marlagoecker-blog

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Final Project: Business Plan…..

This has been a challenging and fulfilling Journey to Mastery at Full Sail University. Over the past 12 months, I have grown personally, as well as professionally. When I first started, I thought I had a clear path for my game studio, however as the program progressed, I started to refine my original business plan into a completely different business plan.  My passion was owning my own game studio, that’s it, just a game studio. As I progressed through the classes, this wide vision narrowed and by the time I was into the last 2 months of the program, the vision fully materialized as IceVayne Games, custom game-based learning studio. Leaving this program, I have the confidence and the ability to successfully launch my studio. The following are my key take-away's from each of the 12 classes:

·       Mastery: Personal Development and Leadership. This class was the start of my Journey to Mastery. While I had some previous experience with writing APA style, this class helped me to understand how to conduct the proper research and citations for an effective APA formatted paper.

Executive Leadership. This class allowed me to increase my understanding of the various leadership styles. In addition to understanding these styles, I have learned when each style should be utilized to effectively lead a team to success.

Project and Team Management. Learning how to build a successful team, as well as managing a project successfully is important in a game studio. This class helped me to fine tune my skills as an effective project manager.

Business Storytelling and Brand Development. By increasing my understanding of brand importance, this class allowed me to take a deep look into my brand both personally and professionally. This class was the start of the transformation of IceVayne Games from just an indie game studio to a custom game-based learning studio.

 Entertainment Business Finance. Having an extensive background in finance, this class was more of a refresher class for me.  Working through the financials, based off of assumptions helped me to get a good start on the proforma financials for IceVayne Games.

 Digital Marketing. I learned a lot from this class. Before going into this class, I thought making a few social media posts and keeping the studio website up to date was sufficient. I was clearly wrong about that. As a result of this class, I created a comprehensive digital marketing plan that works well for IceVayne Games.

Negotiation and Deal-Making. This was my biggest challenge throughout the program. I am the first to admit that negotiating is a weakness. This class helped me to work on becoming a better negotiator. I still need to work on this area, but I have made great strides thanks to this class.

 Product and Artist Management. This was completely new territory for me to discover. I enjoyed learning how artist managers work and exactly what their job all entails. This is beneficial for me when my studio has to hire outside artists for music and voiceovers. Understanding the role of the artist manager will help me to negotiate with the manager effectively.

 Advanced Entertainment Law. Understanding how copyrights, patents, and trademarks are protected, as well as how to avoid infringing on them or having someone infringe on my own is the knowledge that I gained from this class. As IceVayne Games grows, it is important that its intellectual property is protected.

Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution. This class gave me critical insight into the steps a studio would have to take in order to get a publisher or to self-publish. I wrote my first game treatment in this class and have since written two more for other game studios looking to get their games published.

Business Plan Development. This was my first exposure to a formal business plan. I learned all the components of the business plan and started writing my business plan for IceVayne Games. By the end of this class, I had a good understanding of what the components of a good business plan were.

Final Project: Business Plan. This class was the culmination of all my hard work throughout all previous classes, especially the business plan development class. This is where it all came together into a formal business plan for IceVayne Games. I also learned how to create an effective and engaging elevator pitch.

It’s been a great and challenging journey. Every class built on the previous class and culminated in a professional business plan that I am very proud of. It was fun to watch my simplistic broad vision of a game studio refine itself into a focused game-based learning studio. Now onto the next chapter…..

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Business Plan Development.....

This month my journey to Mastery focused on Business Plan Development. Going into this class, I really didn’t know what all a business plan entailed. My goals were to understand what makes up a professional business plan, start researching and gathering the information that would be required for my personal business plan, as well as, start writing my business plan for IceVayne Games Corp. I knew that this month would be a challenge for me, I just didn't realize how big of a challenge it would be. But I did give it a 110% and took away the confidence that I now fully understand the concepts that were presented in this class, as well as what components are required for a business plan. This class has allowed me to have a good start on my business plan for IceVayne Games.  

