Creative Leadership

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Creative leadership is a style of leadership based upon the concept of working cooperatively to develop innovative ideas. [1] Those who employ creative leadership tend to do so by creating conditions which promote creativity. Creating such conditions, which are sometimes called "supportive contributions", [2] are described as psychological, material, and/or social supports that trigger, enable, and sustain creative thinking in others. [2]

Contents

The term creative leadership is commonly used in organizational studies and was first referenced in 1957. [3] In recent years, there has been a significant increase in research surrounding creative and innovation leadership [4] and the term has also been used increasingly among practitioners [5] and in the public sphere. [6] Researchers and practitioners have suggested that creative leadership is more important in the current political and economic climate than ever before. [7] It has also been suggested that creative leaders display behaviors that may contradict traditional management styles. [8]

In 2010, results from the IBM Global CEO Study indicated that according to the polled Chief executive officers, creativity was the most important quality for leaders to build successful businesses, outranking integrity and global thinking. [9] Further research has found that although organisations may claim that they value creative leadership, the majority of those organisations tend to promote leaders who do not espouse creative leadership, and instead are risk-averse and maintain the status quo. [10] [11]

Competencies

According to Stoll and Temperley (2009, 69–74), creative leaders foster conditions that can help to inspire creativity in others. These conditions include: "stimulating a sense of urgency if necessary, exposing colleagues to new thinking and experiences, providing time and space to facilitate the practicalities; setting high expectations, promoting individual and collaborative creative thinking and design, using failure as a learning opportunity, relinquishing control, and the modelling of creativity and risk-taking." [12]

Ball (2015) suggests that the five core competencies for creative leadership are: "acting with passion and purpose, applying an explorative mindset, envisioning a better future, orchestrating creative teams, and driving breakthrough change." [13] Sohmen's (2015) research argues that good creative leaders consistently develop the following characteristics in themselves: leadership styles and perceptions, understanding of different cultures, individual and team motivations, interpersonal skills, levels of creativity, ability to manage change, communication styles, listening ability, decision-making skills, and, personal ethics. [14]

Definitions

Numerous researchers have used the term creative leadership since it was first used as a concept in the 1950s. The meanings may differ across research contexts. [2]
Views on the definition and scope of creative leadership include:

Conceptualisations

Three different complementary conceptualisations have been suggested which reflect the different contexts in which creative leadership can be applied: facilitating creativity, directing a creative vision, and integrating diverse creative contributions. [17] Creative leadership may be enacted differently depending on the context.

Facilitating

In the context of facilitating, those who employ creative leadership will support employees or individuals as primary creators, influencing their creative contributions and shaping each stage of the creative process. In the context of facilitating, creative leaders lead in a way that increases employees' likelihood of generating new ideas. [1] As facilitators, creative leaders foster others' creativity and may take individuals through a process that helps them generate new ideas, such as brainstorming. [18] [16] In the context of facilitating, those who employ creative leadership are involved in the entire creative process and shape a supportive climate for creativity. [1]

Directing

In the context of directing, those who employ creative leadership are the primary creators and their vision is enacted through contribution and collaboration from others. [1] Mumford, Scott, Gadis and Strange (2002) suggest that, in directing, a leader is integral to the production of a creative concept, while others support its implementation. The degree to which others contribute creatively may depend upon the situation. This can be compared to an orchestra conductor, who provides a vision and direction for musicians who bring their own individual contributions. [19] A strong directive creative leader may inspire, elicit, and integrate high-quality contributions from his or her collaborators. [1]

Integrating

In the context of integrating, there is a focus on the creative leader's ability to integrate or synthesize his or her novel ideas with various creative ideas from other individuals. [1] Compared to directing and facilitating contexts, there is a greater balance between the ratio of leader to follower creative contributions and supportive contributions in the integrating context. Each individual can receive credit for their distinct contribution, and successful leadership in this context depends on the leader's ability to synthesise others' creative inputs. Film directors are an example of leaders working in an integrating context, providing guidance to create a feature film that includes creative contributions from numerous people: screenwriters, actors, special effects technicians, costume designers, etc. [20]

Research on different types of leadership

Empirical, meta-analytic, and theoretical studies have been conducted on various types of leadership. Some of the styles of leadership studied include:

See also

Related Research Articles

Emotional intelligence (EI), emotional quotient (EQ) and emotional intelligence quotient (EIQ), is the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and adjust emotions to adapt to environments. Although the term first appeared in 1964, it gained popularity in the 1995 best-selling book Emotional Intelligence, written by science journalist Daniel Goleman. Goleman defined EI as the array of skills and characteristics that drive leadership performance.

Leadership

Leadership is both a research area, and a practical skill encompassing the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. Often viewed as a contested term, specialist literature debates various viewpoints, contrasting Eastern and Western approaches to leadership, and also North American versus European approaches.

Creativity Phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed

Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something somehow new and somehow valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible or a physical object.

Brainstorming Group creativity technique

Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which efforts are made to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members.

