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Dear Intermediate,
First of all, consider this. If your agency won’t send you on any courses, are you prepared to take those courses anyway?
I’ve had this conversation many times. I really need to improve my presentation skills. Have you taken a course? No, I asked my agency to send me and they wouldn’t.
I scratch my head. Why are you letting your agency stand in the way of your success? People who are phenomenally successful don’t let people or things or circumstances stand in their way. They make things happen for themselves. And funny enough while they’re making things happen for themselves, they always seems to make things happen for other people.
If you’re asking about becoming a Creative Director in five years by now you’re making enough money that you can afford to pay for your own courses. And believe me, the money you spend on courses now, will be more than made up with your salary in five years time.
But back to your question. To figure which courses you should be taking, take out a piece of paper, and write down what you’ve liked about every job you’ve had. Then write down what you’ve hated about every job you’ve had. Then write down the skills of leaders that have inspired that you most admire. Now rank them out of 10. Now, rank youself out of 10 on the same skills. Look at the paper. Anything that is ranked below ‘5’ is a skill you should take a course for. Anything that is ranked between 5 and 8 is something you can learn by asking someone who has those skills to talk to you about their experience in developing mastery in that area. Anything that is between 8 and 10 are skills that you will naturally assume in the next five years because of your new awareness of your need to learn this.
One of the ways that people learn mastery at a sport or artistic endeavour is by watching others in the practise of their skill. The other way is to watch a video tape of themselves. You can watch other people in practise, and now you’ll start watching yourself. There’s a lot to be said about mimickry.
Now that you know which courses you need to take, do some research. First ask your supervisors which courses they have found useful to them. Then ask teachers at your local art college. Then do some research on the internet about which of these courses appeal to you. Put together a budget of how much taking all of these courses will cost. Take the course that you had your lowest ranking in first. It will give your confidence the biggest boost. Then plan out a schedule over the next five years for when you will take those courses.
Go to your supervisor with the courses you would like to take over the next five years, and ask him if you could take half of the time as vacation and half of the time as company days.
Managers invest time in people who invest time in themselves. The demonstration of your commitment to your success will be evident in the research you’ve done. I’d be shocked if your manager didn’t give you the time off.
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