IT Leadership

Who should read this?

This article is for you if you are a team leader or manager, or if you want to become one. It does not matter if you have just recently been promoted or if you have been leading teams for years. I will explain how you can harness the power of leading yourself, in order to be able to lead others.

I will explain why creativity is a key skill for leaders and how you can creativity in your own leadership style. I will also provide a detailed action plan for how you can become a more creative leader, including some fun creative exercises, which you can apply throughout the article.

The Importance of Creativity for Leaders

Creativity is an essential skill for anyone who leads teams or organizations. Regardless of the size of the organization and position, or even if you are a team of one.

As a leader, you are expected to come up with new ideas, find new solutions, and innovate. The success of your team and organization depends on it. But how can you expect to be creative when you lead others if you have not mastered the art of creativity yourself?

Leading yourself means focusing on your own personal development. It means investing time and energy in yourself so that you can grow as a person, and as a leader.

Creative thinking is a skill like any other. It can be learned and improved upon. With practice, creativity can become a strength of yours that pays dividends in your professional life.

How to Lead Yourself: Creativity

So, how do you become a more creative leader? Here are some ideas to get you started on your journey to creative leadership greatness!

First of all, let’s define creativity.

The Definition of Creativity

There is no standard, universally accepted definition of creativity. For simplicity, I base the following definition on the idea that creativity is a thought process that leads to original and worthwhile results.

Key Elements of Creativity

Originality: Creativity is often associated with something new. In order to be creative, you need to come up with something fresh, different, and unique.

Value: For something to be considered creative, it must be valuable. This can be subjective, but ultimately, creativity should provide some kind of worth or benefit.

Now that we have a clearer understanding of what creativity is, it is time for you to start leading yourself through the journey of enhancing your own creativity.

Enhancing Creativity: An 11-Step Action Plan for Creative Leaders

The following steps are a comprehensive plan for developing your creative thinking skills and leading yourself to become a more creative person.

1. Understand the Different Types of Creativity

The first step to becoming a more creative person is to familiarize yourself with the different types of creativity.

There are three main types of creativity, according to creativity expert, Dr. Roberto Simo:

Lateral Thinking: This is an approach to creative thinking that utilizes reasoning that is not linear or logical. This type of creativity is about generating new ideas or approaches by looking at a problem from a fresh perspective.

Divergent Thinking: This is a thought process or approach that explores multiple possible solutions or ideas. This type of thinking is not about finding the correct answer, but exploring all possible answers.

Convergent Thinking: This is a type of thinking that aims to find the single, correct solution to a problem. This type is opposed to divergent thinking, which is more open-ended.

Understanding these different types of creativity can help you to better understand the creative process and to identify which type of creativity you may need to utilize in different situations.

2. Get to Know Your Creative Self

Before you can improve your creativity, you need to understand your own relationship with creativity. Ask yourself the following questions to get started on this journey:

• When do you feel most creative?

• What do you think hinders your creativity?

• How do you usually deal with creative blocks or setbacks?

• What is your biggest achievement in terms of creativity?

• What do you find easiest when it comes to creativity?

• What do you find most challenging when it comes to creativity?

Reflecting on your own experiences, and feelings towards creativity can help to identify patterns, as well as areas for improvement and growth.

3. Understand the Creative Process

The creative process is the mental process through which creative ideas are generated. Understanding this process can help you to cultivate and harness your own creative potential.

There are various models and interpretations of the creative process, but here is one example of a stages of the creative process that you may encounter:

Preparation: This involves gathering information and resources, as well as defining the problem or question that you are addressing.

Incubation: During this stage, you review existing knowledge and ideas, while also allowing your subconscious mind to process and consolidate information. This stage may involve some deliberate reflection, as well as unintentional incubation while you are busy with other things.

Illumination: This stage is all about insight. Your subconscious mind has processed all of that information and now you have an “aha!” moment, an original idea, or a new understanding of the problem.

Verification: Once you have your idea, you must evaluate it. This may involve refining the idea, seeking feedback, or considering the idea in the context of the original problem or question.

Understanding the creative process is just the beginning. To enhance your creativity, you must learn how to actively navigate each stage of the process, while also leveraging the unique attributes of your own creative process.

4. Learn to Navigate the Creative Process

Navigating the creative process can be tricky. Here are some tips for navigating each stage of the process mentioned above:

1. Preparation:

• Set clear goals: Be clear about what you are trying to achieve and what problem you are trying to solve.

• Gather information and resources: Ensure that you have all the information and resources to embark on your creative journey.

• Seek out inspiration: Look for inspiration in books, nature, art, science, or even just taking a walk outside. Inspiration can come from anywhere, you just need to be ready to embrace it.

2. Incubation:

• Reflect on the problem: Think intentionally about the problem or question you are trying to address.

• Take breaks: Sometimes creativity requires us to step away from our work and involve ourselves in other activities. Take breaks, and give your mind the space it needs to wander and make connections.

• Engage in activities that promote mind-wandering: Meditation, journaling, and casual reading are all activities that can promote subconscious processing and idea formation.

3. Illumination:

• Keep a notepad or device nearby: You never know when inspiration will strike. Having a way to quickly capture ideas, thoughts, and concepts is important to mark the moment when your insight emerges.