The Triarchic Theory of Intelligence or Three Forms of Intelligence, formulated by psychometrician Robert Sternberg, aims to go against the psychometric approach to intelligence and take a more cognitive approach, which leaves it to the category of the cognitive-contextual theories. The three meta components are also called triarchic components.

Creativity techniques are methods that encourage creative actions, whether in the arts or sciences. They focus on a variety of aspects of creativity, including techniques for idea generation and divergent thinking, methods of re-framing problems, changes in the affective environment and so on. They can be used as part of problem solving, artistic expression, or therapy.

Reflective practice is the ability to reflect on one's actions so as to engage in a process of continuous learning. According to one definition it involves "paying critical attention to the practical values and theories which inform everyday actions, by examining practice reflectively and reflexively. This leads to developmental insight". A key rationale for reflective practice is that experience alone does not necessarily lead to learning; deliberate reflection on experience is essential.

Design management

Design management is a field of inquiry that uses project management, design, strategy, and supply chain techniques to control a creative process, support a culture of creativity, and build a structure and organization for design. The objective of design management is to develop and maintain an efficient business environment in which an organization can achieve its strategic and mission goals through design. Design management is a comprehensive activity at all levels of business, from the discovery phase to the execution phase. "Simply put, design management is the business side of design. Design management encompasses the ongoing processes, business decisions, and strategies that enable innovation and create effectively-designed products, services, communications, environments, and brands that enhance our quality of life and provide organizational success." The discipline of design management overlaps with marketing management, operations management, and strategic management.

Vertical thinking

Vertical thinking is a type of approach to problems that usually involves one being selective, analytical, and sequential. It could be said that it is the opposite of lateral thinking. Unlike lateral thinking that involves using added intuition, risk taking, and imagination through unconscious and subconscious processes, vertical thinking consists of using more of a conscious approach via rational assessment in order to take in information or make decisions. This type of thinking encourages individuals to employ a sequential approach to solving problem where a creative and multidirectional response are seen as imprudent. Vertical thinkers prefer to rely on external data and facts in order avoid failure or counterfactual thinking.

Design thinking is a term used to represent a set of cognitive, strategic and practical processes by which design concepts are developed. Many of the key concepts and aspects of design thinking have been identified through studies, across different design domains, of design cognition and design activity in both laboratory and natural contexts.

The leader–member exchange (LMX) theory is a relationship-based approach to leadership that focuses on the two-way (dyadic) relationship between leaders and followers. Previous research shows that better LMX results in more resources being available to subordinates and restricted information. Employees in a mobile phone company with better LMX, characterized with a high degree of mutual trust, were more willing to share their knowledge.

Divergent thinking A method of generating creative ideas

Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. It typically occurs in a spontaneous, free-flowing, "non-linear" manner, such that many ideas are generated in an emergent cognitive fashion. Many possible solutions are explored in a short amount of time, and unexpected connections are drawn. Following divergent thinking, ideas and information are organized and structured using convergent thinking, which follows a particular set of logical steps to arrive at one solution, which in some cases is a "correct" solution.

Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values than simply economic ones.

Participative decision-making (PDM) is the extent to which employers allow or encourage employees to share or participate in organizational decision-making. According to Cotton et al., the format of PDM could be formal or informal. In addition, the degree of participation could range from zero to 100% in different participative management (PM) stages.

The Vertical Dyad Linkage Theory is a theory that deals with the individual dyadic relationships formed between leaders and their subordinates. It is also widely known as TheLeadership-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory. Originally, the theory has been developed by Fred Dansereau, George Graen and William J. Haga, in 1975.

Innovation leadership is a philosophy and technique that combines different leadership styles to influence employees to produce creative ideas, products, and services. The key role in the practice of innovation leadership is the innovation leader. Dr. David Gliddon (2006) developed the competency model of innovation leaders and established the concept of innovation leadership at Penn State University.

Marino (Min) Sidney Basadur is a teacher and researcher best known for his work in applied creativity and as the developer of the patented Simplexity Thinking System for improving workplace creativity. He is president of Basadur Applied Creativity and professor emeritus of organizational behavior and innovation at McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote School of Business.

Team diversity refers to the differences between individual members of a team that can exist on various dimensions like age, nationality, religious background, functional background or task skills, sexual orientation, and political preferences, among others. Different types of diversity include demographic, personality and functional diversity, and can have positive as well as negative effects on team outcomes. Diversity can impact performance, team member satisfaction or the innovative capacity of a team. According to the Input-Process-Output Model, team diversity is considered an input factor that has effects on the processes as well as on the team outputs of team work.

Design culture is an organizational culture focused on approaches that improve customer experiences through design. In every firm, the design is significant since it allows the company to understand users and their needs. Integration of design culture in any organisation aims at creating experiences that add value to their respective users. In general, design culture entails undertaking design as the forefront of every operation in the organisation, from strategy formulation to execution. Every organisation is responsible for ensuring a healthy design culture through the application of numerous strategies. For instance, an organisation should provide a platform that allows every stakeholder to engage in design recesses. Consequently, everyone needs to incorporate design thinking, which is associated with innovation and critical thinking.

