\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
I am not a \u201cyou gotta pay your dues\u201d guy.<\/p>\n
Talented, groundbreaking individuals have been and continue to enter these industries from all quarters for decades; enhancing all our products with the disparate backgrounds and perspectives brought to the mix.<\/p>\n
No. Not everyone must start in the proverbial Mailroom. Not by a longshot.<\/p>\n
I am a fervent believer in recognizing nascent Talent and offering challenge after opportunity after challenge to refine and season said Talent and launch a successful career. I keep my eye out for Brilliant Youth because it fulfills me\u2026and hey: I want these kids to hire me<\/i> as they Mogul-upwards\u2026<\/p>\n
That being said; it is imperative that Talent be seasoned\u2026that young skill be honed in the realities of the field and trench. Without the practical knowledge of seeing and experiencing one\u2019s actual relationship with and to reality, appreciating one\u2019s effect and effectiveness in communicating with others, building teams and projects, managing, motivating, problem-solving on the fly, balancing cultures from corporate to corporeal \u2026 one is simply a collection of untested skill and theory.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t do this to these young people; don\u2019t do this to your industries!<\/p>\n
Giving a false sense of accomplishment to otherwise brilliant individuals sets them up for failure and crippling, confusing disappointment, down the line. These bright-eyed young people enter an industry for which they\u2019ve hankered and lusted for years; now, they need guidance and mentoring as they learn to Fly; a sage, safety net.<\/p>\n
This also costs the industry money, across the board. Inexperience in key positions threatens to lessen the quality of initial result, protract the problem-solving process, likely call for re-do, retrofit and redesign\u2026and it undeniably, insidiously and sometimes irrevocably undermines the quality of camaraderie and teamwork that is imperative for us all to do our best work.<\/p>\n
Title Inflation<\/strong><\/p>\n Offering a young person, fresh out of school, the position of Creative Director or Producer or Leader at any level smacks of Title Inflation. Are these people being paid, concomitant with that level of executive with fifteen or twenty years\u2019 successful experience; or, is the title being used as bait and in lieu of actually paying the salary of a seasoned professional who can mentor this raw material into the valuable and worthwhile talent, worthy of the (hopefully) big salaries they will (or may) someday pull down?<\/p>\n A few months ago, presenting a workshop to an about-to-graduate group of graduate students at The EMDI Institute of Media & Communication<\/a> in Dubai, I was struck by the number of these men and women who were about to leave school and planned to open their own businesses. It was only as they kept asking about getting clients and navigating the gig market that it dawned on me that they all planned to jump right in as business owners.<\/p>\n While I embraced the entrepreneurial spirit of this multinational group; I took immediate pause and turned the conversation to the reality of learning the craft. No amount of book, study, practical exam and internship prepares one for actually doing the work. Don\u2019t be responsible for this misconception.<\/p>\n What followed was a long and, to many in the room, frustrating conversation about the imperative need for and value of working for someone else, first. Of learning every detail of what a production job entails, from making sure there\u2019s a place to park the generator for nighttime construction lights to securing and placing water for the Talent. The \u201cgrunt\u201d work is key to the success of the project, and a good leader needs to be familiar with what it takes to make every detail materialize properly.<\/p>\n That means working for someone else.<\/p>\n One may graduate at the head of the class and leave school with the brightest, shiniest toolbox and the greatest, most creative or organized (or both) brain on the planet. S\/he\u2019s still not ready to run the show, or even lead a team.<\/p>\n Give these people a workbench beside the best you can recruit. Allow them the opportunity to watch the woman on the right and the man on the left assail the unique, daily problems of the formless, shapeless work we do and learn reflexive dexterity, to practice practical, unstructured problem-solving not manufactured in the vacuum of a classroom.<\/p>\n And, Ladies and Gentlemen, pay for the Leadership<\/i> needed and that should be sought to lead and develop these Next Generations of brilliant artists and creators and producers and businesspeople who will take our industries where no being has yet gone.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t saddle the industry with the Brilliant Unprepared. Don\u2019t needlessly risk incomprehensible disenchantment when, given leadership roles bestowed too early, these valuable neophytes find themselves ineffective, not respected, not followed. We all – new, veterans, clients – deserve better.<\/p>\n Paying with titles undermines us all. This shortchanges our clients, dismisses actual experience and implies that School is Enough.<\/p>\n School is just the beginning.<\/p>\n imho.<\/p>\n “IMHO” the ebook, remains a free download from the eBookstore and on iTunes. Check it out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We\u2019ve all seen it, we\u2019ve been there\u2026 Gathered around a conference table, being briefed by a young, prodigious hotshot at the screen; a little too smug than is warranted by actual experience, speaking with sophomoric certainty of things that\u00a0may not … Continue reading ![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Screen-Shot-2014-07-13-at-6.56.51-AM.png\")
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