Throughout the month, I learned what chapters are to be contained within a business plan. While I was learning these various chapters of the plan, I was also researching and formulating my business plan for IceVayne Games. This method of weekly learning has helped me to understand what type of research is required, as well as what exactly an investor will be looking for when reviewing IceVayne Games’ Business Plan. Throughout this month, I have been researching and preparing my formal business plan for IceVayne Games. In addition to the research, I have a good start on the Proforma Financial Statement. This was less of a challenge for me with my background in accounting, but it was still a challenge. Through valuable feedback from the Professor, it made me really think as to the validity of my numbers. At this point and time, the numbers that I have formulated feel reasonable and attainable. To be honest, I had no idea that it would take so much research to formulate a business plan. This has been a learning experience, as I not only now understand what needs to be within the business plan, but I also have a better understanding as to what investors will be looking for when reviewing my business plan for IceVayne Games.  

This month has been a huge personal success for me. Not only have I learned what a business plan is made up of, but I have grown professionally. I have attained all the goals that I originally planned for myself. I have learned what is necessary to successfully research and formulate a solid business plan. IceVayne Games' Business Plan is currently still being worked on, but the knowledge and information that I have learned over this past month are present within this business plan. Over the month I have gained confidence in my business plan and feel that once completed, I will be able to present it to various investors with confidence.

In addition to understanding what a business plan is and what it entails, I also participated in discussion posts with fellow classmates that have helped me to grow personally and professionally. Watching various video interviews with successful entrepreneurs, as well as discussing these interviews, has given me the perseverance to move forward with my studio. Being able to see how other entrepreneurs focus their energy has been of great value to me. I do believe that putting employees first helps to make a company successful, but understanding how to effectively do this, is just as important. Where do I want my studio to go? While I want it to be successful, I also want the team that works at the studio to be invested into the studio and be successful as well. When your passion is shared with other team members within the studio, this ultimately creates a combined passion, which will lead to success.

References

[Image of components to a business plan]. Retrieved from https://cdn.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/business-plan.jpg-e1448413936977.jpg

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Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution.....

This month my journey to Mastery focused on Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution. This class came at just about the right time for my studio. A month earlier would’ve been better, but the information that I learned this month has helped my studio to present its first game pitch to a publisher. The goals that I had originally set for myself to achieve while taking this class were, to understand what is required to successfully publish a video game, continue my professional networking, and experience a game being released. These goals were very realistic and fit well within what the course was about.

Goal number one was to understand what is required to successfully publish a video game. There is a lot to understand before one just publishes a video game. Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution helped me to understand the steps that my studio must take in order to obtain a publisher or to self-publish its video games. It is not only important to create an effective query letter but to understand the documents that are required once you have a publisher interested in the game. Creating a game treatment was new for me this month. I have created game design documents, but never a game treatment.  This was helpful for my studio this month, as the studio was getting ready to pitch its newest game to a publisher. Having a completed game treatment to give to them after the meeting can help to keep the studio’s game fresh on their minds. I feel the game treatment that was presented proved to the publisher that the studios game was marketable and hopefully left the publisher with the desire to learn more about my studio's work.

My second goal of continuing to network with industry professionals is an ongoing goal. I try to dedicate time every day to read up on the latest news within the industry, as well as participate in industry forums. I also set SMART goals weekly to help me keep on track. One can never network too much, especially in a highly competitive industry such as the game industry. I am a firm believer that it's not what you know but who you know in the game industry that will help you to succeed. One thing I have learned from my years of networking within the industry is, that while the game industry is large in size, it's still a small world. You must always be cognizant of this when working within the industry. Keeping a professional demeanor while networking, as well as within your personal life is important for keeping your image positive within the game industry. I will continue long after this class to keep growing my professionalism, as well as my professional network.

The third goal of releasing a game has not been obtained yet, but steps have been made in a positive direction for making this happen. Knowing what a publisher wants prior to meeting with them is very important. This makes the studio appear knowledgeable and serious about the games that it is developing. Overall, the tools that I learned this month will help me to continue to increase my studio’s presence within the game industry. Expanding the knowledge of what a publisher would look for when submitting a game will help the studio to obtain a publisher. Learning how to self-publish was important as well. After all, even the most successful studios need a backup plan. Understanding that self-publishing is an option, can be my studio's backup plan. Setting SMART goals to help keep me on track will help me to keep my professional network expanding and moving in the right direction of attaining my goal of running my own studio.

References

[Image of Game Icons with the word Start]. Retrieved from http://www.gamelogi.com/wp-content/uploads/game-publishing-1.jpg

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Advanced Entertainment Law Post.....

