Thinking Like A CEO Will Change Your Art Career For The Better

As an artist, thinking of yourself as a CEO may have never crossed your mind. You probably think of a CEO as someone in a suit leading a board meeting in a major office building, which is so not you. But what if I told you that thinking like a could drastically change the trajectory of your art career? Seeing yourself as the boss will help you steer your career and goals and be successful, and I’m going to tell you why.  

Establish a Clear Plan of Action 

A CEO is often in charge of multiple responsibilities in a company including shareholders, employees, growth of the company, and making sure the company is in good financial standing. You might not realize it, but as an artist, you’re doing these same things for yourself and your studio. 

When you take a step back and realize that you’re the one running every aspect of your art career, you can start to see how what you’re doing is parallel to the actions of CEOs all over the world. By making the shifts necessary to view yourself in the CEO position, you’ll begin to see all the aspects of your career that need attention such as marketing, sales, and finances, and be able to establish a clear plan of action to meet the goals you have for yourself. 

Establishing a clear plan of action, such as a sales goal for the first quarter of the year, will allow you to see all the steps you need to take to meet those goals. From there you can establish a system, get organized, and level up your art career. 

Establish a System and Get Organized 

Once you have your plan of action established, you can begin to develop your system of working and getting organized. This is a critical step as it will structure your days and time to ensure you’re not only getting your art done, but also responding to emails, making calls, and checking in on finances. 

The reality is many artists operate like a pinball machine. They start out working on a new painting and bounce around to tasks as they pop up, and at the end of the day, they haven’t accomplished as much as they had hoped. 

Taking on the role of CEO in your art career and planning out your days will give you structure and time management that will allow you to focus on one task at a time and accomplish way more in your day.  

 Focus on Why You’re Doing This 

One of the most important components of developing a company or business is to have a mission and vision statement. Every CEO either develops this for their company or closely follows one that was handed down to them. These mission and vision statements allow the CEO and the whole company to focus on why they are doing the work that they are. 

The same thing applies to you and your art career. You have to have a why. When you establish your “why” you can focus on that and allow it to serve as an inspiration and a reminder as you work through the obstacles you may face throughout your art career. 

Conclusion 

Adjusting your thinking to view yourself as the CEO of your art career will take time and practice. These are major habits to develop and it won’t happen overnight, but you don’t have to go through it alone and you shouldn’t. 

There are many aspects to embracing the role of CEO which are not discussed here that can drastically change how you work, view yourself, and your career.

I’ve created a CEO checklist that will help you fully embrace the CEO Mindset!  Make sure you download it today!