Creative Mentoring for Creative Artistsor Business Leaders
One of the main characteristics of being human that fascinates me is how imagination and creativity are at the very core of the best of our endeavours. Creative Mentoring focuses on your creativity and how to best harness the power of your imagination in realising your goals, whether you are an artist, an entrepreneur or both!
Creative Mentoring is different from coaching. Rather than focus simply on tasks or specific skills (as is usual in coaching) as your Creative Mentor I will work alongside you to enhance your self-confidence and energise your creative imagination in ways that will work for you. My approach is based on a positive, fully engaged and person-centred relationship with you so that you learn how best to utilise your own sources of inspiration and motivation. A key feature of Creative Mentoring is the generation of a liminal, creative spaciousness in the work. I create this “liminal spaciousness” with you by using techniques initially discovered during my Drama training in the 1970’s and subsequently in group work, then honed during decades as a therapist and trainer, working alongside creative leaders in a variety of business sectors. The process of Creative Mentoring is to engender a deep trust in your own imagination and creative processes, a spaciousness that encourages the exploration of ideas and inspirations, that allows for uncertainty and doubt and free enquiry, so that we can together analyse problems and for you discover and create outcomes that are authentic and unique to you, as an artist or as a business leader.
A secondary aspect of Creative Mentoring is the development and harnessing of your “signature strengths” to achieve lasting personal, artistic or professional goals. Using Positive Psychology interventions and exercises I will help you to identify specific personal challenges, set objectives and establish emotionally intelligent strategies you can trust to best realise creative or business potentials and achieve an equitable work/life balance.
As a skilled creative professional or business/organisational leader you will work to high standards of practice and ethics. You seek ways of generating ideas and enhancing your ability to aim high and perform optimally. Solopreneurs in particular face a multitude of challenges that in larger organisations or businesses are shared between colleagues. It is exciting and also arduous as the whole success of your artistic/business life rests solely on you! It can be a lonely place where remaining positive and committed to your endeavour can drain your energy, imagination and enthusiasm, those vital ingredients to your success. Investing in yourself with Creative Mentoring enables you to keep your hands on the tiller, steering a positive course between the reefs of doubt and the rocks of set-backs, overcoming obstacles to reaching your goal - whether these are personal to you or specific to the context of your work or art.
Creative Mentoring is structured around an initial questionnaire followed by the first session where personal strengths, aims and potential challenges will be identified and a unique, customised goal is set. Five further sessions are then contracted that will focus on realising this initial goal . Progress is reviewed during session six and new goals and potential challenges identified. If necessary additional Creative Mentoring sessions can be provided.
Creative Mentoring sessions are 90 minutes and usually two to four weeks apart (by agreement). Sessions are available online and (if costs etc allow) in person (face-face).
To discuss the many ways that Creative Mentoring will benefit you, drop me a line via the Contact page or via email: pete@pete-rawlings.co.uk
For other consultancy and training services for creative professionals and businesses see this link.