What is Creative Leadership?

Nov 1

For many people, the word “creativity” evokes images of artists, musicians, dancers, designers, writers or film directors. We think of creatives as rare individuals born with imaginative capabilities that ordinary mortals don’t possess. But creativity is a mindset, not an outcome or a product. It’s a way of innovating outside the box rather than within the confines of systematic thought processes governed by strict rules. As Albert Einstein said, “Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

Creativity is an essential leadership skill to navigate rapidly accelerating complexity and ambiguity. A recent World Economic Forum report ranked creativity third among the top 10 skills of the future. Globalization, economic uncertainty, pandemics, and frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and quantum computing are just a few of the factors driving volatility and disruption. Creative leadership provides a powerful competitive advantage in managing disruption and driving innovative solutions, and is a skill set that can be developed with training and practice. Here are five characteristics of creative leaders.

1. Creative leaders value divergent thinking.

They listen to multiple points of view and tap into a wide range of skills, proficiencies and creative competencies to solve today’s complex problems. They foster learning and collaboration across silos, hoping unexpected connections will inspire novel insights. They aren’t invested in finding a single “correct” answer, but empower organizations to explore multiple solutions simultaneously. They embrace a “learner’s mindset” instead of a “knower’s mindset.”

2. Creative leaders think in connected systems, rather than isolation.

They encourage frameworks that give insight into users, so solutions are customer-centric and informed by tangible needs, rather than product-centric. They focus first on human-centered innovations that elevate the customer experience rather than cost-cutting. Apple, for example, became the first publicly traded U.S. company to hit a $2 trillion market capitalization in 2020 not just by recognizing consumers’ desires, but by anticipating them.

3. Creative leaders embrace an inquisitive, risk-taking mindset.

Their approach to problem-solving is motivated by curiosity rather than fear. They continuously ask questions, welcome improvisation, view mistakes as a critical part of the learning process and have a higher tolerance for failure. They disrupt traditional hierarchies and refuse to lean on old principles and assumptions. Their growth orientation and emphasis on the future help position companies to traverse unexpected challenges. For example, retailers that invested heavily in recent years to unify the customer experience across physical and digital channels thrived amid the coronavirus outbreak, while others failed.

4. Creative leaders have a bias toward action.

They are quick to test, experiment, learn and iterate, which helps to create momentum across an organization. They serve as catalysts for change. As a 2020 Global Technology Leadership Study by Deloitte noted, “Technology leaders are being called upon to serve as kinetic leaders—a supercharged change instigator, pursuing transformation while ensuring resilience.” Creativity is an essential trait for a change-oriented leader who can envision a tech-led future.

5. Creative leaders are open and inclusive.

Instead of issuing top-down, hierarchical mandates, creative leaders invite and encourage ideas to percolate from all directions. Instead of a linear approach, they foster “lateral” thinking, which leads to fresh perspectives and surprising opportunities to discover “what ifs.”

They understand that integrating the collective genius of the organization will deliver higher value, keep talent deeply engaged and drive organizational transformation.