Leadership?

>>1810347
You need to have experience. Learn by doing. It takes a while, but it's worth it.

Don't be afraid to experiment and try out different methods of leading. You'll know you are successful when others start asking you for guidance or begin calling you their mentor. I learned this initially through assuming a leadership role in a student organization in university. Now I take on many of those same qualities when dealing with clients. They come to ME for expert guidance. It's a nice feeling.

You don't have to be a leader to get put in a leadership position, you just have to do things that convince your boss that you're a leader.

>>1810347
I kind of adopted a "fake it til you make it" strategy.

I realized that it's not just that people don't -want- to pick up the slack, it's that oftentimes they legitimately don't know how to express any original ideas or give themselves direction. They're basically just waiting for someone to come along and tell them how things are.

It started in college with group projects. People didn't really want to organize or do the work, so I decided to start assigning roles and responsibilities, and everyone just kind of rolled over and was okay with it.

So then I graduated, all the while looking for a job, but got no bites. Nobody wanted to hire me (or even interview me!). I studied graphic design at a local community college. An associate's degree doesn't look all that great on a resume, especially considering one of the region's best 4-year design schools is based in the same city as my college.

Then I decided to apply the sort of thinking I had in college to real life. I realized that I didn't need to be hired into some job, and I didn't need to go around acting like some fresh-out-of-school greenhorn designer. I could just tell people what I wanted, and they'd probably give it to me.

I re-branded myself, presented myself professionally, made up some dummy projects to put on my portfolio website, read up on pricing, invoicing, and some business stuff, and just went around networking local businesses whose branding I thought was ugly.

And it worked. I am constantly working on projects for different clients, my business is steadily growing, and I am looking to open another (mostly unrelated) business within a few months. Honestly, I am continuously surprised how much it works. You can just tell people you are one way and they'll believe it. I don't think I'm too much of a leader, to be honest, but my clients certainly do, and I think it's partly due to the fact I present myself as being authoritative, despite only having a few years' experience.

>>1810372
Do you invest in indirect marketing? I don't know if theres an appropriate term for what I'm trying to say but things like sponsoring artists and musicians? I plan working as CAD drafter/technical designer and I would like to sponsor musicians somehow but I still need to work on the idea. Probably it won't be the most effective way to spend advertising money.

rule #1
dont get too personal with your employees. Dont talk about your hobbies. Keep smalltalk to a minimum. Once they realise you are just a human being like they are, they see it as a weakness and abuse it.

I learned this the hard way

>>1810399
Lmao what fucking happens in workplaces that makes you cynical and jaded? Did you manager use you for tendies then put you in the friendzone?

>>1810347
Step 1: be a normie

Seems like you already failed Step 1 if you're here on /biz/ OP

>>1810372
>I kind of adopted a "fake it til you make it" strategy.
This ^

Put your hand up for any and every opportunity. Not just the obvious ones either, managers tend to notice people taking initiative.

>>1810447
calling sick once or twice a month, all kind of exuses for shitty work, etc. Had to fire 4 of my 5 employees and replaced them

>>1810372
>especially considering one of the region's best 4-year design schools is based in the same city as my college.

RISD?

>>1810395
No, sorry. Most of my "marketing" at this point is word-of-mouth referrals through clients or cold emails. I don't have experience in that sort of thing. You'd probably have just as much luck leaving your business card on a community bulletin at a few different local coffee shops. Personally I would go for something more specifically directed at your target market. For 99%+ of people, an ad for a CAD drafter is going to be really "random" seeming if it's associated with a musician, unless the musician plays a lot of CAD illustration conferences or something. If you're trying to get your name out there, try to network in places where there are people who want someone with your skills. Conferences, chambers of commerce, professional associations, etc.

>>1811213
Nah.

test