5 MANAGEMENT LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAINTING

After a very long time of wanting to learn painting with acrylics on a canva, this past weekend my dream came to pass. Hurray! It finally happened.

First and for most; I am that person who always want to have some basics prior to doing anything. Happy to report that, this time it all occurred naturally; I did not disturb our dear google-search with ‘what to expect on your 1st painting class Or ‘how to prepare for your 1st painting experience’.

Truth to be told; my primary aim was to have fun and enjoy the process; of which I did. Credits to Nias Painting and my sister Barbra for never getting tired of sharing learning opportunities with me including this.

There are incredible management lessons that I gathered along, hence why the article.

Grab a seat… Here we go!

1.???It All Starts with a Vision – Make it Powerful

?“A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.” – Michel Angelo

As the above quote, I recall my painting guide first asked me; what do you want to paint Tully? I said, anything… really anything, just an art. He asked again, which one? What vision do you have? Can you sketch or show me? I quickly showed him one of my favorite arts I screenshotted from Pinterest, then he asked, how do you think you are going to paint or start to work on it. I paused for a bit and replied, ‘Sunflower petals and then the middle part which is the background’. He stayed mute for some seconds before he unraveled a mystery on the best way to go about it.

In most situations, you really need to know what you want to paint - big picture beforehand. Then you got to start to think in reverse order or backwards; realize the process and tools you will need i.e., colors, brush sets, pencils.

Now, in management you must know the vision of where you want to go/achieve as a business/department and share with the team, make them understand the end goal then draw the strategic plan and initiatives for them to pick up and work on them accordingly.

Relating to my painting scenario; if I couldn’t communicate to my guide on my vision or what I wanted to paint, it could be a challenge for him to assist, instruct and provide right set of brushes and colors.

The bigger the vision the harder the work… Get ready to get stained! But it all worth it.

2.?Right Team and Resources – A Duo to Success

?After sharing the art, I wanted to paint, my guide started to pick brushes, acrylics, pencils and a cup of water along with paper towels. Then he said, for your vision, this is all you need. We may adjust as we go: he knew exactly what I will need.

Similarly to management, right sets of skills or a team combined with right resources i.e., machines, information etc. do facilitate and speed up the success towards the company’s vision. Hence why, my guide did not just throw the available brushes and colors, but he thoroughly picked the ones that can assist me to paint my vision.

Later he went to search for a 4B pencil, I told him here is the pencil here I can use for sketching these petals, he said that is HB pencil and of course can improvise, but it will make the process harder, 4B is the right tool for this. It is softened and you can see-through patterns effectively. He finished by saying; a right set of tools in painting can strengthen your artistic creation or ruin it if some tools are lacking.

3.???It’s a process – Hang in there!

It is never artificial nor an overnight process. So much hard work, commitment, and determination to succeed are vital.

I can’t remember how many times I kept standing to look at my work from a distance, coming back to sit and re-paint another layer to make it more perfect. At times I was pinching myself and having monologues of how I can’t paint. But he kept saying ‘Yes, there you go’; while I was not seeing the pieces coming together; in my mind I was like ‘Yes Nias, I appreciate the pep talk but we both know that this isn’t it at all’.

Consequently, it is important to keep having moments of reflection as you are managing a department/company, those KPIs, appraisals, weekly/month meetings and all check and balance mechanisms are extreme important. Of course we haven’t achieved the end goal yet, but where are we with the milestones? Where do we stuck, where to we need to perfect and whatnots.

To keep the team in check, motivating the team and supporting their goals should go hand in hand.

4. ?Never Settle for Less – Take Risks

I was almost losing it, the patience and focus altogether; I didn’t see the vision coming, I told my guide, you know what? let’s now consider the Pinterest art as an inspiration, I won’t sketch and paint a ladybug on the petal as seen from the Pinterest art, it’s difficult and I am so tired. He calmly and said yes, the Pinterest art is the inspiration which means we are going to do better than that, and bad news for you is take this pencil, sketch a ladybug on the sunflower petal then paint. Ouch! Long story short, I did it! And that made me proud of myself.

The more you practice, the more you perfect. That’s why Waswahili wanasema ‘Mwanzo Mgumu’ but never lose hope. I tell you my speed and know-hows to painting kept getting better as time went by, I really can’t wait for my next painting. I feel like I am close to being Lavinia Fontana, Lol!

There are times while managing projects, when things get tough or blurry, we are much tempted to accomplish the most minimal output and foregone the ideal goal. But as much as art is not for perfectionism rather fascinations but painting fosters on having the appealing outputs.

?5. Basic Skills to Picture Perfect Vs Competency Skills

Like in management, there are some SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and basic rules to over-go about some activities, so do painting! You got to have right tools at hand, and you must clean the brushes from time to time and when changing acrylics. You also need to have the first layer get dried before painting another layer.

However, there are some pro skills that one must go out of comfort zone or learn to acquire them. And that can distinguish one work/person to another.

It’s funny when I wanted to paint the sunflower petals, I hurriedly told the guide; finally it’s the end, he gave me a sign to wait and said, lets mix these acrylics first; I was like we have yellow acrylic already, he gave out a closed-mouth smile and said, if you want this color to pop more well for the vision you have, let’s mix these two colors and you will love the outcome. Guess what? I couldn’t hold back the scream when I started painting with the color he mixed. It was nothing but dazzling!

In business, we can equate that with Unique Propositions; What are yours? You really need them. For a company as large but you as a leader/manager. Be competent, be unique and stand out. Thanks to painting for this wonderful reminder.

A bonus lesson - Life is like a canva: you have chances to paint absolutely anything you want, and the good news is ?that; you can paint layer after layer, means you are not late to re-live your life in a best version ever.

I have practically experienced the waxes and wanes of art; I believe its high-time to loosen-up my price-bargaining game when it comes to art pieces. *No pun intended*

I have also learned to extend grace to all artists. It’s as never easy as how I perceived it to be before.

Go forth and lead!

Best,

Tully