What Managers Should Know About Creative People And How They Work

Rha Goddess is a hip-hop artist, turned entrepreneur, who founded Move The Crowd in 2010. She’s committed herself to making the organization’s tagline, “Stay True. Get Paid. Do Good.” a reality for budding entrepreneurs who want to make their mark in a socially conscious way. We spoke with Rha Goddess about how companies can hire and keep creative people happy, the best management advice she’s received and how to stay productive, even when traveling across time zones.

What is the biggest mistake employers make when hiring creatives?

There’s an assumption that a resistance to a 9-to-5 framework equates to a lack of discipline. The biggest false assumption that people who are hiring creatives make is assuming that they’re undisciplined. Creatives are some of the most disciplined people I know, because it’s takes something to create from nothing, to see something through into fruition.

How can employers seeking creatives transform that common pitfall into a hiring strength?

Take the time to understand the whole person. Often, when we’re in an interviewing process, we have tunnel vision. It’s about the job description. It’s about the specific skill set. It’s about making sure that they can fit the square peg into the square hole. The truth is, that’s not how people come to us. People come to us with a myriad of talents and gifts. If we don’t create the space to really understand, we have the potential of limiting their growth and limiting the opportunities of what they can bring to the company. Engage in a full conversation that enables the whole person to put their whole self on the table. I may have a resistance to a 9-to-5 framework, but if there are other things you ask me about, like my work or my creative process, you may discover that what could have been a perception of an undisciplined person is actually, “Wow! This is a very disciplined person. She’s really clear that her own body and natural rhythms are better from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. instead of from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.” If as a hiring manager I’m willing to make that adjustment, I might get more out of this person.

What’s the best training creatives can get their hands on during this time of change in the workplace?

Entrepreneurial training and development. I think many creatives are entrepreneurial by nature. There are things that they are instinctively or intuitively are already doing. In order to survive as a creative, you have to have hustle. So, what’s at the core of that is an entrepreneurial spirit. The opportunity to marry that with strengthening the knowledge and the skill set and building the corresponding social capital, which is what we do in the work at Move The Crowd, it only strengthens their ability to be formidable in the market place.

Do you work remotely? What are some best practices that help you remain on task?

I work everywhere. I think as modern day entrepreneurs all of us would say that! My joke is, “Have laptop. Will travel.” When I travel, especially if I’m shifting time zones, I do have some steadfast practices that support my ability to be able to focus and to be able to stay on task. I do mediation. I do yoga. I do walking meditation. If I can start my day with those practices, it helps ground me and it supports me being able to focus.

When I land some place I also scope out where the quiet areas are. So even if I’m at a hotel, I walk through the hotel to find a quiet remote working space. Is it a quiet coffee shop tucked in around the corner? I scope out places where my work space is going to be and places that give me solitude, quiet, space and distance from the event I’m attending.

I think having a designated space is critical. If you’re working from home, having a designated space where you can close the door is important so you have that separation of church and state. When you’re working, you’re working. When you’re with your family, you’re with your family.

Do any of your employees work remotely? If so, how has that affected your business?

My whole team works remotely. We are all virtual babies. The benefit of that is we’ve got all this technology that can support our ability to talk to one another whether it’s Skype or Zoom. The great thing about it is that you can engage talent anywhere. If I have a really amazing social media person in Los Angeles that I want to work with, I don’t feel bound by or restricted by the fact that that person lives in L.A.

For employers considering virtual teams, communication can be a challenge. The structures and protocols for communication have got to be strong because you’re not able to get up from your desk and walk into the next room and have a three-minute conversation. So what may take you five minutes in an office space together could take 12 emails and three days, if you’re working remotely. So you have to have those ways to short circuit the back and forth. I have a rule with my team. If there are more than three emails back and forth, we get on the phone or we jump on Zoom. Everyone tries to be really flexible. We have a lot of 5-, 7- and 20-minute meetings just to get everybody on the same page.

How do you see creatives’ role in the workforce in the next 10–20 years?

The opportunity to utilize creatives as thought leaders in an organization is a phenomenal one that often gets overlooked. We turn to the finance guy or girl, the business guy or girl for the forecast on the future. It’s really about taking a creative approach to how you work with your team. The idea of cross-functional team and the ability to build these teams, I believe is the wave of the future. It’s less about roles and more about skills sets and core competencies.

What’s the best management advice you’ve received?

A very wise man once said to me, “Manage things. Lead people.” If I’m managing you, it means I don’t trust you. That’s always a red flag for me that I’ve made a poor hire.

If I’m providing leadership, philosophical framework, laying out a pathway, identifying and shaping a body of work, creating the structure that enables support, that sounding board, then, I’ve made a good hire.

I pay attention to how much I’m doing all the thinking. How much am I doing all of the work? That’s sort of the traditional way we’ve understood and in many cases shaped management. There’s the opportunity to make that shift. People want to be led and led just means being encouraged, motivated and inspired. The things want to be managed, which are systems, structures, protocols, accountability loops. Those things you build in in terms of your structure.

What are your favorite tips for managing creatives?

Malcolm Gladwell talks about the five things people need. I really agree with it. They are: clarity, complexity, autonomy, diversity and meaning. A lot of people say, “It’s about the money.” But really it’s about the meaning. I think this is a recipe for all of us as we think about the jobs that are most exciting to us are the ones where we’re really clear about all of these things. Autonomy is not someone necessarily looking over our shoulders, but when we do need support there is somebody accessible and available. Diversity — we’re not coming in and doing the same thing every day all day. We are very clear about how we are contributing to the larger goal, the larger aim, the larger mission. It’s about providing those five ingredients to creatives.

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