Here's how you can harness creativity to achieve successful team leadership.
Leading a team successfully requires more than just delegation and management; it demands creativity. Harnessing creativity in team leadership can transform mundane tasks into exciting challenges, foster a collaborative environment, and ultimately lead to innovative solutions. When you tap into the creative potential of your team, you unlock new possibilities for problem-solving, motivation, and productivity. Let's explore how you can infuse creativity into your leadership style to inspire and guide your team to success.
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Shane SmithHead of Studio | Digital Creative Production & Creative Automation Specialist
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Nicolas CastilloClinical Biochemist | Dual Master's in Digital Health and Public Health Management | COVID-19 Expert | Leader in…
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Nitin JadhavOfficer, CFO @CS (UBS) | Ex-HSBC | NISM (SEBI) Eq Der, MF & RA Certified | NSE Certified Eq Res & Val, Fin Mod & Val |…
To kickstart creativity within your team, it's essential to embrace diversity. This means valuing different perspectives, skills, and experiences. When you encourage team members to share their unique viewpoints, you create a rich tapestry of ideas that can lead to unexpected and innovative solutions. Diversity goes beyond just cultural or demographic differences; it includes diversity of thought, which is critical for creative problem-solving. By fostering an inclusive environment where every voice is heard and respected, you set the stage for creativity to flourish.
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Nicolas Castillo
Clinical Biochemist | Dual Master's in Digital Health and Public Health Management | COVID-19 Expert | Leader in Clinical Diagnostics | Published Scientist.
Al animar a los miembros del equipo a compartir sus puntos de vista únicos, creas una rica variedad de ideas que pueden llevar a soluciones innovadoras e inesperadas. La diversidad va más allá de las diferencias culturales o demográficas; incluye la diversidad de pensamiento, que es fundamental para la resolución creativa de problemas. Al fomentar un entorno inclusivo donde se escuche y respete cada voz, preparas el escenario para que la creatividad florezca. En mi laboratorio bioquímico, hemos visto cómo la diversidad de ideas ha impulsado la innovación y nos ha permitido abordar desafíos desde múltiples ángulos, enriqueciendo nuestro trabajo y resultados.
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Pooja Tiwari
Here are two key strategies I always follow to foster creativity in my team: 1. Delegate Autonomy: I give my team members the freedom to approach tasks in their own way. This autonomy not only fosters innovative solutions but also instills a strong sense of responsibility. 2. Embrace Risk-Taking: I encourage my team to take calculated risks and see failures as valuable learning opportunities. It's important to appreciate and understand innovative efforts, even when they don't always succeed.
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Eric O.
Global Leader @ Mastercard | Driving Operational Efficiencies
Brace yourselves: Diversity is the key to success. Picture this: you’re on a team where everyone thinks the same, talks the same, and acts the same. It’d be like living in a bad draconian movie, and I know I'd be looking to escape. To avoid this nightmare, you must bring diverse thinking into your teams. Different backgrounds mean different perspectives—whether someone grew up in a different country or hails from a completely different industry. Sure, we’ve (hopefully) retired the old ‘thinking outside the box’ cliché, but the concept still holds value. Bring in those outside-your-world perspectives to see real growth and foster a team environment where everyone’s thoughts are valued. That’s when the magic happens.
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Lucas Renan Vicente Bandeira
IT Specialist
Embrace diversity to boost creativity within your team. Value different perspectives, skills, and experiences to create a rich tapestry of innovative ideas. Diversity goes beyond cultural differences; it includes diversity of thought, which is essential for creative problem-solving. Promote an inclusive environment where all voices are heard and respected, and you will see creativity flourish. This prepares the ground for unexpected and innovative solutions, making your team more effective and innovative.
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Shane Smith
Head of Studio | Digital Creative Production & Creative Automation Specialist
In my experience, just celebrating the unique difference of individuals is often just as important as fostering inclusivity or playing to individual creative strengths. This starts by recognising and acknowledging the diverse perspectives, ideas and thoughts of each and every person equally. As a creative leader, it’s then your job to bring this all together via cross-discipline collaboration, and encouragement of collaborative in outside networks, that’s when the magic really happens. That’s when you realise that you can harness the power of diversity to fuel creativity and innovation within teams.