This month my journey to Mastery focused on Advanced Entertainment Law. My goals for this month were to understand the impact of the digital revolution on the entertainment industry, refine my knowledge of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) within the game industry, and increase my understanding of entertainment law in general. While I have a general knowledge of business law, expanding this knowledge into the entertainment industry was a new venture for me. This class has helped me to understand the liabilities that a game studio may face with copyrights, patents, and trademarks.

The digital revolution is changing the landscape of today’s business. The game industry has grown as a result of this digital revolution. Today everyone is wired to the internet and social media. This has caused an increase in the platforms that games can be released on, as well as the types of games that are being released. Social media has given birth to social gaming. People love to play games where they give gifts, receive gifts, and even compete against their friends. These new avenues for gaming have increased the number of games entering the market. As such, game studios must do their due diligence in ensuring that the content that they are releasing isn’t violating copyright, patent, and/or trademark laws. Advanced Entertainment Law gave me the skills that I need in order to do the proper research for my studio to help protect it from any type of infringement liability.

In my current position as controller for a media manufacturing company, I work with IPR forms daily. It is required before the company replicates content for our clients that there is a valid IPR form on file. I have been involved in obtaining the IPR forms for various Disney titles, as well as Michael Jackson replicated titles. There can be a lengthy process involved in order to obtain all the rights required to use intellectual property that is owned by other parties involved in the compilation of a disc or program. Advanced Business Law has helped me to understand further how to obtain permission to use intellectual property. This will be important as I develop games in order to ensure that the studio has permission to use protected property within the studio’s games. It is also important to ensure that the studio's intellectual property is protected. Through the use of copyrights, trademarks, patents, and non-disclosure agreements, the trade secrets and property of the studio can be protected from other studios using it. This does not mean that another studio may not try and use the property, but by having it protected the studio will be in a better position to litigate the unauthorized use of the property. A game studio is made up of trade secrets, that is what drives the game industry. Understanding how to effectively use and protect intellectual property will enable the studio to survive in a highly competitive industry.

Overall, this month has furthered my knowledge of business law as it pertains to the entertainment industry. The game industry, in particular, is always evolving, which makes it imperative that I understand how to protect the trade secrets my studio will develop. As the studio grows, it will develop and release games that will need to be protected under copyright, trademark, and/or patents. I now have the knowledge on what property can be protected, as well as how to go about protecting this property. Taking this knowledge that I have learned this month and utilizing it as I start up my studio, will allow the studio to protect its intellectual property as the studio develops. Understanding how to research intellectual property, as well as how to obtain the proper rights to use this property, will allow my studio to mitigate its risk when it comes to intellectual property. Advanced Business Law has been a valuable asset on my Journey to Mastery.

References

[Image of a gavel and Xbox 360]. Retrieved from http://keepitnerdy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/supreme-court-gaming-arguments-the-emaesa-presents-their-case.jpg

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Product and Artist Management Post.....

This month the focus of my journey to Mastery has been product and artist management. Going into this class I didn’t know what to expect. I have not had any exposure to artist management in the past so this was a new learning experience for me. It has been a good experience as it has shown me that going outside of my comfort zone and learning new things can be challenging and rewarding. Having managed people over the years during my career helped me to understand the concepts that artist managers must know in order to be successful within the entertainment industry. Product management wasn’t a new concept to me. While I have had some experience in this area, this portion of the class has given me a more in-depth understanding of product management.

While my focus is within the gaming industry, I have been learning that the entertainment industry operates basically the same within each niche. Artist Managers are managers. They have to motivate and sell their clients to the public.  It is also important to understand what it takes to manage their clients. In every aspect of people management, you must learn how to manage people based on their personality. One cannot manage all people the same way or you will fail. Understanding how to effectively manage artists can be a challenge. Through studying successful artist managers such as Sharon Osbourne, I now understand that it is crucial to have a good understanding of your client’s needs and to be creative when managing your clients. Artist management is a business, and as such, you must run it as a business. Failure to focus on the business aspect will result in the business failing. In the highly competitive entertainment industry, it is important to not only be a good business manager but to be creative in how you network and keep yourself within the eyes of the industry.

