And surprise! This amazingly successful director still panics about deadlines, worries about funding, whether his supervisors will approve, whether he will ever get to create another movie after the one he is creating now (like if this one is a flop). Will his vision get into the final product, how does he say "yes" at the right time or "no" when he should or needs to?
Reading through Tetzeli's piece, it struck me again how the concept of great leadership, even good leadership trails through all walks of life, down every corridor, in every gathering, for every great endeavor that people push to complete, to attain. Several of the qualities of leadership that we've already talked about in our blog, on our website, or in our videos, are true of Scorsese. Respect the past. Appreciate the contributions of those who have come before you. Understand yourself, as an individual, as a human being and as a leader. Trust your confidants. Understand power and how to fight, contain and use it. When needed, understand how to participate in the institution. Defy the pressures of others when you must, when you know your vision, your value, your course is correct, is best. Most importantly, develop other outlets for your creativity, so you don't burn out.
Creativity needs to be shared, challenged, played out in more than one space. Which is why I learned to build cartoons on the way to creating videos, tools for boards and leadership retreats and workshops.
It is the season of creativity. For the nonprofit world, creativity may be the only means we have of meeting the challenge of 12 hours to save the world; that's the average number of hours any one board member spends in a year on the efforts of your nonprofit.
Thank you, FAST COMPANY, for inspiring me one more time. The Clock is Ticking.