Creativity in team leadership often involves taking risks and stepping outside the comfort zone. As a leader, it's your role to create a safe space where your team feels supported in experimenting with new ideas, even if they might fail. Encourage your team to take calculated risks and reassure them that failure is not a setback but a valuable learning opportunity. When team members are not afraid to fail, they are more likely to come up with creative solutions and breakthrough innovations.
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Nicolas Castillo
Clinical Biochemist | Dual Master's in Digital Health and Public Health Management | COVID-19 Expert | Leader in Clinical Diagnostics | Published Scientist.
La creatividad en el liderazgo de equipo implica asumir riesgos y crear un espacio seguro para experimentar. Anima a tu equipo a tomar riesgos calculados y aprende del fracaso. Cuando se elimina el miedo al fracaso, se fomenta la innovación y se generan soluciones creativas. En mi laboratorio bioquímico, valoramos la experimentación y el aprendizaje continuo para impulsar avances significativos.
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Jean de Sousa Braga
Gerente Jurídico | Compliance | Privacidade | DPO Certificado Exin® | Membro do Comitê Jurídico da APDADOS® - Associação Nacional dos Profissionais de Privacidade de Dados
Incentivar a assunção de riscos no ambiente corporativo é crucial para a inovação e o crescimento das organizações. Quando os colaboradores se sentem encorajados a experimentar, testar novas ideias e enfrentar desafios, a empresa se torna mais ágil e adaptável.
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Paschoal Simões junior
Marketing | Trade Marketing | Consumer Trends | Customer Experience| Branding | Business-oriented marketing | Leadership |
Trust is the foundation: A confident team is a productive team. In my journey, I've always emphasized the importance of aligning expectations, listening attentively, and establishing a bond of trust from day one. * Sharing lessons: Mistakes are not obstacles but opportunities for learning. In creative environments, openly sharing experiences and lessons is vital. I recall several instances where this fueled our innovation and growth. * Cultivating collaboration: Sincerity is the key to genuine collaboration. In heterogeneous teams, I value diverse perspectives and experiences. Building a culture where everyone feels comfortable contributing is essential.
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Lucas Renan Vicente Bandeira
IT Specialist
Creativity in team leadership often involves taking risks and stepping out of your comfort zone. As a leader, it is your role to create a safe space where your team feels supported in experimenting with new ideas, even if they might fail. Encourage your team to take calculated risks and reassure them that failure is not a setback but a valuable learning opportunity. When team members are not afraid to fail, they are more likely to present creative solutions and groundbreaking innovations.
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Shane Smith
Head of Studio | Digital Creative Production & Creative Automation Specialist
Encouraging risk-taking can be a game-changer for teams, but it’s often difficult to get right in order to see the best results. I’ve always felt that, as a creative leader, one of the most important factors is leading by example. Demonstrating my own willingness to take risks, but more importantly sharing my own failures, experiences and learnings. This way I can reinforce the message that it’s okay to fail and that for me, failure is an acceptable part of the growth process.
Collaboration is the lifeblood of creative teams. To harness creativity, you must facilitate collaboration by providing opportunities for team members to work together and share ideas. This could be through regular brainstorming sessions, cross-functional projects, or informal discussions. The key is to ensure that everyone feels comfortable contributing and that there's a mechanism for capturing and building upon each other's ideas. Effective collaboration can lead to a synergy where the collective creativity is greater than the sum of its parts.
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Nicolas Castillo
Clinical Biochemist | Dual Master's in Digital Health and Public Health Management | COVID-19 Expert | Leader in Clinical Diagnostics | Published Scientist.
Esto podría ser a través de sesiones regulares de lluvia de ideas, proyectos interfuncionales o discusiones informales. La clave es asegurarse de que todos se sientan cómodos contribuyendo y que haya un mecanismo para capturar y desarrollar las ideas de los demás. La colaboración efectiva puede llevar a una sinergia donde la creatividad colectiva sea mayor que la suma de sus partes. En mi laboratorio bioquímico, fomentamos la colaboración a través de proyectos interdisciplinarios y sesiones de lluvia de ideas regulares, lo que nos ha permitido generar ideas innovadoras y avanzar en nuestras investigaciones de manera más efectiva.