During product management, developing and creating a product plan has been fun and challenging. Thinking of products to enhance the game my studio is currently developing has been difficult. Finding products that would add value to the players is something that takes a lot of creativity and thought. In a world of Triple-A studios with unlimited budgets, it is difficult for a small indie studio to compete. Releasing the game is a challenge in and of itself, but to create ancillary products to help create greater player immersion while not impossible, takes some time. As I progressed through the product plan I did create 3 products that would work to help bridge the gap for players between the game world and the real world. Understanding what it takes to create these types of products is key when it comes to product management.

As for my goals this month, while I don’t feel they really pertained to this class, I did actually attain them. Goal number one was to find a mentor. I do have a mentor in the game industry. I work with him daily as we near the end of the development cycle for our game Eden Falling. He has agreed to continue to mentor and work with me as I develop my own studio. One thing the studio has been doing this month is playtesting our character creator. This has been a challenge as most of our team members have not effectively play tested before. Through several training sessions on how to document, we have managed to get the team up to the point where they are effectively playtesting the game. This month I was also promoted to Assistant Team Lead of the Level Design Department, this is where I have attained goal 3 of learning how to effectively work with younger co-workers. Understanding artist management has also helped me in achieving this goal. Knowing how to manage different personalities, as well as age demographics,  is important in the game industry, as a studio is made up of all different types of demographics. This month was one of many challenges and new experiences. It has helped to broaden my knowledge of the entertainment industry and will be important as I continue on my Journey to Mastery.

References

[Quote by Carolin Myss]. Retrieved from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/72/ff/bc/72ffbc9366510531c21eebc7e4a883e5.png

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Negotiation and Deal-Making Post.....

This month the focus of my journey to Mastery has been negotiation and deal-making. Going into this month’s journey I was fully aware that negotiations are my weak spot. It never fails that when I start to negotiate, depending on the situation, I let my emotions take over. Learning how to keep these emotions in check and utilize them to effectively negotiate was going to be a challenge. My goals this month were to learn how to effectively negotiate digitally, communicate more effectively, and work on better understanding how body language can affect negotiations. All three of these goals have one thing in common in order to be successful and that is communication.

Today’s world is digital and as such one must learn to negotiate digitally. One challenge when corresponding digitally is emotions are hard to express. This can cause misunderstandings and breakdowns in communication as well as a failed negotiation. Doing research on your bargaining position, as well as research on the other parties bargaining position is important. This allows you to have a better picture of where each party is coming from. E-mail is the predominant way of negotiating digitally. There are several drawbacks to this, the main one being that it takes longer to negotiate via e-mail. In order for negotiations to be effective digitally both parties have to be dedicated to negotiating continuously until a resolution is reached. If one party does not respond in a timely manner this can cause the negotiations to fail.

Understanding that my communication style is predominantly commander helped me to realize that this strong style has been somewhat of a downfall for me during the negotiations that I have had prior to this class. My black and white, my way or the highway attitude was allowing me to miss out on negotiations that could have been mutually beneficial to both parties. Knowing that my communication style can be overpowering has allowed me to adjust it based on the other party’s communication style. While I will negotiate better with a thinker and inspirer, it is also important that I learn how to communicate effectively with quiet thinkers. Negotiating with a quiet thinker requires me to back down on my forwardness and adjust it so that I do not intimidate them into making a deal. While the goal is to negotiate a deal that meets my objectives if it is sacrificing theirs the deal isn’t a win-win and not mutually beneficial. Being fair and having both parties reach a win-win solution is important in negotiating and as such I must be cognizant of each participants communication style. Body language is an important part of when communicating effectively. Sitting up straight and exuding confidence allows others to see that you are confident not only in your negotiations but yourself. Understanding how body language can be perceived by other cultures is important as well. Being aware of my body language while negotiating will enable me to communicate better.

