I’ve read Brad Lomenick’s On the Journey blog for over a year. If you’ve ever participated in Catalyst, he’s one of the leaders there. A recent post caught my eye. It’s just a reminder that leadership is never one-size-fits-all. You have to lead artists differently.

Here’s one of my favorite points:

2. Lead, don’t manage. Share vision, inspire, and let them loose. Managing an artist type like you would an accountant, or a project manager, or a typical hard charging type A, is not a good idea.

One of the most talented artists I know recently left his church because the staff member who asked him to make a video knew exactly what it was supposed to look like. He should have grabbed a camera and shot the video himself. He could have used the practice, because now he’ll have to do the next one himself.

With artists, you never go into a project knowing exactly what it will look like at the end. Give artists a long leash, and the end result will be an upgrade on your imagination.