596. Expert Interview: A Creative Workplace for a Creative Career

Frank Cottle

Frank Cottle is CEO of Alliance Virtual Offices and chairman of the Alliance Business Centers Network. He is a recognized expert on flexible working, the virtual office movement, and third-place working. Prior to creating the Alliance brand, Frank successfully operated his own portfolio of business centers in multiple locations across North America. He spent almost the past 30 years delivering business services that are finely tuned to the workplace needs of startups, entrepreneurs, and growing small and midsize businesses. Over the years, he has worked with tens of thousands of business owners and, coupled with his unique global perspective, has become the go-to authority on flexible and remote work.

A Creative Workplace for a Creative Career

“I can’t imagine anybody who is shaping their career who does not want to work in a creative work environment. That has different definitions for different people. To some, it will mean physically creative. To others, it will be intellectually creative, and the physical won’t matter. To some it will mean having an inspired community with which to interact. The key to the creative workplace is being able to create it daily based on the needs around you. There are creative ways of using technology to make that happen.”

Why Is This Important?

“Today’s worker is not like the workers of the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s or even early 2000. We’re totally connected globally. It doesn’t matter where somebody is located geographically. It just matters that they are the best person for the job. You can be a global business operator without necessarily having to physically go global.”

What Are the Key Lessons Learned Here?

“A creative career used to mean having to relocate my family to corporate headquarters to get the really good job. There was a lot of disruption, pain, and expense to get the good creative career job. Today, that is not necessary. We have people who work for us all over the world, and we just find the right person. We don’t disrupt their life, make them move, or tear their family apart. The kids do not even have to leave their school. People are happier that way, and we create a career path through the use of technology.”