Is creativity at the heart of leadership? Well, my own view would be that it is deeper than that: creativity is at the heart of being a human being. We are all familiar with the various attempts to locate in what exactly the essence of being human is. Man (kind) is the thinking animal (homo sapiens); or man is the laughing animal (homo ludens); or some other quality that differentiates us.
I am not a Roman Catholic myself but I love the observation that Dorothy L Sayers, the famous crime writer (and Catholic), made in her book, The Mind of the Maker: in the Genesis narrative we are told that man is made in the image of God. But actually, she asks, what is that God – at that point in the narrative (up to the end of Chapter 2) – what do we really know of ‘God’? For example, that he/she is powerful, all-powerful, knowing, loving? No, she argues; we know one thing (other stuff comes later): God creates. Thus she reasons the essence of being human is being creative.
This makes a lot of sense: time stands still – we are in eternity – when we are being creative. In fact when we are really being creative we are aware of nothing except the creation, and the act of being creative energizes and fills us. Children incidentally call this ‘play’. The opposite – we are not being creative – means routines, habits, and the everyday. We need some routines clearly, but ultimately too much of that leads to boredom – which leads to a desperate life.
So whoever and whatever we are, if creativity is not integral to our life, then we are not living, we are existing, and enduring the tedium of time.
Thus, the true leader can never be somebody who is passing time: time is too precious to waste. On the contrary, the leader is busy creating the change that is necessary and envisioned. Interestingly, the word ‘education’ in English comes from the Latin word, educare, meaning ‘to lead’. Leaders then take a pro-active stance in educating – the learning of – their people.
A good exercise is to examine the springs of creativity in our self in order to be sure that we are really using this ‘god-given’ ability in every single one of us. And this leads on to the missing ingredient that connects leadership with creativity – namely, self-awareness. The foundation of all growth is our self-awareness, which fuels creativity, which in turn develops leadership.
Thus, in reviewing the creativity in us we need to enhance our self-awareness. This is a tall order – most of us are busy! But it is essential.
There are five really great concepts that can be used to develop self-awareness. I have jotted them down in a two page PDF. If anyone would like a free copy – as long as they are prepared to acknowledge the source – then let me know and I will email it to you – but give me your email address so that I can do so!
The Mapping Motivation Series 