It,s that time of the year again when I teach the Art Management course at the University of Hyderabad. This year it's a large group again - the numbers have grown considerably since the first batch of 9. As always it is a women-dominated group with 15 young ladies, Chetana, Krishna, Pooja, Bhavya, Hymavathi, Soumya, Ala, Lasya, Gayathri, Satya Prasuna, Aashika, Shilpa, Sruthy, Ritisha, and one young man from South Africa, Niveshan Munswamy.
The first session was about setting the lay of the land. I found out a bit about them and their aspirations, introduced myself to them, shared the curriculum and then told them what my proposed aims of the course were.
My objectives for this course were to make the student
1) feel secure
2) take 100% responsibility for their career
3) get a process orientation to move forward in their career
Being Secure:
To be secure in my definition is to be clear about what one knows and what one does not know. And to be ok with that. Most insecurity comes from the enormous effort of wanting to hide what we do not 'know' and pretending to 'know'. It's simpler to say 'I don't know' especially when we do not know, because it opens up a discussion, and answers and perspectives.
When we say 'I know' it ends the discussion, stops further learning. However when we say 'I don't know' it starts a discussion and there is stuff to learn. Even when we do know something, we only know a perspective, and we must welcome other perspectives and discussions to deepen our knowledge.
Being secure is to be comfortable not 'knowing', being ready to 'learn'. It's a simple shift in thinking that makes the student drop her insecurities and don the robe of a student.
Taking 100% Responsibility:
This means one takes complete responsibility for one's career. It includes one's efforts to learn, to get the best of the environment, to get the best out of the teachers and peers. It involves not giving excuses, not blaming others for anything - not even 1%. 100% responsibility simply means that one is completely free to choose one's method of learning, of charting one's course and following it wholeheartedly.
To take complete responsibility, is to be completely free. There's no one else to blame. Your mistakes, your learning is yours.
Process Orientation to Move Forward:
The path forward for the student after the course must lead in a direction that produces concrete results in the student's chosen path of performing, learning, teaching, research etc. The artist's vision is developed, the long term aspirations, medium and short term goals are set clearly. The path being established, the ways to achieve the goals are discussed. The right mindset to adopt to achieve their potential, process of preparation, the making of experts, the methods and tools of learning, basics of marketing management, financial management, event management, leadership, people skills, communication, negotiation skills, networking - give them enough tools to practice and take their career forward.
Practice:
The first session was about setting the lay of the land. I found out a bit about them and their aspirations, introduced myself to them, shared the curriculum and then told them what my proposed aims of the course were.
My objectives for this course were to make the student
1) feel secure
2) take 100% responsibility for their career
3) get a process orientation to move forward in their career
Being Secure:
To be secure in my definition is to be clear about what one knows and what one does not know. And to be ok with that. Most insecurity comes from the enormous effort of wanting to hide what we do not 'know' and pretending to 'know'. It's simpler to say 'I don't know' especially when we do not know, because it opens up a discussion, and answers and perspectives.
When we say 'I know' it ends the discussion, stops further learning. However when we say 'I don't know' it starts a discussion and there is stuff to learn. Even when we do know something, we only know a perspective, and we must welcome other perspectives and discussions to deepen our knowledge.
Being secure is to be comfortable not 'knowing', being ready to 'learn'. It's a simple shift in thinking that makes the student drop her insecurities and don the robe of a student.
Taking 100% Responsibility:
This means one takes complete responsibility for one's career. It includes one's efforts to learn, to get the best of the environment, to get the best out of the teachers and peers. It involves not giving excuses, not blaming others for anything - not even 1%. 100% responsibility simply means that one is completely free to choose one's method of learning, of charting one's course and following it wholeheartedly.
To take complete responsibility, is to be completely free. There's no one else to blame. Your mistakes, your learning is yours.
Process Orientation to Move Forward:
The path forward for the student after the course must lead in a direction that produces concrete results in the student's chosen path of performing, learning, teaching, research etc. The artist's vision is developed, the long term aspirations, medium and short term goals are set clearly. The path being established, the ways to achieve the goals are discussed. The right mindset to adopt to achieve their potential, process of preparation, the making of experts, the methods and tools of learning, basics of marketing management, financial management, event management, leadership, people skills, communication, negotiation skills, networking - give them enough tools to practice and take their career forward.
Practice:
- Ask more questions.
- Catch yourself jumping to defend yourself, trying to prove you are right (can instead argue your case with a 'I feel...')
- Stop giving excuses, stop blaming. You are fully responsible for everything that happens to you. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, find ways to get the outcomes you desire.
- Try to figure out the process in all that is not going right, so you can control the process and get the desired result.
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