Learning the different types of alternative dispute resolution is important to ensure that my interests are protected if there is a contractual breach. I have on a personal level had to deal with arbitration and mediation. It is important to protect one’s position when a breach of a contract happens, but it is also important to utilize methods of resolution that are beneficial to both parties. I honestly wish I would've understood the reasoning better when I was faced with this 15 years ago as it would’ve saved all the parties involved a lot of time. Hindsight is 20/20 and one can only continue to learn as situations arise, which is a personal goal that I have set for myself. I have attained my goals for this month. Learning my communication style and how to adjust it to other communication styles is invaluable. I have done this to some extent in the past but haven’t fully utilized it. Moving forward I will keep this in mind when I negotiate with others. Learning how to keep emotions in check is also important. This is an area that I know I will always struggle with but knowing it exists can help me to use it to my advantage and not look like an emotional train wreck. Finally, understanding the benefits of mediation over litigation can save all parties involved time if a breach of contract occurs. This month has helped me to understand myself, my negotiating strengths and weakness, and what I can do to remedy breaches in contracts. References

Howard Baker Quote: 'The most difficult thing in any negotiation, almost, is making sure that you strip it of the emotion and deal with the f...? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://quotefancy.com/quote/1614781/Howard-Baker-The-most-difficult-thing-in-any-negotiation-almost-is-making-sure-that-you

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End of Month Six on My Journey......

References

50 George Eliot Quotes About Love, Life and Friendship. (2018, August 2). Retrieved from https://everydaypowerblog.com/george-eliot-quotes/

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Digital Marketing Post.....

This month the focus of my journey to Mastery has been digital marketing. Before taking this class, I thought I knew what digital marketing was. It’s posting and promoting yourself and your brand on social media and your website, boy was I wrong. There is so much more to digital marketing than a post here or there and a cool website. A company can have the best website and social media pages out there, but if they are not marketing them correctly, it is a waste of time and money for the company. Having a fully integrated marketing plan is imperative for the success of any business.

My goal for the month was to ensure that my social media accounts were professional in every aspect. I have been cognizant of this for many years now, but every now and then things can slip in, in the heat of the moment. Looking through my social media pages, there really wasn’t too much to clean up so to say. It is very important that these pages are a professional representation of myself and who I am. Potential investors will no doubt look at these accounts to see what type of person I am. Making sure they are professional is of high importance to me at this time in my Journey to Mastery.��

Another goal I had was to learn exactly what digital marketing was. This was an eye-opener and a true challenge. When developing my digital marketing plan, I tried to stay with channels that I was familiar with. This worked for one channel, social media. The other channels that I had to integrate into my plan where basically a foreign language to me. But the challenge was met with enthusiasm and many late-night hours researching. I took away a wealth of knowledge from this class. Understanding the steps to create an effective marketing plan is key to the success of my company IceVayne Games (IVG). While I had already established some digital marketing and traditional marketing channels, I have not utilized them effectively. This will be changing as I develop and create brand awareness of IVG in the game-based learning industry.

This month was a challenge for me, but a good challenge. Understanding the value of a digital marketing plan and how to formulate it is key for IVGs brand awareness and success. My business idea has been evolving throughout this journey and is becoming clearer as the journey continues. The digital marketing plan helped me to further identify what makes IVG unique in the industry. Game-based learning is a growing field and being able to create effective marketing in this field will enable IVG to become a successful game-based learning development studio.

References

Davis, T. (2008, January 5). Digital marketing trends 2018. Retrieved from https://www.rebootonline.com/blog/digital-marketing-trends-and-challenges-2018/

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End of Month Five on My Journey......

References

How to push yourself forward even when you're unmotivated - Blissful Gal. (2017, January 23). Retrieved from http://blissfulgal.com/how-to-push-yourself-forward-even-unmotivated/

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Entertainment Business Finance Post.....

Month five on my Journey to Mastery focused on Entertainment Business Finance. This was a good refresher course for me. Working as a Controller for a Media Manufacturing Company the past 12 years I realized after taking this course that I had settled into a routine and didn’t ever stray outside of this routine as far as my daily financial duties were concerned. When making capital expenditures, I have always used the payback method. This has been effective for me in making these types of decisions, however, utilizing Net Present Value may help make some of these expenditures a viable option. I have always been quick to discount an expenditure if it didn’t have a 3-year payback. After focusing on Capital Budgeting this month, I realize that this method may be costing my company money when it comes to making capital expenditures. This is something for me to remember and moving forward looking at not only the payback period, but the NPV of a capital expenditure is important for effective decision making regarding capital expenditures. My goals for this month were to expand my finance background into the entertainment business. This is important in my journey to open up my own game studio. Understanding effective ways to determine which capital expenditures are worthwhile versus those that may not produce a capital gain are important, not only in the start-up phase of the studio but for the longevity of the studio. Part of expanding my knowledge was to realize that I don’t know everything, I am always learning. Rather than sticking to the same routine day in and day out, it’s a good idea to think outside the financial box. By creating the pro forma financial statement, it allowed me to dig deeper into the capital requirements as well as the sales that will be required in order for the studio to break even. Determining the initial capital requirements as well as the expenses that will be incurred prior to opening helped me to understand that there is a significant cash requirement to open the doors. While I plan on my studio being a part-time venture, in the beginning, obtaining good financial backing is important. Entertainment Business Finance has been a good refresher course as well as an expansion of my current financial knowledge. Diving further into NPV as well as break-even analysis has helped me to better plan the start-up of my studio. Making solid financial decisions regarding start-up costs as well as capital investments will keep my studio on track for success. Presenting my pro forma financial statements and assumptions to future investors will help to obtain the necessary financial backing in order to make my studio successful.

References

What is capital budgeting? definition and meaning - Market Business News. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/capital-budgeting/

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End of Month Four on My Journey......

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Business Storytelling & Brand Development Post.....

This month the focus on my journey to Mastery has been business storytelling and brand management. I have been working on my brand for a little over 4 years. It wasn’t until I graduated from Full Sail with my bachelor’s degree in game design, that I really started to focus on it. Understanding how my personal brand fits into my business brand has been important to me as well as to the success of my brand. By answering the 3 little questions, who you are, what do you do, and why do you do it (Neumeier, 2005, p. 31), are key to developing not only my personal brand but my business brand as well. Once I explored these questions on a personal level, it made me realize that how I personally brand myself, is representative of my business brand as well. This has helped me to grow both my personal as well as my business brand. Looking back on my Mastery Journey Timeline, my goals were to research successful brand management, understand the correlation between business storytelling and a great customer experience, and to create my own personal brand. As I reflect back on this past month, I have achieved these goals. Through industry research, I was able to understand how successful companies manage their brands. Keeping up with the current industry trends as well as identifying competitors, enables a company to understand how and where their brand fits into the industry. By keeping track of the current trends in the game industry as well as what my competitors are up to, will help me to manage and position my brand within the industry. While I had heard of business storytelling, I wasn’t really sure what it all involved. During the month, I have grown to understand its importance in brand development as well as customer satisfaction and retention. It is important to tell stories that explain as much about who you are as what you do and tell stories that matter (Howard, 2016). Customers today are not only looking at the products that you offer but what you as a company stand for. Both are equally important when customers look at your company. This also affects how they perceive your brand. How you tell your story, is essential for building your brand. Over the month I have become aware of my personal brand and how it fits into my company. I have started to set SMART goals and as one is completed, it is replaced by another. This is helping me to build my personal brand. As I build my personal brand, I am creating a larger network within the game industry. This wider reach within the industry will help me professionally in the future. My professional growth is represented by my brand.

References

Content sharing and storytelling: why/how people share content. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.i-scoop.eu/content-marketing/content-sharing-storytelling/

Howard, B. (2016, April 4). Storytelling: the new strategic imperative of business. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/billeehoward/2016/04/04/storytelling-the-new-strategic-imperative-of-business/#6788a4dd4d79

Neumeier, M. (2005). The brand gap. New Riders.

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End of Month Three on My Journey......

Reference

Steve Jobs Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/steve_jobs_737723?src=t_team

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Project and Team Management Mastery Post......

This month my journey to Mastery focused on Project and Team Management. While I have been leading teams as well as managing projects for many years, there is always something new that can be learned. As a leader, one can never stop learning. People change and companies evolve. Team demographics continue to develop as this evolution takes place. The skill one must possess to effectively manage a team and the project that it is working on must continue to evolve along with it. My main objective of this course was to improve my current practices when it comes to managing a project and a team.

On a personal level, reviewing what my conflict resolution style is as well as my personality traits have given me insight into how my leadership skills have evolved over the years. It also gave light to the fact that my personality traits are still changing. It is beneficial to periodically review what your strengths and weaknesses are as it pertains to leading a team. I have learned that I gravitate towards doing things more on my own. In my personal life, this is a good personality trait to have. It enables me to work and think independently.

