REFLECTIONS ON CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP

240 REFLECTIONS ON CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP

Leadership Factors

The third variable that can stimulate creativity in organizations is leader-

ship. What is the organization ’ s leadership style? Is it democratic and

participative, or autocratic? Naturally, creative people feel much more

at ease with the former (Hesselbein and Johnston, 2002 ; Kets de Vries,

2006 ). Autocratic leadership will kill creativity. People do not question

the way things are done in an autocratic organization; they do as they

are told.

What about shared vision? Do people have a good idea of what the

organization is trying to accomplish? Are the goals clear enough? But

goals need not be very detailed. Some form of general direction is

needed, however, and can often be provided by role models, mentors,

or idea champions.

Training and education play important roles in the generation of

new ideas. A creative outcome might look accidental, but usually it is

the result of a lot of preparation and years of hard work. Of course, there

is always an element of luck involved, but as people like Alexander

Fleming discovered, the harder you work, the luckier you get. Not only

must a person be well - prepared, but also willing to try and try again,

despite setbacks.

Creative people should be challenged and made to feel essential to

the organization. Top executives must empower their people by express-

ing an expectation of creative work. Leaders should be prepared to

nurture the ideas people come up with, including the crazy ones. If you

set high expectations and provide the necessary resources, people will

try to oblige.

Watching for the danger signs

Creativity in organizations is a very delicate fl ower and fairly easy to

kill off. If you are not careful, your creative people will leave — or, even

worse, will not be attracted to the organization in the fi rst place. Organi-

zational leaders should be aware of the attitude disseminated in the

organization and remember that they are the ones who set the tone. For

example, a prescriptive culture that says that there is only one way of

doing things, and only one right answer to a problem, will by defi nition

preclude creativity. Leaders who cultivate a ‘ not - invented - here ’ culture

can have a very negative effect on the organization. A related problem

is the kind of parochialism where people say that something is ‘ not their

area. ’ Venturing out on uncharted ground is seen as too risky. These