Is a leader’s creativity different?

Is a leader’s creativity different?

What are the first images that come to mind when we think about creativity? Most of us conjure up images of the brilliant scientist with unkempt hair dashing around frantically creating experiments in a laboratory, or the artist in his lonely garret designing and painting his latest creation.

Creativity in a leader has a form that’s different from these classical images; it is also different from the kind of creativity that we might expect from the managers and executives who work for them.

The creativity of leaders is directly related to their role as the creator of the mission of the organisation. The creativity of the leader is based upon his judgement about the potential of the total mix of human competencies and capital wealth of the organisation he leads.

Undoubtedly, the best long-term organisation growth can only come as a combination of the profoundest use of both Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EIQ) feeling and IQ thinking.

Normal creativity and leadership

A standard definition of creative thinking is ‘the ability to think out of the box.’ People who are able to do this generate genuine fresh ideas from within themselves. In terms of the Belbin Team Skills Test, they are the ‘plants’ of a team, because when you plant somebody with these skills in a team the whole team becomes more creative. This is not the creativity that leaders usually have or need. People with the ‘plant’ skill often lack both interpersonal skills and judgement about how well other peoples’ ideas compare with their own. They are not, usually, skilled team players; they often need help to communicate their ideas, a chairman who knows how to handle them and maintain their self-esteem and flow of ideas when others reject what they think are their best insights. The chair is more likely to be the leader who ensures the plant gets a hearing in the meeting.

The leader’s special creativity comes from the ability to take the best ideas from the team, analyse the external market situation, judge the attitudes of all the stakeholders, and then take an optimal decision on behalf of everybody involved. That is the special skill that I believe is right to call ‘creativity in leadership.’

Leadership creativity?

The creativity of leaders is different from other employees in an organisation because it’s concerned with strategy and vision. They have to create a corporate mission statement that is perceived as smart by all the stakeholders.

This will include such diverse sets of eyes as the brightest people in the city, investing shareholders, customers, and every ordinary member of the staff who will use the mission statement as a guide to where the company is going.

The leader has to scan the external environment, often around the globe, and find the essential parts which offer exciting growth opportunities. He has to spot fresh dangers when others cannot imagine any hazard at all; he needs the creative ability to decide which opportunities to take and when, then how to avoid the dangers and embrace the opportunities with the minimum risk to the business. Leaders have to scrutinise the inner workings of the organisation to understand how to exploit the strengths and culture of the firm, and the best and fastest way to repair any weakness.

They will appreciate the core competencies of the business, and know how to acquire whatever additional skills may be needed to complete the set necessary to achieve the goals profitably. When all this data is assembled, the leader can begin the process of innovative strategic creative leadership into the dark chasms of the unknowable future of the organisation.
After deciding what to do, the leader then has to find ways of communicating it in a digestible form to all the recipients. Comprehensive brevity is hard to accomplish, and takes creative genius to do successfully. Great leaders do it and don’t show the strain.