Creative Leadership
What is the Creative Leadership offering?
The Creative Leadership offering is a two hour session with supporting material designed to develop and enhance leadership skills using Creative Intelligence (Ci). It focuses on empowering leaders to foster innovation, collaboration, and adaptability within their teams by applying the principles of curiosity, courage, and confidence.
Challenge
How might we uplift Creative Intelligence within influencers and leaders at IAG to grow their own Ci whilst amplifying, supporting and encouraging creativity for others.
Context: In the ever-evolving landscape of business, creativity has become a vital competency for leaders to maintain relevance and drive innovation. With the increasing complexity of global commerce, fostering a creative environment is essential for organisational success. At IAG, we recognise that leadership plays a fundamental role in enabling creativity. Through our exploration of the five components of Ci—curiosity, conflict, confidence, context, and collaboration—we've identified the need for a structured approach to nurturing Creative Intelligence among our leaders and influencers. This session aims to equip participants with the skills and mindset required to lead with creativity, ultimately creating a culture where creativity can flourish.
Objectives:
For the session:
To help people explore their own leadership practices and how they can be amplified with Ci (Me).
To share ways people can lead others to discover and nurture their own Ci (We).
To look at how to set up an environment that supports creativity to flourish (Us).
For the Creative Leadership offering:
To understand which audiences relate most to our content and why.
To validate the Ci content, identify resonant elements, and determine next steps through experimentation and learning.
To create a process/experience for connecting with stakeholder groups.
Role: Creative Intelligence & HCD Lead
Experience Creator, Creativity Advocate, Content Creator, Visual Designer, Thought Leader, Facilitator, Researcher, Quality Gatekeeper, Relationship Alchemist, Knowledge Nurturer, Coach.
Timeline: October 2021 – January 2022
Things I designed: Workshops and Co-creation Sessions, Frameworks, Interactive Prototypes, Feedback and Metrics Mechanisms, Design Content Library, Templates, Handbooks and Tools, Rituals and Shared Language.
Credit: Dom Gagarin for illustrations
Why do we need Creative Leadership?
Creativity is a core building block for growth and has been identified as a top skill for the future. By leading with creativity, leaders can navigate complex challenges, drive meaningful change within their organisations and support themselves and their team to adapt and continue to learn.
Creative Leadership is the practice of leading with Creative Intelligence (Ci), which involves harnessing curiosity, courage, and confidence to explore new ideas and approaches. It’s about creating an environment where innovation thrives and individuals are encouraged to experiment and take calculated risks. Creative Leadership focuses on empowering individuals and teams to think outside the box, fostering a culture of collaboration, bold action, and continuous learning.
The Design Solution
To uplift Creative Intelligence within influencers and leaders at IAG, we designed an interactive session and supporting material that combines learning, self-reflection, and practical application. The session is structured to guide participants through understanding and embodying Creative Leadership by focusing on personal and collective growth. By engaging in this program, participants will not only enhance their own Ci but also foster a culture of creativity within their teams and the broader organisation.
I applied a structured and iterative approach, ensuring that the session on Creative Leadership was well-researched, thoughtfully designed, and effectively delivered, with mechanisms in place to gather feedback and continuously improve.
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Kickoff: Facilitated a kickoff meeting to understand key objectives, the scope of the work, and establish ways of working within the team. This step was crucial for aligning on a shared vision and ensuring a value exchange among team members. We took the time to understand what each member wanted to contribute and gain from this project, integrating it into our development plan.
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Existing Research: Collected existing research conducted during the initial discovery work on Creative Intelligence.
Desk Research: Searched for articles, reports, and studies on the connections between leadership and creative intelligence to deepen our understanding and gather additional insights.
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Sense Making: Engaged in a collaborative process to translate research findings from the discovery phase into actionable knowledge.
Problem Definition: Clearly defined what Creative Leadership entails and its key components. We identified three levels of focus: starting with self (Me), leading others (We), and fostering a creative environment (Us).
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Ideate, Prototype, Test: Decided to develop a session targeted at individuals who had previously participated in Ci sessions or events. This requirement ensured that participants had a foundational understanding of Ci, which we aimed to amplify in the context of leadership.
High Fidelity Design: Focused on creating an engaging participant experience, prioritising activities, discussion moments, and the overall feel of the session. Designed a takeaway pack to reinforce learning and conceptualised pre- and post-pilot communications and feedback surveys.
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Pilot Session: Conducted an interactive pilot session with participants, involving various activities and discussions to bring the material to life.
Share Takeaway Pack: Distributed the takeaway pack to participants, providing them with resources to continue their learning and application of Creative Leadership principles.
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Feedback Interviews: Interviewed six attendees to gather feedback on their experience during the pilot, the materials presented, and their knowledge retention post-session. This step was essential for evaluating the session’s effectiveness and identifying areas for improvement.
Impact
The impact of the work done is profound: leaders have gained a deeper understanding of their own leadership styles and how to enhance them with Creative Intelligence, leading to more effective and innovative leadership. Team dynamics have improved, with leaders now better equipped to foster creative and collaborative environment where innovation thrives, encouraging team members to experiment, take calculated risks, and think outside the box. The organisation benefits from heightened adaptability and engagement across the workforce. Additionally, the development and implementation of the Leading with Ci Framework and supporting tools ensure that the principles of Creative Leadership are embedded and sustained, informing future program development and reinforcing a culture of continuous learning and innovation.
Outcomes
Creative Leadership Session
Designed and facilitated a two hour interactive session for members of the Design Community and leaders at IAG. This session provided a dynamic and engaging environment for participants to explore and enhance their leadership styles using Creative Intelligence (Ci), fostering greater self-awareness and innovative thinking.
Supporting tools and materials
Created activities, tools, and resources that enable continuous up-skilling and practice in leading with Ci, ensuring that the principles and techniques introduced during the session are reinforced and applied.
Leading with Ci Framework
The Leading with Ci Framework provides a structured approach to integrating Creative Intelligence into leadership practices, supporting leaders in fostering creativity and collaboration within their teams.
Creative Leadership Takeaway
Designed and distributed a takeaway pack to participants to reinforce learning. This pack provides resources for ongoing education and application of Creative Leadership principles, helping participants maintain and build on the progress made during the session.
Reflection:
One key lesson learned from this initiative is the importance of self-awareness in leadership. Leading with Creative Intelligence requires leaders to first understand and lead themselves before they can effectively lead others. This journey of self-discovery and reflection is crucial for developing the curiosity, courage, and confidence needed to inspire and support creativity within their teams. Embracing the principles of Creative Leadership not only transforms individual leaders but also cultivates a dynamic and innovative organisational culture.