For the best creatives, there comes a time in their career when they’re ready to make the next step and enter a leadership role on their team.

But just because you’ve been a successful creative, doesn’t necessarily mean you can rely on the same game plan to make that transition into a great leader, says Anne Mullen, executive vice president, creative strategy at Nickelodeon Group.

Mullen told the Promo Boot Camp at PromaxBDA: The Conference 2014 that “what got you here, won’t get you there.”

Here are her seven tips for charting a course toward an executive role:

1. HAVE A PURPOSE

Purpose is the meaning behind what you do every day – it names the game we are playing. We want to work with people who care about something. A leader enrolls their team in a purpose. Don’t just chip a stone; build a cathedral.

2. DIFFERENTIATE PURPOSE FROM AMBITION

A purpose gives you direction – it doesn’t say “fast”. Ambition determines the velocity at which you get there. Things like ratings worries, deadlines, budget, and getting ahead are the ambition that drive you towards your purpose. Both are necessary, but they are not the same. All ambition, no direction = spinning and burn out. All direction, no ambition = you’re left in the dust.

3. IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU

Think of a bicycle wheel; the strength is in the rim. Cut one spoke the wheel still works, but cut the rim and you can’t move. The power in your work relationships is peer-to-peer, the points between the spokes. When you’re a peer, make it work with your peers. Leverage those relationships and keep creating new ones. And when you’re the leader, stay at the center, holding direction and the momentum while creating connections and collaborations along the rim.

4. LISTEN

Asking good questions keeps things dynamic and moving forward. Giving answers closes possibilities. The right question matters. The role of the leader is to craft the questions – and then listen.

5. NOTICE WHAT’S MISSING, NOT WHAT’S WRONG

When you review work, instead of noticing what’s wrong - the cut is too fast, the VO is wrong, the graphics don’t look right - try asking “what’s missing?”. This keeps the focus where it should be: on purpose, and keeps the conversation, and the work, moving forward. Asking “what’s wrong” gives us problem solving.

6. TO PICK UP SOMETHING NEW, YOU’VE GOT TO LET GO OF THE OLD

As we advance in our careers, most of us want to hold on to the things that worked in the past. We believe “I did this before and it worked, I will do it now and it will work”. And the only thing that disrupts this way of thinking is when …drumroll… it doesn’t work. The transition from making the spots to thinking about making the spots is the single hardest transition a creative maker faces. You’re going to have to let go of the processes that made you famous and pick up some new skills. But if you’re holding on to the old too tightly, you really won’t be able to pick up the new skills and processes that will advance your leadership.

7. TRUST YOURSELF AND WELCOME DISCOMFORT

There’s a wise saying, “anxiety is the seed of all learning”. Discomfort is a necessary part of exploring, risking and learning something new. Trust your instincts, have a purpose, choose your goals and enjoy the ride.

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