Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Creative Leaders Need Not Apply

A friend of mine and Arch of Leadership mentor sent me an article (from the Boston Globe, by Kevin Lewis, January 16, 2011) that summarized the findings from a study about to be published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology: (Go to: Creative Leaders Need Not Apply -- my title) "Those who were perceived to be more creative were perceive to have lower leadership potential.... Organizations may face a bias agains selecting the most creative individuals as leaders in favor of selecting leaders who would preserve the status quo by sticking with feasible but relatively unoriginal solutions."
Does that surprise you?  It doesn't surprise me.
Why do we mentor leaders?  To many it may seem that these people are blessed, the fortunate ones, the ones who made it.  Aren't we just picking out and skimming off the cream for our attentions?  Our answer is emphatically NO.
Leaders worthy of the name risk their careers and positions every day in order to transform visions of what is possible into real products, services and organizations that offer more expansive and more encompassing possibilities for others.  They are often shot down, as this article makes clear;  they often fail, as I have said in other articles (See, for instance: "Sincere Failures").   These creative leaders aren't often the "stars" who are hand-picked for succession. These are the people who are driven by their excitement for a new way, by their disturbing concerns that demand new approaches, and in order to act on these, make themselves vulnerable to the whims and judgments of others, most of whom have the status quo and shareholder dividends in mind.
The people we mentor are those who have tasted exactly what this article describes and instead of knuckling under have decided to lead others in order to make their living worthwhile and their efforts a matter of giving something and contributing something to the larger world.
My heart breaks to hear my own perceptions validated on such a large scale that it warrants publication in a major research journal.  I feel for the way these creative people's spirits are wounded;  I feel for the loss of initiative and vision that organizations perpetuate.
Our mentoring is intended to support the creative spirit in our leaders. By helping them discover the roots of their self-trust (see the blog post, "The King's Speech," for instance), we want to help these people find their voice.  Our mentoring helps these people to see that their resolve to lead is important and does mean something to those around them. We help these aspiring souls crystalize a leader brand that inspires others take on something great -- whatever the risks.
So despite the discouraging scene this study validates,  I am eternally grateful and personally and professionally enriched every day that I meet with those leaders who refuse rejection and take up that sacred mission of making the world more expansive, more encompassing, more alive, for us, for others, for the earth.

1 comment:

  1. Dear Michael,

    This research result is indeed thought provoking. One question came to my mind after pondering on this for a couple of days is the following:

    what can we do to capture it as an opportunity as the world needs more and more creative leader?

    - Jiahong

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