1. Invest in your company and yourself
It’s no secret that for business leaders, taking time out of the company is hard. There’s a lot to juggle on a day-today basis leaving little headspace to think about the bigger picture and even less time for personal development. Cross Creative gives you that space – allowing you to step out of the office one day a month, learn alongside your peers and look at your business with a fresh perspective. It’s a short-term commitment that will reap benefits long after the final workshop ends.
“Cross Creative came along at exactly the right time for me. It helped give me confidence and direction to position and grow the company across the UK and beyond.”
“I feel like I’ve taken something really valuable from each session, and the whole experience has been transformative. I genuinely feel like a different person to when I started.”
2. Go back to the classroom
Throw away your idea of impersonal corporate training with endless power points and flipcharts – that is dull, expensive and not what we’re about. Peer learning is one of the key aspects of the Cross Creative programme, where you’ll get to share your challenges, aspirations and frustrations with a cohort of likeminded people working in digital in a confidential and trusted environment. What your share on Cross Creative stays in Cross Creative – unless you want to share it wider, of course! Alongside that, we work with leading trainers and industry experts to ensure that each delegate gets the most of out the session and has valuable lessons to bring back to their team. From pitching skills to negotiation and creative problem solving, you’ll be needing a notepad.
“From day one it was made clear that this was an open, private community designed so that we can speak freely. And people did – everyone was very forthcoming about their companies, challenges and aspirations. It was a bit of a therapy session sometimes! But massively valuable to learn from your peers.”
3. Go global!
Did we mention the programme includes an international trip? TRC has been delivering world class training for 20 years, allowing us to forge lasting relationships and gain exclusive access to some of the biggest names in the business. Previous Cross Creative delegations have talked management techniques over coffee with leaders at Facebook in San Francisco, demystified Blockchain with experts in Toronto and seen successful company culture first-hand at the likes of Shopify, Google, Dropbox and more. This year we’ll be returning to Canada’s famous Toronto-Waterloo Region Corridor, the largest concentration of tech companies, post-secondary institutions, start-ups and digital entrepreneurs outside of San Fran’s Silicon Valley.
“The trip made me realise that Scotland has so much to offer the world. Now more than ever we need to take risks, make connections and be more willing to fail.”
“The trip was a real eye-opener, packed with inspiration. I feel some of the connections may help us set foot in Canada.”
4. Question the status quo.
Cross Creative is an investment in your company and will give you practical lessons to take back to the office. Previous delegates of the programme have implemented company-wide changes on the back of lessons learnt on Cross Creative – from applying more creative solutions to business hurdles to completely restructuring their teams. You might be the envy of the office as you jet off to Canada for a week, but the whole business will benefit from the programme.
“I now place further emphasis on innovation and creativity. I am constantly making sure our work environment is a place that fosters creative thinking.”
“I definitely feel like I manage differently, because I’ve changed the way I think. I’m much more positive and pragmatic, and encourage ideas more in others.
5. Make lasting connections
The learning doesn’t stop in the meeting room or on the international trip. By participating in a TRC course you’ll become a part of the TRC Network – a community of creative individuals in Scotland and beyond. We keep in close contact with our alumni, and constantly adapt our training programmes to cater to industry demand. There’s a good reason why Cross Creative has been running for over ten years!
“We’ve referred work to other companies on the programme and we’ve won business on the back of Cross Creative. I’m confident that even years down the line, when Cross Creative is a distant memory, that network will still stick with me.”
Applications are currently open for Cross creative 2018/19. Find out more about the programme and apply now. Any questions? Get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.