I've worked with many brilliant Board Directors and smart, competent CEOs, but it's not unusual for a leader to stumble and sweat when he/she/they are called upon to muster some creativity. An IBM Global CEO study conducted pre-Covid-19 said: Creativity is the single most important leadership skill in a world that is more volatile, more uncertain, and more complex than at any time before. This is even more true now. No matter what role you play on your organization's team, developing your own creativity will be an asset in your professional as well as your personal life. To make room for creativity, we need "negative space" as Emerson termed it. Letting go of the boundaries and borders, and emptying our brains of the routine clutter, sets the stage. While creativity is a process, it is also a set of attitudes, skills, and behaviors. Typically, it's the attitude (headset) that blocks the flow. A simple starting point is to work on removing the boxes, boundaries, and judgements in your mind. Aim to be open, purposely inducing your own amnesia and forgetting past experience. Then, because the creative process opens us up to to thinking of any and every possible solution, a few simple exercises can help you better materialize your creative magic. 1- Write it out or draw it out. (I'm a big fan of drawing as my colleagues will attest to.) 2- Alternate working on it, with putting it on a shelf. 3- Reduce the number of "open threads." You can't follow through on all ideas, so pick the one that really excites you, and go for it!
#creativity#leadership
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