Leadership for Creativity and Innovation

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Leadership traits promoting a culture for creativity and innovation in the workplace

The first trait is the innovativeness of leaders. For leaders to encourage innovation, they ought to be innovative too as they cannot encourage what they are not (Amabile & Khaire, 2008). Secondly, leaders should be open-minded individuals. This implies that they should show respect for new ideas; be happy to welcome new ideas by accepting and valuing the contributions of their staff. The third trait is that leaders should be people who create positive environments. Employees can come up with innovative ideas in an environment where they are appreciated and encouraged to do so (Habel, 2009).

To oversee such a change, leaders should be visionary and strategic people. When leaders are keen on meeting the organization’s strategic goals, they nurture a team of people with such qualities too. In effect, a leader with an exciting vision encourages contribution and innovative ideas from their employees (Amabile & Khaire, 2008).

The fourth trait would be a motivating and inspirational leader. When leaders motivate and inspire their employees to do better, they enable them to devise better ways of meeting the company goals. Innovation is one such means (Tushman, Smith & Binns, 2011). Further, when problems arise in the organization, innovative leaders should encourage different problem-solving measures than the customary means.

Creative, problem-solving leadership attributes foster innovation among employees (Habel, 2009). Humanistic leaders are also able to foster creativity and innovation. Ideally, treating employees with consideration makes them feel more appreciated and innovative. Further, leaders ought to engage their employees in decision-making, among other things. Leaders who allow employees to contribute to decision-making promote innovation as the workers are not scared of coming up with new ideas for fear of rejection (Habel, 2009).

Further, a leader should be stimulative. They should not just follow rigid structures; the leader should allow their employees to think freely by encouraging them to think out of the ordinary. Diversity is another trait that fosters innovation and creativity. Thus, a leader should be diversely minded (Habel, 2009). It is imperative that all the company’s employees feel like they belong. This way, they will devote their talents and skills to better the organization. Above all, leaders that are active listeners encourage their staff to talk more and present their ideas easily as the workers know that what they have to say will be embraced.

The way leaders and organizational rules, standards, and processes can inadvertently inhibit creativity and innovation

Leaders can inhibit innovation when they practice a top-down approach to management, which is characterized by a leader who only sits at the top of his management position. Such an approach to management implies that employees are simply executioners and are not allowed to front ideas (Amabile & Kramer, 2012). Further, when many levels of bureaucracy mar leadership, it is difficult for employees to get their ideas accepted and listened to as they hardly transcend to top management.

The present organizational rules can limit innovation and creativity in an organization. One such way is if employees are obligated to carry out hierarchical reporting (Amabile & Kramer, 2012). That is, if workers are obligated to report to a specific person in a line of hierarchy, then their ideas are not likely to reach the top management. Further, organizational processes that are keen on implementing cost savings tend to look down on the importance of the team in product development. New product innovation is hampered when the processes of the organization are directed towards cost reduction.

A leader with an ability to create an organizational climate where creativity and innovation flourish

One leader whose creative and innovative approach is most admirable is Mike Lawrie, who is the chief executive officer of the London-based software company known as Misys. I admire Lawrie for creating an organizational climate where innovation is encouraged because he develops an overarching identity by properly positioning the identity of the organization (Tushman et al., 2011). For instance, the leader ensured that Misys acquired software companies and delved into a larger customer base.

He clearly articulated the company’s mission and strategic goal to his team by ensuring that they understood the need to solve customer problems as their main goal. Therefore, the workers understood the need for continuous innovation and embraced the idea of open source technology. He also proved that he was a creative and innovative leader.

Lawrie is the brains behind the open-source technology idea (Tushman et al., 2011). He believed in this project and its ability to solve customer-related problems so much that he did not give up on it even amidst rising conflict and organizational issues that required cost-cutting measures. In so doing, he drove his team with the same zeal and the team was encouraged to be innovative and creative. Resultantly, the banking unit came up with a product that ensured retail banks could avail their products to the market faster.

The leader’s traits rating

Leader	Creative Trait	Rating 1-Lowest 2-Highest
Mike Me	Embraces team Ideas/ teamwork	10
		10
Mike Me	Encourages team collaboration	10
		10
Mike Me	Values diverse teams	10
		10
Mike Me	Oversees the different stages of creativity	10
		4
Mike Me	Is open to failure	10
		1
Mike Me	Inspires team members	10
		4
Mike Me	Be a good listener	7
		10
Mike Me	Is the first set of good work	10
		8
Mike Me	Is visionary and sets clear strategic goals	10
		10

An analysis of the different leadership traits shows that I am poor in five key creativity traits. I scored a 4 for overseeing creativity at every stage, 1 for open to failure, 4 for inspiring team members. On the other hand, I scored fairly well to be the first to set good precedence and exemplary at listening to my team members, a trait that Lawrie does not seem to possess. However, we score the same on other creative leadership traits. Nonetheless, I believe that my score is weaker in overseeing creativity at every stage as I am poor at follow-ups. For instance, I tend to delegate responsibilities and assume that every team member will do what it takes to link into the main ideas of the team. This is unlike Lawrie, who is there every step of the way to ensure that open source technology is successful.

Secondly, I score 1 in being open to failure, unlike Lawrie who scores a 10. I am afraid of failing as I am driven by the desire to be successful all the time. Lawrie, on the other hand, was not afraid of failing; thus, he took the risk of developing the software, despite the company’s cost-cutting need (Tushman et al., 2011).

Third, I score below average for inspiring team members. I am easy to work with as I can execute tasks and deliver when required. On the other hand, Lawrie works with his senior team every step of the way. For example, his idea of open source and the zeal to push it drove the team to innovate a retail banking product (Tushman et al., 2011).

Fourth, being that I believe in doing what concerns me and executing to the best of my capacity, I tend to be exemplary at setting good precedence. However, I scored eight due to poor team involvement. On the other hand, Lawrie not only develops a vision, goes for it, and defends it, but he also works with his team every step of the way. This is the reason why Allscripts starts to view open source as a threat to getting contracts (Tushman et al., 2011).

Finally, even though Lawrie shows all the qualities of an exemplary leader, I believe that I score higher in giving the audience to my team members. There is limited evidence in the article to prove that he is a good listener. Conversely, I am a more excellent listener than a speaker. For instance, during discussions, I allow my teammates to speak and listen to their ideas more actively. In most cases, I end up supporting a teammate’s idea when I feel it is relevant.

Strategies to improve the leadership skills

The first strategy in ensuring better monitoring skills is to encourage constant team engagement. Through team engagement, I can know the progress of every innovation and determine whether it is at the right stage or not. The performance measure will be the number of team meetings conducted in a month, with an expectation of at least one meeting every week.

Secondly, I will devise new projects out of my comfort zone to promote risk-taking skills. By so doing, I hope to foster a higher confidence level and eliminate the fear of failing. The performance measure will be the number of projects done in a year, whether successful or not.

References

Amabile, T, M., & Khaire, M. (2008). Creativity and the role of the leader. Harvard Business Review, 86(10). Web.

Amabile, T., & Kramer, S. J. (2012). How leaders kill meaning at work. McKinsey Quarterly, (1), 124-131.

Habel, G. (2009). Moon shots for management. Harvard Business Review. Web.

Tushman, M. L., Smith, K. L., & Binns, A. (2011). Spotlight on product innovation: The ambidextrous CEO. Harvard Business Review. Web.

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