Creative or artistic leadership comes out of the box
This text is part of the specialized executive and manager training booklet
Can you keep running a business without getting creative? Impossible, say management experts. “A leader is not necessarily at the front; he is more of a person who listens, who understands the rhythm of his team and who wants to get the best out of it”, summed up one of the professionals who took the creative leadership course offered by Factry. to business managers. But what is creative leadership? A truly innovative approach or human resource management built with good intentions?
Already, in the 1980s, writer Creative Leadership Skills that Drive Change explained that the concept of leadership and creativity cannot be separated for companies that want to face change. A manager or business executive who is not reactive or open to innovation is bound to fail time and time again. A finding that contradicts the traditional, so-called “vertical” model of business management, which has persisted since the industrial era.
The transformational approach to creative leadership integrates people into the decision-making process to generate new ideas. Taking into account differences of opinion within teams to foster a climate conducive to co-creation results in employees who are mobilized, motivated and committed to pursuing common goals. Creative leadership becomes collaborative when considering employee visions and recommendations to drive the company. However, it is necessary to demonstrate humility and openness, two important prerequisites, even at the highest level of management. Change yourself before forcing change on others.
This paradigm shift requires leaders to explore their own strengths, weaknesses, and fears before establishing a “trust contract” with their team that facilitates constructive and thriving exchanges. “To bring out creativity,” explains Chantal Gosselin, Creative Leadership Practice Leader at Factory and trainer certified professional, the essential conditions for a culture of innovation must be established: psychological security, benevolence, non-judgement, listening, collaboration. And able to catch signals of constant change. »
Conclusive tool
This is all the work that Factry does during fun and interactive workshops: getting managers to think outside the box, changing their habits and certainties, and promoting this attitude to their staff. This is only possible by adopting an attitude of open-mindedness and the dynamics of collective creation.
MI Thus Gosselin has developed a tool for developing the necessary state of mind to innovate in sustainable change: the YES AND approach. “O” for Opening, “U” for One step, “I” for Intention. Three anchors to change uncomfortable feelings.
“ET”, on the other hand, traces the path of change. “This mental posture allows us to exercise our brain, align our thoughts-emotions-actions and develop our emotional intelligence to better create with what presents itself, explains trainer. If we add up all the tools, techniques, and practices for fostering creativity, we increase our creative leadership tenfold. »
In a context that requires a leader or business manager to anticipate brutal change, cultivating his creative powers and the strengths of his team is key to stimulating his troops and taking on challenges.
The Patagonia case
In this respect, Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, is a model visionary manager who never stops innovating. This Quebec American loved organic fibers from the start for producing his outdoor clothing at a time when no one cared about the industry’s ecological footprint. He invented the “Management by Absence” (MBA) which consisted of turning over control of his company to his employees and encouraging them to do what he did: get out of the office to test the quality of the technical outfit on a climbing wall or on a trail, to come back with ideas. innovative. Decades later, giants such as GAP and Adidas took inspiration from the MBA model, adapting it to their realities.
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