The Most Important Leadership Quality

Ask chief executives what skills are required to successfully compete, grow and succeed in the 21st century and you’ll receive conflicting answers. The global economy swings from signs of recovery to predictions of collapse and the business sector seems paralyzed and often confused. Though many businesses are cash-rich, they’re risk-averse, strategically incremental and lacking fresh ideas and innovation.

However, ask chief executives how important creativity is to a 21st century leader and the response is unanimous - it’s not important, it’s crucial for sustainable business. Today more than ever, creativity and innovation are core competencies for leaders and managers. It is their role to teach people how to perceive the world in new ways; find hidden patterns, make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, ask important questions and generate solutions.

Finding fresh solutions to problems and the ability to create new products, processes or services for a changing market, are parts of the intellectual capital that gives a company its competitive edge. Creativity is a crucial part of the innovation equation.
But still, in many organizations, there’s no clear pathway for developing personal creativity and a way to nurture, develop and celebrate ideas and this is despite leaders’ recognition that creativity is key. Visit a kindergarten however and you’ll be immersed in a culture of creative thinking. Imagination and learning isn’t stifled but encouraged; color, movement, sound and communication thrive. So what happens between the open and effortless experimentation of childhood and the struggle to think creatively that is experienced by so many in adulthood?

Changing the work culture and selectively forgetting past success formulas, and co-creating future products and services with employees, customers, and external partners are hallmarks of creative leaders in organizations from the US, Europe, and Asia. Firms exhibiting creative leadership out-performed their competition during the recession.
We need to develop creative and courageous leaders and build a culture of innovation where failure is acceptable and successfully implemented ideas are rewarded and celebrated. Successful workplaces of the future will incorporate programs and develop an organizational culture that offers employees a voice and a greater understanding and fulfillment of their potential.

Creative leadership programs will take people outside of their traditional comfort zones and lead to improved employee well being, engagement and self-awareness, to increased leadership and productivity, and to a greater ability to innovate and make a difference. In the face of competitive and economic pressures, many organizations are convinced that creativity and innovation are the keys to success.