Keeping fresh and focussed in a long term role (from our archives)

It's the perennial question: how do you stay motivated in a job that you love after years? This classic article has tips from industry leaders.

It’s a common assumption that three to five years is the ideal tenure in a creative role in the arts industry; any longer, and you risk running out of fresh ideas and repeating yourself, the supposition goes. But not everyone agrees.

In a recent interview with ArtsHub in which she discussed knowing when it’s time to go, Kate Cherry, outgoing Artistic Director of Black Swan State Theatre Company, noted that Artistic Directors of major companies tend to stick around for significantly longer periods than many of their sector colleagues.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts