Becoming a Creative Leader
Believing creativity can change the way employees approach problems and reframe work is at the core of building better results in projects, teams, and even personal life design.
But time and time again we need to be reminded of how we are creative as leaders. In this episode, I give 4 steps for growing in your creative confidence and challenge you to see yourself for the creative leader you are because we are all in a cycle of creative process and press-- which fuels innovation if we start looking for the deeper problem we need to solve in our work.
On this episode you’ll hear…
How COVD 19 changed the leadership paradigm for companies around the world and how this has increased creativity innovation
Why creativity is at the core of building better results in your projects, teams, and personal life design
The 4 P’s of Creativity, especially process and press, and how they can impact the everyday leader
Breaking down the myths of a creative person and how to grow in your creative confidence
Ready for more?
Listen in:
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** This is a raw, unedited transcript
Chaili Trentham 00:02
Welcome to the coffee on leadership Podcast. I'm Chaili, Trentham higher education practitioner and Professor trend consultant guiding leaders in cultivating creativity and wholeness through learning and development. And this podcast is a whole lot of that fit into short segments, you can listen to over a cup of coffee. Meet me here, as I design conversations around leadership that you can authentically integrate into the spaces where you lead and have impact. Cheers. On today's episode, I'm talking about becoming a creative leader. And this is so so important for anyone across any industry in any role. And I'll be sharing that today I'll be breaking down some myths about the creative person, I'll be showing you how you can find creativity in your own role. And we'll be talking about why this matters in the workplace. But first, a quick disclaimer. While I am recording this, it is May 2020. So if you're listening to this after, you need to know that we are in the middle of a global pandemic, and COVID-19 is changing the leadership paradigm for businesses and organizations across the world, we are having to see companies pivot and embrace a different side of their business. We're seeing companies move online, we're seeing organizations that are offering different services than they've ever offered in the past. And I think we're seeing a profound amount of creativity and innovation. And for some it's working, which is really, really encouraging. And for others, you may be in a role where suddenly your role is impacted, maybe in a negative way for your organization. I know a lot of friends of mine are having to pick up multiple roles because coworkers have been furloughed or let go. And it's requiring a new level of creativity, even in the way they approach the daily tasks that they have to accomplish. And so I wanted to look at creativity because it's something that I love speaking on. I love going into organizations and talking about creativity to entire teams. Because the reality is every person on a team is creative. All right. So here we go. I've always considered myself a creative person. If you even go back and ask my mom, I was that kindergartener who, when she would walk into the classroom, she knew exactly which drawing or painting was mine on the wall because she Bailey's house and family looked just like my house and family. I continued on that journey all the way through my life of really being artistic and creative. And I even went to college declared as an art major, that quickly changed. But creativity is something I really value. It's one of my highest values as an individual and in my leadership, and so that has really impacted the way I approach problem solving. So here's something for you. Believing creativity can change the way you or your employees approach problems and reframe work is at the core of building better results, in projects, in teams, and even in personal life design. But time and time again, we need to be reminded of how we are creative because so often I work with teams, and they're giving the creative role to somebody else. So I want you to think for a minute take a pause in this podcast, and I want you to think Are you a creative person? How would you answer that? When is an example of a time you felt most creative in your past? And it's okay if you call on an example from middle school, or your childhood. So are you a creative person, and when is an example of a time you felt most creative in your past? Because thinking about that moment of pride, or a time when you really enjoyed creativity for the process, and often I work with people where seriously, they go all the way back to an example from elementary school, and they're well into their midlife. But that time really unlocks for us moments of creativity that are a part of our truest self. Okay, now that you have that example, in your mind, I want you to think of how you use your creativity day to day. And if something's not popping up for you, then listen up. Because we're going to unlock this real quickly. You might be thinking, what are the benefits of creativity in the workplace? Why should I sell this to my team? Why should I care about this? Here's the deal. When we bring creativity into the workplace, and we teach this and we create a culture of creativity, motivation, performance, and productivity are all impacted. Employee engagement and collaboration increases innovation, which we need idea building, which we need right now. And problem solving, which I am sure you have some problems on your plate right now with your company or business. All of that becomes a part of organizational culture, when you're embracing creativity in that process. It's not about how creative we are but how much we embrace our creative potential. Listen to that. It is not about how creative we are, but how much we embrace our creative potential in every aspect of our work in life. So you might be thinking, Okay, I'm not in marketing, how do I find my creativity, and that's where I'm going to bring in a little bit of Creative Studies for you. Okay? So when we look at Creative Studies, we have the four P's. And this was established an article by Renko. And I'll link it in the show notes. But there are the four P's of creativity, person, process, press, product, person, process, press product. And here's the deal. When we think creativity, or creatives, we spend a lot of time with person. We think of those really creative people in our lives, who we just point to when I walk into a room or a team, and I'm doing the same talk. And I asked them who is the most creative person in the room, there's usually consensus, and everyone points to the same person, because they lean into that creativity. And they own that role on the team. And they might be the person from marketing, or they might be the person who's executing something really creative, which would be product, the final p. So if you are part of an organization where you're in charge of the creative product, you're also likely the person we point to in the room and say they are the most creative person because your outcomes reflect creativity. But I want to say let's forget about