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Jeff Shantz
Strategic Sales and Sales Planning Executive | Sales Leadership, Team and New Business Development | Experience in CPG, Pharma, and Entertainment Industries
It's important to create an environment that goes beyond cooperation and encourages active participation and engagement among team members. Providing both physical and digital spaces that encourage spontaneous interactions can cultivate a culture where creativity thrives. Additionally, using tools like MS Teams or Slack can facilitate seamless communication and idea sharing across different teams and time zones. Leaders should also emphasize the importance of diverse perspectives by assembling teams reflecting a range of experiences and backgrounds. This diversity not only expands the pool of ideas, but also broadens the team’s problem-solving capabilities. This can ultimately drive innovation and successful outcomes.
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Eric O.
Global Leader @ Mastercard | Driving Operational Efficiencies
Alright, once you’ve stacked the deck with the right people, it’s time to create the perfect playground for them to unleash their creativity. Forget old-school Post-its and whiteboards (and taking a picture before we leave in case it's erased); we’re in the digital age! Use tools like Teams and Slack to set up virtual collaboration zones. These shared spaces are crucial, especially with dispersed teams, to keep collaboration balanced and inclusive. Those random hallway chats and calls need to make it into your digital hub too so everyone stays in the loop. Kickstart the process, and once the team finds its flow, step back and watch that magic happen. Effective collaboration will bring forward spectacular ideas.
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Lucas Renan Vicente Bandeira
IT Specialist
Collaboration is the lifeblood of creative teams. To harness creativity, you must facilitate collaboration by providing opportunities for team members to work together and share ideas. This can be through regular brainstorming sessions, cross-functional projects, or informal discussions. The key is to ensure that everyone feels comfortable contributing and that there is a mechanism to capture and build on each other's ideas. Effective collaboration can lead to a synergy where the collective creativity is greater than the sum of its parts.
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Shane Smith
Head of Studio | Digital Creative Production & Creative Automation Specialist
Collaboration is a vital ingredient to the success of any business, a certainly one of the most important parts of the creative industry. I learnt this very early on in my career, and this learning has fuelled my approach to building high-performing crack-squads of creative delivery expert teams. As a young digital designer (who was and still is terrible with code), I learnt the value of collaborating with people who had complimentary technical skills. Collaborating with a developer would simply make my original creative ideas so much more powerful, the execution would just sing, I knew I could never do that on my own. I’ve essentially made it my mission to foster cross-discipline collaboration and playing to strengths to deliver creative.
Another way to foster creativity in team leadership is by providing the necessary resources. This includes time, tools, and training that empower your team to explore creative avenues. Whether it's dedicated time for brainstorming, access to new software, or workshops on creative thinking techniques, equipping your team with the right resources can make a significant difference in their ability to innovate. Remember that investing in your team's creative development is an investment in the team's future success.
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Nicolas Castillo
Clinical Biochemist | Dual Master's in Digital Health and Public Health Management | COVID-19 Expert | Leader in Clinical Diagnostics | Published Scientist.
Fomenta la creatividad en el liderazgo de equipo proporcionando recursos como tiempo, herramientas y capacitación. Ya sea tiempo para brainstorming, acceso a software innovador o talleres sobre técnicas de pensamiento creativo, estos recursos empoderan al equipo para innovar. Invertir en su desarrollo creativo es clave para el éxito futuro del equipo. En mi laboratorio, dedicamos tiempo y ofrecemos herramientas y capacitación para impulsar la innovación en nuestras investigaciones.
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Jean de Sousa Braga
Gerente Jurídico | Compliance | Privacidade | DPO Certificado Exin® | Membro do Comitê Jurídico da APDADOS® - Associação Nacional dos Profissionais de Privacidade de Dados
Com as ferramentas certas em mãos, os colaboradores se sentem mais confiantes e capacitados para realizar suas tarefas com eficiência e qualidade. Isso gera um senso de autonomia e propriedade, impulsionando a produtividade, a criatividade e o engajamento no trabalho. Além disso, recursos adequados garantem que os processos sejam executados de forma fluida e otimizada, minimizando gargalos e desperdícios de tempo.