• Embrace the “aha!” moment: When your moment of insight arrives, embrace it and explore it as much as possible. Capture as much detail as you can, and continue to ask yourself questions about how you can build, refine, or develop the idea.

4. Verification:

• Seek feedback: Feedback is a crucial component of the creative process. It helps you to refine, iterate, and improve upon your original idea.

• Be open to iteration: As you receive feedback, be open to adapting and modifying your ideas, based on the feedback received.

• Stay curious: Maintaining a curious mindset throughout the creative process can help you to stay open to new ideas, perspectives, and opportunities for growth and learning.

5. Develop a Creative Practice

Just like a fitness routine where you exercise physically, you can also exercise creatively.

Get into the habit of practicing creativity daily. It can be a specific time of day, or a particular activity, that you use to engage in creative thinking.

You may not always arrive at ground-breaking ideas, but with practice, you will notice your creativity start to flow more naturally and frequently.

6. Explore Creative Exercises and Techniques

There are many fun and interactive creative exercises that you can use to prompt creative thinking.

These exercises are often used in group settings or in corporate contexts, but you can also use them on your own to boost your creativity. Here are a few to get you started:

• The Worst Idea: Come up with the worst idea possible in response to a given challenge or prompt. By pushing your ideas to an extreme, you can often trigger unusual, and more creative ideas.

• Random Word Prompt: Pair a random word with your topic, and use the word to inspire new ideas or perspectives. You can use a dictionary or thesaurus to find relevant words, or you can use an online random word generator.

• Role-Playing: Assign yourself the role of a particular person, or character, and imagine how they would respond to the problem or challenge. This technique is also referred to as “thinking outside the box”.

These are just a few examples of creative exercises that you can explore. There are many more out there, and you can also experiment with creating your own.

7. Build a Creative Support System

Enhancing your creativity is not a solitary pursuit. In fact, isolating yourself can actually hinder your creative progress.

Seek out a creative support system for guidance, inspiration, and feedback. This can include friends, colleagues, or peers who have a strong creative background, creative professionals, or even a formal mentor.

You can also leverage social media platforms, online forums, or creative communities for inspiration and connection.

8. Maintain a Balanced Creative Lifestyle

Creativity is a lifestyle. To be creative, you must embrace creativity in all aspects of your life, not just in your professional pursuits.

Take care of your overall well-being, and prioritize creativity throughout your daily life. This can include:

• Taking care of your physical health: Exercise, eat well, and get enough sleep. All of these things contribute to overall brain health, and cognitive function, which can help to support your creative thinking abilities.

• Engaging in creative hobbies: Pursue creative activities outside of work, for example, photography, painting, writing, or playing an instrument. These types of activities can provide an outlet for your creativity and can also act as a form of practice, or incubation period, for creative thinking.

• Seek out new experiences: Try new things, travel to new places, or try a new hobby. These types of experiences can help to stimulate creative thinking by providing new ideas and perspectives.

• Reflect on your experiences: Whether personal or professional, take time to reflect on your experiences, as they can often be a rich source of creative inspiration.

9. Embrace Adaptive Creativity

Adaptive creativity is the ability to be creative in different situations, and with different types of constraints. This is an important skill for leaders, in particular, as leaders often face unique and sometimes unexpected challenges that require creative problem-solving.

Leaders are also often called upon to manage and motivate teams, which requires a deep well of creative inspiration to keep teams engaged and driven.

To embrace adaptive creativity, it is important to:

• Embrace change: Rather than fighting against it, lean into change and look for opportunities to innovate and create.

• Be open to new ideas: Don’t shut out ideas because they seem strange or unconventional. Sometimes the most unusual ideas lead to the most innovative solutions.

• Practice flexibility: Focus on being responsive and flexible in your thinking, especially when faced with challenges or setbacks. Be open to adapting your ideas or trying new approaches.

• Seek out diverse perspectives: Diversity in all its forms, including diversity of thought and perspective, can bring new ideas and insights that can foster creative thinking and creative solutions.

10. Seek Out Creative Learning Opportunities

Never stop learning about creativity. There are many great books, courses, and seminars available that can help you to deepen your understanding of creativity, as well as provide you with valuable creative tools and techniques.

You can also learn a lot by simply observing the world around you and paying attention to the way people create and innovate in their daily lives.

11. Track and Measure Your Creative Results

Finally, track and measure your creative results. This will look different for everyone, but you should strive to find ways to gauge your own creative progress.

This can mean setting measurable creative goals, or tracking your own creative process, to see what works best for you. You might also consider using a creativity assessment, to help you identify your own creative strengths and weaknesses, and to guide you on your own personal creative journey.

Conclusion

Creative leadership is a powerful asset that can help to drive innovation, motivate teams, and lead organizations to success.

By leading yourself first, you can cultivate your own creative mind, so that you can more effectively lead others. With the right mindset, a willingness to explore and experiment, and a bit of practice, you can become the creative leader that you aspire to be.

I hope that this article has provided you with the tools and motivation to embark on your own creative journey.

Now go out there, get creative, and lead yourself to success!