Are You a Creative Leader?
From Business Week Magazine: “According to a new survey of 1,500 chief executives conducted by IBM’s Institute for Business Value, CEOs identify ‘creativity’ as the most important leadership competency for the successful enterprise of the future.” Talk to many leaders I’ve worked with over the years about the most important leadership competency, and you’ll usually hear about financial expertise, organizational skill, or motivational ability. But the truth is – especially during this disruptive economy today, creativity is more and more in demand.
And remember – we’re all born creative. Just show me a little kid who isn’t creative. But somewhere around school-age, for most people those creative instincts start to recede.
If you’re a leader, start tapping into your creative side once again. Management expertise, financial acumen, vision – all those things are important, but to answer the challenges we face today, creativity is becoming more and more valuable (read: critical.)
We live in a design driven culture, where technology is shifting the traditional rules of doing business. New times demand new approaches, and the creative leader will be the one who refuses to get stuck in old thinking, will challenge the status quo, and never defend bad ideas with lines like, “Well, that’s the way we’ve always done it.”
What are you doing today to be the creative force you need to be for tomorrow?
Where is that Business Week article at? I would love to read it.
Phil, Don’t know if you’re familiar with Daniel Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind,” but his premise is that the age of left brain dominant workers is over. Right brain creatives – thinkers, designers, teachers, storytellers – will rule the future – are you ready?
Interesting that most of the traditional roles of a leader are really management functions (finance, organization, motivation), which makes sense since nominal leaders are often promoted from management ranks. I’ll bet most so-called “leaders” really think of themselves as high-level managers.
I’d say leaders might think about inspiring rather than motivating. Inspiration is creative and must be done from the front, which is where a leader belongs.
Great post … Empowering people to foster creativity vs confining people to narrowly defined roles and expectations.