The importance of virtue creativity to become a successful leader

Edward de Bono, also known as the father of Lateral thinking, once said that “ There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.” Leadership is comprised of many traits such as honesty, integrity, motivation, etc. Great leadership has not just all of these factors, but combines them with the skills of innovation and creativity. What a leader does when something does not go according to plan, how they handle solutions, or the creative touches they can bring to their position can be what really set a leader and their team apart, and decide how far they will progress.

In order to stay competitive and thriving in the 21st century, organizations, companies, and other such groups must be able to be creative and innovative in a fast paced world. Sometimes this means that the organization may require a clean out from the top leadership on down through the rest of the company. The right leader in any organization must be open, show interest, respond to, and encourage followers to share their creative or innovative ideas as they relate to the company. This allows companies to stay competitive in today’s society by encouraging diversity and a variety of innovative ideas. We all know that no matter how simple an idea, there is always the possibility that one person may not have thought of it while another has or perhaps it takes just the right person to see a creative solution clearly through others brainstorming. Some corporations have adopted the practice of shared leadership roles to ensure freedom of creative expression (Agbor, 2008).

…. it is important for a leader to not try to control all ideas, but to encourage the employees to share their ideas and new techniques that can encourage growth of the company through creativity. A leader should never try to control the creative process, but be willing to delegate the various tasks involved to other members in order to help ensure productivity. The correct processes should also be followed among the chain of command while accepting the risks involved and that new ideas may fail, but seeing it as a learning process (Amabile & Khaire, 2008).

…. although creativity is valued and should be encouraged, each organization’s leader and type of leadership should be reflective of the organization…. This allows for a variety of leadership styles that can further promote a variety of creativity instead of just one method. These are all styles that every leader needs to be aware of, and a great leader needs to be flexible in his leadership style and able to adapt to each situation that may arise (Bosiok, 2013).

Recognize that new ideas can add value and growth to your company. A creative leader will not only recruit a team and allow that team to be creative, keep an open mindset to the problems and the solutions they are seeking, and foster a positive atmosphere that allows the team members to have freedom to express their creative ideas, but must also retain the position as leader and be responsible for what ideas may make or break the company. Horth breaks it down into three essential building blocks of Toolset, Skillset, and Mindset…. leaders must also retain a sense of responsibility for what ideas are implemented and the results of those choices (Horth & Vehar, 2014).

…. explore the theory that creative ideas and processes are associated with personality traits, especially the trait of ‘ openness’. Within the article, the authors are promoting three different ideas based on these personality traits. They go through and explain that the three highest personality traits necessary to go from idea to completion are openness, extraversion, and consciousness. All commands should be clear and precisely worded to promote the fulfillment of the desired outcome. Various leadership styles were discussed as well. This article is useful to me because it allows me to learn how personality traits can affect the creative processes and how this supports the importance of allowing creativity from all members of the company (Hughes, Lee, Tian, & Legood, 2018).