Links and resources
Whilst working across a portfolio of growing creative businesses we are always expanding our own knowledge and drawing on the insights and wisdom of others. In this way we build a pool of resources for leaders of creative business.
On this site we have shared a small selection of useful resources that our clients have found useful on their journeys, from start up to grown up.
Books
In working with our clients we create a partnership where insights and learning flow both ways. Often, our clients share with us insights from books they are reading.
A selection of our current clients’ reading follows:
- Simon Gravatt and Jane Morgan, Forever Young. Immortalising the Entrepreneurial instinct.
- Bruce J. Avolio and Fred Luthans, The High Impact Leader: Moments Matter in Accelerating Authentic Leadership Development McGraw-Hill
- Marvin Snider, Compatibility Breeds Success: How to Manage Your Relationship with Your Business Partner. Greenwood Press.
- Daniel Goleman Emotional Intelligence. Bloomsbury
- Peter Wilson, The Essential Guide to Small Business Growth. Wiley
- Eric G Flamholtz Growing pains, Jossey-Bass
- Peter Senge, Presence: Exploring Profound Change in People, Organizations and Society. Nicholas Brealey
- Paul Arden, It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You want to be. Phaidon.
- Andy law, Creative Company. The story of St. Luke’s. Adweek.
- John Adair, The Inspirational Leader, Kogan page
- Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves, The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book, Fireside
- Ian Brooks, Organisational Behaviour: Individuals, Groups and Organisation. Prentice Hall
- Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle. Orion Books
- Ken Blanchard and Jesse Stoner, Full Steam Ahead - unleash the power of vision in your company and your life. Berrett-Koehler Inc.
- Julia Cameron, The Artists Way.Pan Books
- John Ward. Perpetuating the Family Business. Palgrave Macmillan
- Dena Mitchelli Assertiveness in a week. Chartered Management Institute.
A small selection of books from our own shelves which you may also find useful in exploring the world of personality type, professional and organisational system development and coaching.
- Isabel Briggs Myers, Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type, Davies-Black Publishing
- Jean M Kummerow, Work Types: Understanding Your Work Personality, Warner Books
- Dario Nardi 8 Keys to self-leadership. Unite Business Press
- Rupert Merson, Owners. BDO Stoy Hayward
- Daniel Goleman The New Leaders, . Sphere
- Gilles Amado and Richard Elsner, Leaders in Transition, Karnac Books
- Patrick Lencioni, Overcoming The Five Dysfuncyions of a Team, Josey-Bass
- Michael Maccoby, Narcissistic Leaders - who succeeds and who fails. Harvard Business School Press
- Klaus P Horn & Regine Brick, Invisible Dynamics - Systemic Constellations in Organisations. Carl-Auer
- Jan Jacob Stam, Fields of Connection, Carl-Auer
- Halina Brunning, Executive Coaching, a Systems-Psychodynamic Perspective. Karnac Books
- Mary Beth O’Neill, Executive Coaching with Backbone and Heart: A Systems Approach to Engaging Leaders with their Challenges. Jossey-Bass
- Roswita Königswieser, & Martin Hillebrand. Systemic Consultancy in Organisations. Carl-Auer
- Barry Oshry. Seeing Systems. Published by Berrett-Koehler
- Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, Family Business on The Couch, Wiley
Websites for further exploration
The Design Business Association, Experts Register, of which Managing Partner, John Whittington, is a member:
http://www.dbaexpertsregister.org.uk/
Home page of The London Business School where John and other members of our team are
regular tutors and coaches:
The Centre for Creative Business
A joint venture between The London Business School and the University of Arts, London.
http://www.centreforcreativebusiness.org
Working with individuals in the context of the wider system is key to our approach. John Whittington is a facilitator of public workshops that apply the principles and practice of systemic thinking and constellations to issues from personal, professional and organsitional systems.
http://www.constellationworkshops.com
Our sister company – whole life coaching for individuals of name and reputation
Recent press
Article in the spring 2008 edition of The DBA Newsletter
‘Leadership by design’
On the journey from start up to grown up leaders of creative businesses often face three key professional developmental issues, where a coach can add real value:
Founder syndrome: As the founder you often begin to loose your original motivation and secretly wonder how long you want to stay in your own business. A coach provides a confidential and neutral sounding board to resolve the complex issues that always arise when your personal, professional and organisational issues overlap.
Talent in transition. High potential individuals in design, production or client services roles get stuck as they are asked to move into wider leadership roles. This is the most challenging transition point in most peoples working lives and the point at which a professional development coach can make all the difference.
Systemic issues: You discover that your agency is facing complex cultural issues - people leaving, or slipping standards for example. In these situations it’s often useful to get a coach to do a ‘health check’ through dialogue with the staff. This encourages the hidden dynamics driving your business to be surfaced and resolved.
These three areas illustrate where professional development coaching can make a real difference. Coaching, as opposed to training or consulting, not only helps resolve complex human and organisational development issues but extends the repertoire and range of interpersonal styles so people can develop a flexible portfolio of leadership and influencing skills. When that happens in alignment with your personality then you have authentic leadership and creative business vitality.
John Whittington is managing partner of The Riverbank Partnership and member of The DBA Experts Register.
Summary
We work alongside creative businesses to support the growth of leadership clarity, organisational health and productivity in the senior team and beyond, working at the point where individual and organisation, personal and professional, life and leadership meet.
Our work brings us into contact with many issues faced by leaders in the creative industry:
Personality type and leadership; clarifying leadership team structure; joining and leaving, building enduring creative business vitality; clarifying personal/business purpose; leadership team clarity; authentic leadership; building organisational culture; managing partnerships; enhancing emotional intelligence; resolving founder syndrome; facilitating transition; succession; resolving team and interpersonal dynamics; behavioural change; delegation; peak performance; effective communications and influencing styles; resolving the impact of old patterns on leadership style; issue & crisis resolution; organisational flow; having difficult conversations; coaching others; hierarchy and role in creative businesses; loyalty and retention.
‘One must step back. Instead of going with the flow, one must climb onto the banks and look at the river until you understand its course, recognise its potential and decide what has to be done.’
Bert Hellinger
For the Flash graphics version of this site please click here:
For further information and enquiries please contact John Whittington, Managing Partner, The Riverbank Partnership
john@theriverbankpartnership.com