Driving Innovation by Encouraging Creativity

You step up to the tee. You set up for your shot. You begin your backswing, then accelerate your swing down, hitting through the ball.

What happens next? Where's the ball going? One thing's for sure — it depends on how well you’ve made contact with the ball.

It's no wonder golfers work so much on their drives – a good hole needs a good start. They spend hours at driving ranges and take lessons from pros. Many even just take a few swings when they can't get away from the house or the office.

Driving Innovation in Your Organization

When I think of leading cutting-edge organizations and creative teams, I immediately think of that initial tee shot. The best leaders, just like the best golfers, make it look incredibly easy.

That natural ease isn't inborn talent — it's the result of hundreds of hours of practice. It’s about study, repetition, failure, self-correction, and perseverance. That's what's behind the success of creative leaders.

What's in Your Bag?

Of course, before you even think about taking a shot, there's one important thing you need. You need a club. In a broader sense, you need the tools that make the job possible.

To create a culture of innovation in your company, you'll need things like open access to resources. You'll need communication networks within and between teams to exchange knowledge and skill. Above all else, you'll need a crystal-clear vision of what success looks like, and you'll need every member of your team to own that vision.

How's Your Form?

After you have all these tools together, you need to know how to use them. Creative teams exploring unknown territory can be a challenge.

You'll need to have the leadership skills to refocus people on the vision you're pursuing. Empathy, listening, motivation, organization, persuasion, technical knowledge: Every mission will have different demands.

The goal is to develop these skills until you can take every swing like it's second nature. Imagine being as practiced and relaxed at leadership as pro-golfers are when making those drives.

What's the Course Ahead?

Not every drive is going to end up straight and long Even when you do manage one of those flawless drives, you've still have another shot coming up.

Inspiring innovation is something you do consistently and repeatedly as a creative leader. It's something you practice. It's something you follow up on with other leadership skills.

In other words, each new creative undertaking in your organization is going to have the same explosive power of that first shot of every hole. It's exciting, fun, and maybe even a little intimidating, but there's so much more to the game.

What's your vision — how far ahead in your journey can you see? Once you know the answer to that question, how do you share that vision with your team?

Following Through

The essence of creative leadership is a refined vision. That's what takes the chaos of creativity and refines it into the strong, purposeful movement of innovation. It takes practice and dedication to develop the right combination of relaxation and control, but the result is certainly worth it.

What’s your personal drive behind your success as a creative leader?