Professionally, I have grown this month. While I have managed many projects, I have never formally used a PM plan or software to help set the tasks, timeline, and budget for the project. I understood the scope of the project and worked through the phases without much regard to the team that worked with me on the project. My goals were to complete a high-quality project on time and within budget no matter what. Utilizing these newly acquired tools has been helpful and they have since then been instituted in my daily job functions. Learning how to manage risk was always low on my PM list, by making risk a part of the planning process some risk can be avoided allowing the team and project to be successful. Combining these new skills for planning the project with a revisitation of my conflict resolution style and personality traits have allowed me to grow as a leader. According to McWhorter Sember and Morris (2008), “until you know who you are and how you react to a situation or event, you cannot possibly coach someone else in any effective manner.” This statement resonates with me. Personality traits must be identified within as understanding your personality will help you to lead others effectively.

I will continue to evolve and refine my project management and team skills. Learning to focus more on the team is important. Understanding their personality traits as well as what motivates them, will help my leadership style become more effective. Leading a team through the phases of product development is a challenge, but it is one that I am willing to take on and succeed at.

References

McWhorter Sember, B., & Morris, R. A. (2008). Project management that works: Real-world advice on communicating, problem solving, and everything else you need to know to get the job done. NY: Amacom.

Retrieved from https://corasystems.com/blog/nine-inspirational-project-management-quotes

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End of Month Two on My Journey......

References

Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/461619030528696452/?lp=true

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Executive Leadership Mastery Post......

Executive Leadership, the second course in my Mastery Journey at Full Sail University, has given me the opportunity to study the foundations that make a successful leader. During this course, I studied two very different styles to become a successful leader. On one end of the spectrum there is Maxwell and on the other you have Greene. Greene's approach is power driven whereas Maxwell’s focuses more on self-awareness.

I have been in a leadership role for a little over 20 years in the media industry. From the readings, John C. Maxwell, Developing the Leader Within You, as well as Robert R. Greene, 48 Laws of Power, my leadership style follows more in line with Maxwell. While I started out with Greene's style, I have grown over the years to develop the style that Maxwell presents. During my early years of leadership, I followed Greene's Law 2, Never Put Too Much Faith in Friends (Greene, 2000) and Law 7, Get Others to do The Work for You (Greene, 2000). I was so focused on advancing that I didn't care about or trust anyone but myself. As I grew in leadership, I evolved to Maxwell's style of leadership. I became aware that my success as a leader was only as good as those that I was leading. Investing in my co-worker's success is important to me.  I care about my co-workers and want them to do then better me. My successful leadership is contingent on their growth as well as happiness.

Maxwell’s style will be more effective when leading a game studio. A studio is made up of many different types of team members. As such, it will be important to understand that each member will have different strengths and weaknesses. Determining what these are will help to make each team member effective in doing their job. We tend to focus only on our weaknesses, as a leader, helping a member to grow in areas where they feel they are weak will lead that member to become invested in the team as a whole. Stress is also a reality in a game studio, it can break down even the best teams. When the release time gets close, things tend to go wrong. Members are working long hours and frustration abounds. Being able to keep a positive attitude when this happens, will keep some of this stress from exploding. One cannot foresee the issues that may arise, however, having a plan to address these issues when they do, will help to alleviate stress and keep the team moving in a positive direction. Keeping the direction flowing positive will lead to productivity and successful releases.

References

17 Best John Maxwell Quotes On Pinterest John Maxwell John 639713 - QuotesNew.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://quotesnew.com/2017/04/18/26-john-c-maxwell-quotes-dreams-dont-work-unless/17-best-john-maxwell-quotes-on-pinterest-john-maxwell-john-639713/

Greene, R. (2000). The 48 laws of power. London, England: Penguin Books.

Maxwell, J. C. (1993). Developing the leader within you. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

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End of Month 1, My Journey to Mastery Inspiration.......

References

Inspiring Work Quotes Also Imagine Believe Inspiring Work Quotes For Achieve With Heart Style Design Unique Too Long Advertisement Powerful 44 With Work Quotes For Saturday – rakeback4.me. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://rakeback4.me/inspiring-work-quotes/inspiring-work-quotes-also-imagine-believe-inspiring-work-quotes-for-achieve-with-heart-style-design-unique-too-long-advertisement-powerful-44-with-work-quotes-for-saturday/