Encourage Team by Casting Vision Using Four Simple Strategies

Composition was a strong skill in my photography tool belt when I was in college. It attracted weekend wedding jobs, numerous awards and my first cinematography gig with CBS. My ability to artistically capture images through a lens was due to an employer who encouraged me by casting a vision for my future.

Alta was a writer and a photographer who took over the management of her parent’s local camera store. When I was in high school, she hired me for my technical knowledge and ability to sell. It was her hope that I’d free up her time so she could fulfill her love of writing for the trade papers.

On one particular day, she reviewed customer photo packets with me and pointed out the problems most had in composing an image. She then raved about Ansel Adams and suggested that I improve my skills to match. Once she saw that I bought into her inspiration, she asked me to enter Polaroid’s national photo competition.

After winning the award for best composition, I realized Alta had casted a vision that drove my skill improvements. I owed her a good deal of thanks for investing a vision in me and inspiring me to step up to it. And, I made a mental note of how she encouraged me, which I’d like to share.

Every leader can learn how to encourage their team by casting vision using four simple strategies.

Acknowledge a Recognized Problem

I was able to accept Alta’s challenge because she first pointed out what I could see and understand. The pictures in everyone’s vacation photos had no artistic value. We both saw it and could relate to each other’s perspective on the poor quality of composition. In that moment we were peers.

Share a Vision of What the Solution Looks Like

Alta then pointed out the great works of Ansel Adams, who I admired. His sense of composition was breathtaking and made the mundane look priceless. Developing similar skills promised equal benefits. I was sold on wanting to develop my eye for composition.

Suggest a Course of Action for the Team’s Success

I was given instructions to study and practice my composition for the up coming contest. Alta handed me a camera and numerous rolls of film. She only required the right to watch my development process and make suggestions along the way. After several months of intensive shooting, I came up with one perfect shot that would’ve thrilled Adams.

Ask for the Team’s Commitment

To benefit from the process, which would help the store and give her more time to write, Alta asked me to commit to practicing and submitting my best photo. I agreed and took first place in the category of composition. It was a thrill to have my name associated (for a few weeks) with the real pros that included photographers from National Geographic, Sports Illustrated and the like.

I was amazed at how a little encouragement through casting a vision impacted my life. It made me realize how much power rests in the hands of a true leader that can directly impact her company. And, its not limited to a few leaders. Every leader can encourage their team by casting a vision.

Copyright © 2015 by CJ Powers

Posted by

CJ Powers

Posted on

July 8, 2015

Posted under

Filmmaking, Leadership

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Controlling Kills Creativity

When I was the lead carpenter for the Before Broadway Players, my director asked me to create a special effects box that looked high tech and gave the audience the sense that it was beyond this world. Having been empowered, I quickly put everything I had into the tech and the final stage prop created a great publicity buzz.

I was only able to use my ingenuity because I had a director who understood that controlling his team’s decisions would kill their creativity and force the audience to pretend the box was more than just junk parts glued in place.

There’s a fine balance between setting vision or giving a project direction, and controlling everyone involved. The latter tends to dilute creativity and drives creative types to withdraw their best efforts and replace it with something mundane.

It’s true that at certain key moments control is necessary to get things on track with market needs, but continuous control robs the team of unique successes and slaughters their inspiration for innovation in the arts. Put simply: long-term control kills the art form.

So why is it that new directors tend to control the actors and crew, rather than collaborate with them?

It might be due to insecurity. Or, maybe watching previous works demolished by the wrong choice in team or talent selection. In any case, I believe all directors can find a balance between control and collaboration by practicing three important steps.

EVALUATE YOUR ACTIONS. Most controlling leaders are not aware of their grasp on people. They make decisions based on their goal, not the person they work with. This causes them to stifle innovation from those around them, which is detrimental in all of the arts, but especially motion pictures.

To break free of control issues a director can ask himself several questions:

A. Are my ideas always the best?
B. Have my cast and crew stopped contributing?
C. Do people constantly ask questions for approval, rather than risk their creativity?
D. Have all of my projects gone flat and are no longer interesting?

If any of the answers above are yes, then the director must practice letting go.

PRACTICE LETTING GO. The word practice is critical in revealing the ongoing process for the controller. No one can throw a one time switch and suddenly turn everything into a great collaboration. It takes single daily steps to accomplish the change. There are a handful of questions a director can ask himself to move forward in letting go:

A. What responsibility can I delegate?
B. How can I measure the delegate’s success without taking over?
C. What new responsibility can I use to fill my time?
D. What new behaviors can I develop to keep my hands off the delegate’s details?

By letting go of the minutia and filling time with more important focuses, the director can empower his team to put their soul into the project.

LEARN TO EMPOWER. The best way to empower someone isn’t by understanding their ability to perform a task, but rather understand their behaviors and how they make choices. It’s the choices that determine if the individual will follow the vision or head off in a different direction.

A director, who spends a lot of time understanding people and how characters develop, can plan how behaviors can be triggered. To move in this direction, the director can ask himself the following questions to prepare:

A. What behaviors are needed to accomplish the responsibility?
B. What choices must be present to give comfort when I let go?
C. How can these behaviors be inspired or given to the person?
D. What support is required to empower the person?

Empowered individuals always out perform controlled people. Yet, it takes hard work on the director’s part to empower the people, while maintaining his vision.

Some new directors who get past the control factor shift to the opposite extreme with a mishmash of unclear activities. Empowering people does not stop the director from painting a vision and directing everyone towards it, as there is a great difference between getting buried in the minutia and inspiring everyone’s behaviors to reach the goal.

Whether you’re a film director or a manager, what do you do to empower your people?