Next posts... 'Creativity and Leadership', Part 2, 'Elements of Creative Management'

‘All are Cs’ – ‘Creative Leadership’ Part 3

Real Leaders are Real Artists

Continuing the series of articles with reference to the most important characteristics of soft skills and remaining  on creativity, which I think is the most important skill, we will analyze 'Creative Leadership' because a remarkable Leader must have practiced and developed this element.

 Creativity in Leadership is an important skill, whether he/she collaborates, communicates, develops the vision of the company / organization, solves important issues-problems, or negotiates, even when he/she contacts and connects with other executives, with employees, with clients and competitors. Creativity is also essential for keeping the balance between IQ and EQ. Leaders have gut instinct, focus and embrace, are imaginative, accept criticism, seeking for progress, balance themselves and their team, motivate people/employees, aren’t afraid to expose their thoughts, being outside of the box, being authentic. Moreover they are visionaries, their work has purpose and they take actions. 

That is what artists do. 

Leaders:

• Explore – express and experiment on new trends in our society, whether it is technology, art, etc
• Steal an idea, like an artist does, recreating and remaking it, presenting it through their own vision.
• Function through critical thinking and view because their mind is always in a creative process.

Creative leaders know how to manage bright people...raising questions, connecting different people, elements and ideas and how to connect with everything that surrounds us.

Creative Leaders connect and bridge the current with the past, the past with the future, the old with the new, seeking the unexplored just like Artists.

They refuse to conform. They seek a better way. Such attitudes lie at the heart of the quality movement, predicated on a faith in continuous improvement.

Real leaders don’t try to transform others, without first transforming themselves. First of all they know who they are and what they stand for, striving towards excellence, based on their talents and potential. Leadership also requires humility, deep listening, creative expression, the willingness to step into the unknown and risk failure.

Great leaders like great artists, give us perspective of our social condition and greater appreciation of our world, ourselves and choices. Moreover, they challenge, excite, comfort, and are motivated by intrinsic to extrinsic, transferring this motivation also to people around them.

Leaders and artists create space for shared experiences by forging a sense of community. Both animate social encounters. They can change our lives essentially, having the capacity to come up with ideas for solving problems and exploiting opportunities.

Innovation is the ability to turn those creative ideas into new products and services.

Great Leaders’ way of conduct and reaction is similar to that of an artist.

Imagination, Curiosity, Intent, focus, engagement, authenticity, criticism, form and reform, skill, representation, context and purpose are elements of a great Leader.

On the next article we continue with Creative Leadership, also with the topics of ‘Art InSide Business’, focusing on the training elements and services of my program, just for leaders.

Mike Petrakis

End of part 3 (Next,‘All are Cs’ – 'Creativity and Leadership', part 2)

As mentioned in the previous article, with reference to the necessity and value of the development of soft skills for today and in the future, starting from the most important element, the creativity, we continue by referring in the whole series of articles to the art / creative industry, combined with science and research and evidence that I have also presented in my lectures, seminars, collaborations and my artistic career.

Creativity is to see the world with a different eye, to create questions, to interpret and to simplify the elements around you and your feelings. 

‘Creativity is a Learning Processes’ 

Wassily Kandinsky - Composition VIII, (1923)

According to very important organization, ‘World Economic Forum’ the skills that will need most on entrepreneurship by 2020, which are all of them what we call, soft skills, are Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Cognitive Flexibility, EQ, People Management  etc.

In my articles titled ‘All are CS’, we will deal with these very important skills except Creativity, Complex Problem Solving and Critical Thinking also for Connection of Things, Communication, Collaboration, Creative Leadership. Starting with Creativity which in my opinion is the most important and basic skill of all, (in the future will be the first most important skill), even if you want to solve a problem, communicate and collaborate, also is one as well of the basic elements of critical thinking, for the Leaders and Managers and in every element on entrepreneurship and <behind> everything in our life.