Creative Confidence A Leader’s Shift
ICF Global Leaders Forum, Charlotte
Earlier this month I traveled to Charlotte to attend the International Coach Federation 2nd Global Leaders Forum. I was especially excited and honored to represent my local chapter, ICF Philadelphia again and have the privilege of hearing keynote speaker Kate Canales, Director of Design and Innovation Programs at Southern Methodist University. Not your typical coaching conference.
But, rather a forum of leaders from all over the globe, committed to building a high performance organization for the advancement of professional coaching. I was there to learn more about positive disruptions in leadership and shift as a leader — for my chapter, my global association and my work as an executive and leadership coach.
Here are my notes from Kate Canales’ keynote, “The Design of Disruption” (after an initial sketching exercise that was designed to ignite the audience’s creativity and mine as well.) It’s important to understand that design thinking is an applicable framework for leaders wanting to create unique opportunities and gain a competitive edge in an ever competitive and changing environment. As you read, think of a challenge that demands a new approach in order to achieve a new solution.
Creativity is the #1 leadership competency for your success in business now and in the future. According to IBM Global CEO study, standout leaders encourage experimentation and innovation throughout the organization. Creative leaders expect to make extensive business model changes in order to realize their strategies. To succeed, creative leaders take more calculated risks, find new ideas and keep innovating how they lead and communicate. Where might you exercise your risk taking or boldness muscle?
Design thinking is an applicable process for creative and innovative ideas and solving problems. It is not limited to industry or expertise, rather the most successful organizations co-create products and services for customers while improving processes designed for better solutions. It’s time to “think outside of the box” and gain new perspective for solving your problem. What problem are you facing that needs an outside perspective?
Creative confidence helps leaders break the habit of planning. All too often, we spend too much time planning and fail to execute our ideas. One of the easiest ways to break the over-planning syndrome and spark creativity is by drawing your ideas on paper (with color markers) or writing your ideas on post-it-notes. From my own experience, the use of color pencils and moving notes on a whiteboard is a fun process and deepens my thinking for new strategies in pursuit of my goal.
In the words of Thomas Edison, about failure and inventing the lightbulb: “I have not failed, not once. I’ve discovered ten thousand ways that don’t work.”
Want to learn more about accelerating your creativity confidence as a leader? Click here for my online schedule.
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