Daniel Pesut American educator and researcher

Daniel J. Pesut is an American nurse educator, academic, researcher and coach. He is an Emeritus Professor of Nursing, Past Director of Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership, and Katherine R. and C. Walton Lillehei Chair in Nursing Leadership at University of Minnesota.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mumford, Michael D; Scott, Ginamarie M; Gaddis, Blaine; Strange, Jill M (December 2002). "Leading creative people: Orchestrating expertise and relationships". The Leadership Quarterly. 13 (6): 705–750. doi:10.1016/S1048-9843(02)00158-3.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Mainemelis, Charalampos; Kark, Ronit; Epitropaki, Olga (January 2015). "Creative Leadership: A Multi-Context Conceptualization" (PDF). Academy of Management Annals. 9 (1): 393–482. doi:10.5465/19416520.2015.1024502.
  3. ↑ Selznick, P. (1984). Leadership in administration. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press (Originally published 1957).[ page needed ]
  4. ↑ Dinh, Jessica E.; Lord, Robert G.; Gardner, William L.; Meuser, Jeremy D.; Liden, Robert C.; Hu, Jinyu (February 2014). "Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives" (PDF). The Leadership Quarterly. 25 (1): 36–62. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.005.
  5. ↑ Nikravan, L. (2012). Why creativity is the most important leadership quality. Chief Learning Officer. Retrieved from http://www.clomedia.com/articles/why-creativity-is-themost-important-leadership-quality%5B%5D
  6. ↑ Chernin, Peter (1 February 2002). "Creative leadership: The strength of ideas: The power of the imagination". Vital Speeches of the Day. 68 (8): 245–249.
  7. ↑ Sternberg, Robert J. (2007). "A systems model of leadership: WICS". American Psychologist. 62 (1): 34–42. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.62.1.34. PMID   17209678.
  8. ↑ Hunter, Samuel T.; Thoroughgood, Christian N.; Myer, Adam T.; Ligon, Gina Scott (February 2011). "Paradoxes of leading innovative endeavors: Summary, solutions, and future directions". Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. 5 (1): 54–66. doi:10.1037/a0017776.
  9. ↑ Nikravan, L. (2012). Why creativity is the most important leadership quality. Chief Learning Officer. Retrieved from http://www.clomedia.com/articles/why-creativity-is-themost-important-leadership-quality%5B%5D
  10. ↑ Basadur, Min; Basadur, Tim (February 2011). "Where are the generators?". Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. 5 (1): 29–42. doi:10.1037/a0017757.
  11. ↑ Mueller, Jennifer S.; Goncalo, Jack A.; Kamdar, Dishan (March 2011). "Recognizing creative leadership: Can creative idea expression negatively relate to perceptions of leadership potential?" (PDF). Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 47 (2): 494–498. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.11.010.
  12. 1 2 Stoll, Louise; Temperley, Julie (February 2009). "Creative leadership: a challenge of our times". School Leadership & Management. 29 (1): 65–78. doi:10.1080/13632430802646404. S2CID   145515100.
  13. ↑ Ball, Rajiv. "The Paradoxes of Creative Leadership." Innovation Management, 7 Aug. 2015, http://www.innovationmanagement.se/2015/07/08/cl-the-paradoxes-of-creative-leadership/. Accessed 14 August 2017.[ dead link ]
  14. ↑ Sohmen, Victor S (June 2015). "Reflections on Creative Leadership". International Journal of Global Business. 8 (1): 1–14. ProQuest   1680769091.
  15. ↑ Puccio, G., Murdock, M., & Mance, M. (2011). Creative leadership: Skills that drive change (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.[ page needed ]
  16. 1 2 Basadur, Min (February 2004). "Leading others to think innovatively together: Creative leadership". The Leadership Quarterly. 15 (1): 103–121. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2003.12.007.
  17. ↑ Mainemelis, Charalampos; Kark, Ronit; Epitropaki, Olga (January 2015). "Creative Leadership: A Multi-Context Conceptualization" (PDF). Academy of Management Annals. 9 (1): 393–482. doi:10.5465/19416520.2015.1024502.
  18. ↑ Rickards, Tudor; Moger, Susan (December 2000). "Creative Leadership Processes in Project Team Development: An Alternative to Tuckman's Stage Model". British Journal of Management. 11 (4): 273–283. doi:10.1111/1467-8551.00173.
  19. ↑ Hunt, James G.(Jerry); Stelluto, George Edward; Hooijberg, Robert (February 2004). "Toward new-wave organization creativity: Beyond romance and analogy in the relationship between orchestra-conductor leadership and musician creativity". The Leadership Quarterly. 15 (1): 145–162. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2003.12.009.
  20. ↑ Simonton, Dean Keith (July 2002). "Collaborative Aesthetics in the Feature Film: Cinematic Components Predicting the Differential Impact of 2,323 Oscar-Nominated Movies". Empirical Studies of the Arts. 20 (2): 115–125. doi:10.2190/rhq2-9uc3-6t32-hr66. S2CID   145376473.
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