Creativity and Leadership

The literal meaning of creativity is “use of imagination or original ideas to create something”.

Creativity shall be defined as “the method of producing something that is both original and worthwhile” or characterized by originality and expressiveness and imaginative”.

In today’s technological world, many innovative outcomes may be original, but the question to be asked is, “Is it worthwhile?”.

When we try to find an answer for the second part, we possibly understand sustainability or the right to life for all living organisms in this mother earth.

In the context of a business organization, Creativity is the first step in the method of bringing out a useful process or product or service. In general, new opportunities are difficult to uncover in a running organization. Everyone is busy in what they are doing. For an individual, uncovering new opportunities need a different mindset.

Even when the new opportunities are uncovered, they are rarely seized. The merit of those opportunities is not seen or valued equally by all the members involved.

Even though some opportunities are seized, they are not fully implemented to become an improved or new business process or product or service.

Leaders play a major role in uncovering new opportunities. They provide vision and leadership for the organizational culture which encourages idea generation and manages search process. They make sure the management which activates the enabling mechanism of empowering key personnel, committing resources and nurturing projects.

Leaders set up the organization, launch and monitor the effectiveness of implementation process, and finally motivate and reward the innovators.

The behavior exhibited by the leaders will influence and become the culture of the organization. Creative leadership is to be demonstrated by the leaders of the organization.

A creative leader always stays neutral and allows opposite views to emerge and meet each other within the team. Because in nature, any creation shall happen only when two opposites intercourse. Two men or two women shall never create a baby.

It is possible only when the leader has ability to have both masculine and feminine thinking. It is a state of mind, reaching mental maturity of looking things in a neutral perspective without any prejudice. Because prejudice mind sees what fits those prejudices.

A creative leader is one, who is action-oriented, yet contemplative. He is pragmatic in understanding current reality, yet he is a visionary. He is highly impersonal and logical in decision making, yet compassionate about the people who are going to get affected by those decisions. He can have effective plan for his work, yet adaptable to the changing needs.

A leader may encourage unity in action, but must encourage diversity in thinking not only with the team, but as well within himself. It needs lot of practice. Differences enriches human interactions. Dualities exists with each other to create harmony.

Harmony shall be created only when the leader thinks that ‘well-being of all’ is more important than ‘well-being of self’ alone.

 A great leader creates harmony in the organization and hence in the society.