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Lucas Renan Vicente Bandeira
IT Specialist
Another way to foster creativity in team leadership is by providing the necessary resources. This includes time, tools, and training that empower your team to explore creative avenues. Whether it's dedicating time for brainstorming, providing access to new software, or offering workshops on creative thinking techniques, equipping your team with the right resources can make a significant difference in their ability to innovate. Remember, investing in your team's creative development is an investment in the future success of the team.
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André Santos
Head of Data & Analytics | Gerente de dados e analytics | IA |Especialista em Cloud | Snowflake Cloud | DBT | Databricks | Big Data | Go Lang | C# | JavaScript | NodeJS | Devops | DataOps
Gosto de praticar no dia a dia varias ações para fomentar a criatividade e disponibilização de ideias pelo time pra isso costumamos sempre ter tempos saudáveis para criação, brainstormings e também para discussão de problemas e/ou de soluções. Gostamos também de trocas por meio de workshops intra-equipes para compartilhar conhecimentos, mas também tempos para aprimoramentos e adquirir conhecimentos necessários para estimular a criatividade da equipe.
While creativity thrives on freedom, it also requires direction. Setting clear goals gives your team a framework within which they can be creative. These goals should be challenging yet achievable, inspiring your team to think outside the box while remaining focused on the end result. As a leader, you should communicate these goals effectively and be open to creative approaches that your team might take to reach them. This balance between guidance and autonomy encourages creative problem-solving and keeps everyone aligned with the team's objectives.
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Nicolas Castillo
Clinical Biochemist | Dual Master's in Digital Health and Public Health Management | COVID-19 Expert | Leader in Clinical Diagnostics | Published Scientist.
La creatividad prospera con la libertad pero también necesita dirección. Establecer objetivos claros proporciona a tu equipo un marco dentro del cual pueden ser creativos. Estos objetivos deben ser desafiantes pero alcanzables, inspirando al equipo a pensar de manera innovadora mientras se mantienen enfocados en el resultado final. Como líder, debes comunicar estos objetivos de manera efectiva y estar abierto a enfoques creativos que tu equipo pueda tomar para alcanzarlos. Este equilibrio entre orientación y autonomía fomenta la resolución creativa de problemas y mantiene a todos alineados con los objetivos del equipo.
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Lucas Renan Vicente Bandeira
IT Specialist
While creativity thrives on freedom, it also requires direction. Setting clear goals provides your team with a framework within which they can be creative. These goals should be challenging yet achievable, inspiring your team to think outside the box while keeping their focus on the final outcome. As a leader, you must communicate these goals effectively and be open to the creative approaches your team may adopt to achieve them. This balance between guidance and autonomy encourages creative problem-solving and keeps everyone aligned with the team's objectives.
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André Santos
Head of Data & Analytics | Gerente de dados e analytics | IA |Especialista em Cloud | Snowflake Cloud | DBT | Databricks | Big Data | Go Lang | C# | JavaScript | NodeJS | Devops | DataOps
A transparência dos objetivos e das metas que precisamos alcançar é o inicio de todo caminho para gerir um ambiente de criatividade aflorada, pois, o direcionamento para as metas é o melhor caminho para atingir o resultado esperado. Costumo criar as metas claras no inicio de cada processo/projeto com check-points constantes para não deixar que a criatividade e ideias leve para um destino distante do resultado esperado.
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Ernani Costa
ENGENHEIRO MECÂNICO CONSULTOR
Todo projeto para que consiga obter êxito, deve ter em sua essência quais as metas a serem atingidas, com a finalidade primordial de oferecer aos participantes uma direção a seguir e um objetivo a atingir. Convém salientar que essas metas devem ser atingíveis pela equipe, para que a mesma tenha plena convicção de que com a participação e atuação de todos objetivo será alcançado. Importante também que haja um acompanhamento constante das metas, por parte da equipe, para promover alguns ajustes necessários
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Georgina Franco Maya
Key Account Manager VF Corporation
Establece metas creativas: En lugar de simplemente establecer objetivos de ventas, también puedes establecer metas creativas. Por ejemplo, puedes desafiar a tu equipo a encontrar formas únicas de llegar a nuevos clientes o a desarrollar estrategias innovadoras para cerrar acuerdos. Esto fomentará la creatividad y el pensamiento fuera de lo común.
