Today's episode features a 2008 sit-down conversation I had with Peter Block.  Peter Block is a man who wears many hats. He is an internationally coveted speaker, a consultant to the biggest corporations in the world, and a best-selling author. Lately he’s also been making a name for himself as a citizen by facilitating conversations within communities. In this interview, Peter discusses uncovering and acting on what matters.

About a month ago, a memo from comedian and TV host Steve Harvey made the rounds and earned him a lot of criticism. It was directed at his team, and instructed them not to approach him in public spaces, not to interrupt him when he's in the makeup chair, and not to barge into his dressing room to ask him something. People decried the memo saying it was an indication of Harvey's inflated ego, but I disagree. Yes, he could have handled it differently (and he admitted so himself), but in principle, what he did was healthy. He set clear boundaries to protect his ability to do his job. On today's episode, I discuss three areas where you also need to set healthy boundaries if you want to be effective as a creative pro. 

There are many things a good leader does to help their team gain focus, stay motivated, and produce great work. However, there are also some very common mistakes that many leaders make that they don’t even know are killing their team’s ability to engage with their work. This is especially true when doing creative work, because it requires tremendous trust and an ability to take risks that could be costly to correct later. The better you are at setting good rails for your team, the more they will feel freedom to bring their best ideas and work to the table. Today I discuss a few ways that leaders unknowingly squelch their team’s creativity, and to do about it.

Are you brave? Strangely, it depends on what your definition of brave is. Today's guest Adam Smith is here to walk us through what it looks like to be brave in life and work, and it may not always look like what you think. Adam's new book is called The Bravest You.

Where do great ideas come from? For many creative pros great ideas are simply sourced in everyday experience. However, in order to turn those seemingly commonplace observations into brilliant work, you need to know what you're looking for. Today's guest Bernadette Jiwa has just released a book called Hunch that's all about how to leverage your curiosity and empathy to mine your environment for idea gold.

We've all heard the myth of the starving artist. Everyone knows that artists have to suffer for their art, live in squalid conditions, and experience great pain in order to produce brilliant work. Except, according to today's guest, that's not really the case. Jeff Goins has just written a new book called Real Artists Don't Starve, and on today's show he shares some of the differences between starving artists and thriving artists, and how you can make enough money from your art to sustain it.