Even if you are an experienced leader, you should plan a new project from the ground up. There will always be contingencies that you cannot anticipate. Precise planning helps to build confidence. It enables you to get in touch with the project’s demands, including those it will make on you.

So, as you read this story, ask yourself:

Leading and planning are two sides of the same coin. In a new project, this is even more the case. So, test yourself against Samantha who, in this case, plans her way towards a new venture.

Samantha would describe her production company as “niche.” It focused on how girls coped with just growing up. The formula seemed inexhaustible.

So, what was the problem?

By the time she came to see me, Samantha felt it was time to climb out of her niche and do something affecting the broader society. She was 40 and, for a self-styled creative, her work too circumscribed.

What she needed, it turned out, was to lead a creative initiative that she devised, organized, and saw through to success. She needed to face down a challenge. “I need to mount a Broadway show,” she said, catching her breath and watching my face. “I know it’s a leap—in scale, in terms of what I know I can do—but it’s time for me to try.” I never discourage clients, but was........

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