Leadership is all about straight talking, taking responsibility and bringing people with you. These attributes apply to any business, as do keeping an eye on costs, solving problems and keeping customers happy.
That was the kernel of the MFA's inaugural meeting to help inspire industry talent, retain them and help make them better leaders.
The Association's 5+ Inspiration Series set out to give those with between five and ten years in industry some motivational input. The series was put together after the MFA polled 250 industry people in that demographic and found leadership training was their biggest need. Over the next 12 months the MFA will roll out tailored sessions to keep those with 5-10 years experience within the industry.
A healthy approach to risk, managing people by sharing knowledge and making them want to emulate you, and taking on some profit and loss responsibility were other pieces of advice dispensed by motivational speakers Nigel Marsh, the marketing and branding guru turned writer, and Megan Brownlow and executive director at PricewaterhouseCoopers and editor of the annual forecasting publication, The Australian Entertainment & Media Outlook.
Marsh, now on the speaker circuit, asked that his talk was kept off the record. But asked what they would have done five years into their careers, he replied that he would have worried less about the consensus view, "stopped panicking" and got on much earlier with doing what he really wanted to do. "It's better to do that at 25 than to wait 'til you are 40."
Brownlow said that she would tell her younger self to do an MBA sooner. Her tips to future leaders were to not be needy for praise on the way up "because as you go further, you will get less genuine recognition, so don't be addicted to it." She also advised that, "if there is a big job, put your hand up for it, take a seat at the table", and to get some profit and loss responsibility.
"Don't be stuck as a cost in your business. At some stage you should be responsible for money in, money out."
MFA CEO Sophie Madden said she was confident that the 5+ scheme would deliver for more experienced professionals what Ngen had done for younger talent and help reduce industry churn rates.
“We were finding that once people graduated from Ngen, they were asking 'what's next?'... So it was a obvious move to create this programme.”
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