Lastly, to truly harness creativity in your leadership, you must celebrate it. Recognize and reward creative efforts and successes within your team. This doesn't just apply to big breakthroughs but also to small innovations and improvements. Celebrating creativity reinforces its value and motivates your team to continue thinking creatively. Whether it's through shout-outs in team meetings, awards for innovative ideas, or simply acknowledging someone's creative approach, showing appreciation can go a long way in cultivating a culture of creativity.
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Shane Smith
Head of Studio | Digital Creative Production & Creative Automation Specialist
There are some people within my teams that just want to turn up, complete their work, and go home. Every business contains these type of talent, and within my teams they will be integral and play an important role, as long as I’m playing to their strengths. But I still find these people often respond positively to any development opportunities that I can provide as a result of celebrating something where they may have demonstrated a unique creative solution or approach. My role as a creative leader is to open their eyes to the personal and professional rewards for their creativity. In rewarding their creativity I’m essentially encouraging them to do it again, while ensuring they know that we are also investing in their future development.
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Eric O.
Global Leader @ Mastercard | Driving Operational Efficiencies
This is one that so many—actually great—leaders forget to do: celebrate all the wins. And no, this doesn’t mean coddling. It means recognizing efforts and showing the team you’re paying attention without hovering like a helicopter parent. You're showing that you actually care about the work you're asking them to do rather than a fire-and-forget approach. Even for the best managers, this can be tough. We’re juggling multiple workstreams and can get easily distracted. So, make a conscious effort to recognize and reward the team (but please, no more pizza parties. we can do better). Recognizing even a slight move of the needle will encourage collaboration and build up to big wins.
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Pooja Tiwari
Recognize team members who bring innovative ideas, their learning progress, and the milestones they achieve. This can motivate others to share their ideas.
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Lucas Renan Vicente Bandeira
IT Specialist
Finally, to truly harness creativity in your leadership, you must celebrate it. Recognize and reward creative efforts and successes within your team. This applies not only to major breakthroughs but also to small innovations and improvements. Celebrating creativity reinforces its value and motivates your team to continue thinking creatively. Whether through shout-outs in team meetings, awards for innovative ideas, or simply acknowledging someone's creative approach, showing appreciation can go a long way in cultivating a culture of creativity.
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Raj Patel (CSM®) (SFC®)
Certified Scrum Master® (CSM®) | Sr. Business Analyst | Scrum Fundamentals Certified (SFC)® | Lean Six Sigma Certified (Black & Green) | PMO | IIBA -ECBA Trained | Agile-Scrum Enthusiast | 20K LinkedIn Family Members
One thing that a lot of really excellent leaders fail to do is to recognize and celebrate their victories. Furthermore, this does not imply giving in. It entails praising efforts and demonstrating to the group that you're paying attention without becoming overbearing in the way a father might. Rather than taking a "fire and forget" attitude, you're demonstrating that you genuinely care about the task you're asking them to complete. This can be difficult, even for the most capable managers. We are managing several workstreams at once and are prone to distractions.
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Nitin Jadhav
Officer, CFO @CS (UBS) | Ex-HSBC | NISM (SEBI) Eq Der, MF & RA Certified | NSE Certified Eq Res & Val, Fin Mod & Val | CA Final | MNE @Chegg | Top 1% Verified Mentor @Topmate | Fin & Tax Planner | Graduate(A)
Foster creativity in team leadership: 1. Encourage diverse perspectives. 2. Cultivate a culture of innovation. 3. Provide resources for brainstorming. 4. Lead by example. 5. Foster collaboration. 6. Celebrate success. 7. Emphasize continuous improvement.
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Georgina Franco Maya
Key Account Manager VF Corporation
En resumen, aprovechar la creatividad en el liderazgo de equipos de ventas implica fomentar un entorno creativo, establecer metas creativas, fomentar la colaboración, recompensar la creatividad, promover el aprendizaje continuo y ser un ejemplo para tu equipo. Al hacerlo, no solo impulsarás el éxito en ventas, sino que también cultivarás un equipo más comprometido, innovador y motivado.
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