that first and last P person and product, yes, are a big part of Creative Studies. But for the everyday leader, for you and me, we're going to spend a lot more time with those middle two P's process and press process is the creative process. It's the way that we approach the problem that we have to solve. It's the way that we approach our how how we get it done. And our thinking. Press is our relationship to our external environment. What is pressing you? What is the pressure you are facing right now, right now, I am willing to bet that you are facing some pressure at work because of COVID-19, I'm willing to bet that there is something that is pushing you on the daily basis where you are like, I am feeling it. And what we're seeing for a lot of organizations is that pressure is inspiring some incredible, incredible work. It's like when you're working towards a deadline, I don't know about you, but I could be working on a project for a month, and I do my best work on that project in the hour before it's due. It doesn't matter how much time I've spent on it outside, I still have an epiphany or a revelation, right up to the moment before that thing needs to be turned in. And in the research, we find that's actually really common, because that press, with artists, with leaders with individuals, that pressure that's upon us pushes some of our best work. And so I am proposing to you that you need to spend some more time in process and press because I look at it as a cycle. And when I work with my students, I show them the cycle, this creative process is impacted by press. But then when our process comes up against press press pushes us back around, it's a circle, right? It's like what came first the chicken or the egg? Were we presented with a problem and we found a solution? Or did we need a solution. So we found the problem. If we can adopt some of the beliefs of the relationship between process and press, we can be more strategic in our problem solving and in our problem finding. Now, you know, you may not know this about me. But now you know, I take a design thinking approach to a lot of things. I loved everything I've learned in the Design Thinking field. It's human centered, it's creative, it focuses more on finding the problem, it's more about finding the right problem instead of trying to solve for something that we think is the right problem. I love it. But to be more strategic in our problem solving, we have to understand our context, our climate, our process, our press, okay, so we're adopting those peas. And now we need to build creative confidence. So I'm going to take you through some steps of how to grow in your creative confidence. Now that you know that you can be creative because you're always in process and always impressed and it's pushing you forward to creatively approach a problem. Here's how you're gonna grow in your creative confidence. One, I'm taking a quote from David Kelly, belief in your creative capacity lies at the heart of innovation. Belief in your creative capacity lies at the heart of innovation. And you have to believe in yourself as a leader as a creative leader, to take your team through that. So how do you do that you create space for the what if, again, in jumping back to the Design Thinking world, you have to create space to ask the question, what if? What if this was different? What if this didn't look this way? What if we could? What if we did, you need to start asking what if questions to give yourself the opportunity for growth and ideation and innovation. So start asking what if questions on every project? Number two, you're going to embrace failure and growing your resilience. We say in Design Thinking Worlds fail fast and fail forward. It's okay to fail. If you're willing to grow from it. It's that growth mindset versus fixed mindset. If you don't stop, and you keep going, then you are resilient. And you will learn something, I promise. I didn't get into two different grad programs before I went to grad school. Then I went on to teach in at a university setting, but I didn't get into two of the grad programs that I applied for before I got into the one that I ended up doing. And that was devastating. I was newly married, and I can remember just weeping, weeping in our bedroom. And I'm sure my husband was like, What is going on? Because for me, I'm a learner, and I wanted so badly to be in the classroom. But it took two noes to get the yes that I needed to be in the right program, I ended up in a leadership development program, which is exactly where I needed to be. And those first two programs I applied for were not in the leadership space. And I went on to be a professor of leadership, okay, you have to embrace your failure and grow resilient. Number three, change your environment. I love Dr. Ron Friedman. If you have read his book, he's all about environment in the workplace. And he says, Get outside of your routine, Get up, take a walk, go outside, take your laptop, wherever you need to go in your tiny apartment. Because you're staying at home. Don't drink COVID-19, but change the routine. When we start to rewire how we approach a problem, we start to see new connections, change your environment. And number four, to growing in your creative confidence. reframe the problem. This goes back to what I said about problem finding, we have to reframe the problem, because we need to take a step back and find the real problem that we're trying to solve for. So often when I work with students, or clients or anyone I say, and what else that's one borrowed from Michael, Ben J. Skinny, if you've ever read his book, The Coaching Habit, the art question, and what else because a student will tell me a problem that they have. And I'll say what else because there's usually another layer, we are onions, people, clients, I'll say and what else team members when they come to me looking at the problem, I'll say and what else and we'll say I'll say that seven times, until they peel back layer after layer. And realize that the problem they were looking at was not the problem. That was the root of their problem. There was something deeper. So step back and find the real problem. If you're struggling, write it out, sit down with a journal and say and what else is really going on here. reframe the problem. So create space for what if embrace failure and growing your resilience, change your environment, reframe the problem. Those are all ways to grow in your creative confidence in the workplace. Please start doing this in your teams. Because they promise that when you start doing this as a leader, it creates a culture of creativity that your teams can start to adopt and rely on. It's at the heart of innovation. All right, and we're at the end of our time today of our quick coffee break together. But creativity is a spot where I can spend all day with you on this and so I'm going to talk about flow in our next episode, which is a big part of how you find that creative groove. Thanks for listening to the coffee on leadership podcast. Take a few moments to reflect on how you will integrate today's episode into your life. And let me know if it was helpful to your leadership. Reach out Visit my website or leave a comment. And don't forget to share with colleagues. Subscribe for future learning. Until our next cup of coffee together. Cheers