Partnering with Clients

I love my clients and agents! It is so comforting to know that they are my ultimate clients - they want to grow, they want someone to be a partner with them, they want someone who is committed to their organization for a lengthy period of time, they want someone who is available to do work consistently...

In this Season of Giving, I have been thinking about how I give to my clients and how they give to me. From updates weekly to meeting weekly even for 5 minutes to keep in touch, this simple "keeping in touch" is what makes partnerships with them possible and what makes them thrive.

When there is a change in the amount of connection between me and a client, it greatly impacts both the synergy of our team and momentum of their business as well as my business. And that proves to me that having a partnership with anyone takes consistent working on both parts.

So what do you do when there is a slower time of work that you can give to your team to do? How do you ride these waves between being busy and not being busy?

What are your thoughts?

Creating Life

written on Wednesday, December 06, 2006; moved December 17, 2006

What Do I Want? Current mood: pleased Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes *To be a part of a community of artists and business network that sharpens me and also gives me opportunity to sharpen others. *To be accountable and grow from each and every experience I have in business and in the arts by having a coach/advisor/mentor for every aspect of my career. *To coach artists in the creation of community, money, respect, network and mentoring *To partner artists with businesses to form a win win situation. *To practise what I preach with such a powerful integrity that people will notice and want to be a part of what I have. *To be known by, nurture and inspire artists and leaders in business to sharpen one another and create/build dreams which create a better world for all *To be paid for what I do at the rate of a professional theatre director to the rate of a professional film director. *To be respected and sought after in my field by my colleagues and by those I work with - I want to do multiple projects with multiple people. Ahhh, that feels great to get that out! May it be so!

Sharing without much to give? Current mood: excited Category: Life No matter what we do or where we are, one of our major needs as humans (besides food and sunshine) is nurturing and encouragement. Unfortunately, I have found in my work and life that those people who are involved in the creation of any kind of art (from sculpting to designing a set to directing) or those who are in leadership of teams seem to be the ones that are most lacking in it. It's crazy! What are the people that nourish and challenge by sharing of their skills and their talents doing with an empty barrel? How can you create and give away something you don't have? I don't believe it is possible because I have seen how impossible it is in my own life. I'm an artist who is also a leader and a business owner. When I have gone into a rehearsal process filled up to the rim with encouragement and nourishment for my person, I have seen myself lead and guide the other artists I am Directing to create something quite brilliant. Most of the time, it has been unplanned and spontaneous - the best kind of creation. These times are thrilling and are becoming more and more frequent. So what gets those juices flowing? What fills up the barrel? Well, for me, it was learning how to nurture myself. I believe that knowing how to nurture yourself is the first step to being able to give to others. Once you know how to do that, the best of you begins to ooze into the lives of others. I like what Julian Cameron quotes, "The worst that can be said of a man is that he did not pay attention." By learning to pay attention, I have learned that we will have much to give. What do you think?

Halo learning

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Halo is history Well, Halo is now in the history books for Fire Exit Theatre. I am still receiving emails from people who saw the show and loved it! Josh, you certainly have written a gem of a play! Halo taught me many things and reinforced things that I already knew but now I know in a fresh and new way: People really respond well to humor and to drama mixed together. There is such encouragement in a community of artists working together to create something powerful. People like to feel valued and are freed by having a clear understanding of what their role is. Artists need to be encouraged and motivated when they are going into tech week. As a Director, I learned much about myself too. I learned that I indeed have a style which is to nurture and encourage people. I learned too that I can nurture and encourage just by asking designers and actors to give their best ever. I don't have to compromise the vision of the show to do that. And I learned that as I gain experience, I gain the respect of others when I ask them to make changes. So I'm looking forward to moving into more and more work in the arts so that I can keep sharpening my skills and my person. How are you sharpening your skills and person?