From Artist to Executive Coach

From Artist to Executive Coach

Ten reasons an arts education makes good business sense

As an executive coach with a degree in fine art, I’m often asked “How did you go from artist to executive coach”? It’s a fair question.

To clarify, in between I did spend a huge chunk of my career running a small media company, with P&L, revenue, budgeting, hiring and leadership responsibilities. But the transferable skills I learned as a fine artist served me in ways that turned out to be much more relevant than I ever anticipated.

There are subtle leadership skills you learn as an art student that are simply overlooked by most traditional business schools. Here are ten worth considering:

1. 1. Giving and Receiving Feedback: Art students are taught to give and receive critical feedback from day one. They’re taught to deliver feedback openly, candidly and thoughtfully to ensure that the receiver can hear and benefit from it, while avoiding judgement, or personal attacks.
   2. Focused Observation: Artists learn to refine their powers of observation. They are taught to look deeply; to focus, and search for understanding before responding. Being an artist requires being present, open and in the moment.
   3. Visualization: Artists can imagine new worlds. They enjoy seeing beyond existing realities and imagining possibilities. Just as an artist’s work will evolve and change over the course of their career, leaders are required to evolve and adapt…and not be blind to new realities.
   4. Curiosity: Most artists possess an innate and intense curiosity; about society, about the human experience, about everything. That innate curiosity invites inquiry and helps us remain open to new perspectives.
   5. Decision-making: While artists are process-oriented, they’re also passionate about results. While they value critical feedback from others, they also make decisions based on gut instincts. The best leaders are decisive. They know when to elicit feedback, and when to ‘go with their gut.’
   6. Communication: Communication is at the heart of the artistic experience. Seasoned artists rarely operate without some conscious concern for what needs to be communicated. Communication is central to their purpose.
   7. Lateral thinking: Artists routinely find insights by looking laterally, often using metaphors to reveal deeper truths; connecting-the-dots across disparate subjects to find commonality and meaning.
   8. Story-telling: Every work of art seeks to tell a story. Sometimes the meaning is overt, other times the artist simply seeks to control how we feel, allowing us to create our own story. Story-telling allow us access to a shared experience, or common world.
   9. Experimentation: Artists experiment constantly, and know how to “fail fast.” Executives must embrace some level of experimentation in order to lead. Otherwise, they relegate themselves to following trends, leaving the enterprise vulnerable to competitive forces.
   10. Resilience/Passion: Most artists have had to overcome obstacles and make sacrifices in order to achieve some measure of success. Learning their craft is only the beginning. Without the discipline to execute regularly, complete work efficiently, find an audience, and consistently manage resources, it is virtually impossible to earn a living. Stubborn devotion to an artistic vision helps them overcome obstacles and builds resilience. None of that is possible without real and sustained passion. Like the best leaders, artists are passionate about a vision, and about leading audiences toward an understanding and excitement about that vision.