CPA Source – Five Rules of Creative Leadership
Date: September 25, 2014
Name: CPA Source – Five Rules of Creative Leadership
Presenter: Katherine Danks, BFA (Honors)
CPA Source provides business webinar presentation for members of Certified Professional Accountants in Canada. This webinar invites Katherine Danks, the president and founder of Creative Business Culture, to share her insight of current leadership challenges in the global economy. Business owners can use her principles to develop new habits of thinking in their business today. This webinar will help business owners to strategize their business culture to improve better productivity.
Danks believes creativity comes from response to a problem or opportunities. Mind and senses will react to stimuli creativity. Creativity is important in business world because it leads to better office culture, better employees’ motivation, and feel valued in the workforce. When business owners stop taking risk, they stop to explore new innovating ideas. Moreover, they will start to ignore their intuition and creative thoughts.
Business owners need to know it is important to reframe perspectives and utilize their creative mind. Danks emphasizes business owners should start to move from traditional leadership to creative leadership. In the current generation, it is important to aware creative leadership because it will help business owners to focus, energize, and see the value of work.
| Traditional Leadership | Creative Leadership |
| Authority | Inspiration |
| Hierachy | Network |
| Linear | Non-linear |
| Yes or No | Maybe – Comfort with ambiguity |
| Live to avoid mistakes | Learn from mistakes |
Five Rules of Creative Leadership
Rule # 1: Engaged Communication
Business owners should always challenge their business assumptions. They can drill down the concept by at least 5 questions to have clear understanding of the problem. In average, 55% of communication is nonverbal. Therefore, Danks recommends business owners to evaluate their listening skills. Internet can increase ability to listen to their clients, so they can serve better to than before.
Danks understands the order of information is important. Business owners should start with positive comment followed by negative comment. This will leave the receiver a positive impact. Communicate well with the group and engage everyone with the responsibility of the outcome.
Communication connects with emotional intelligence. Business owners encourage impacting their business with idea boosters instead of idea busters.
| Idea Boosters | Idea Busters |
| Yes, what if | Are you kidding? |
| Let’s explore this more | It is not in the budget |
| What I like about that is | Yes, but it will never work |
“It is better to answer 1 question in 8 different ways than 8 different questions in 1 way.”
“Never make assumptions; ask why questions”
Rule # 2: Motivate with Autonomy
In average, business spends $25 thousands to hire a new employee and 70% of employees are disengaged. Danks believe how people feel at work will directly impact their performance. If business owners can fully engage their employees, in average, 22% increase of productivity, 10% higher customer satisfaction, and 48% less safety incidents.
Danks suggests all business owners to give more focus and autonomy over hours worked. Employees will engage with their performance if their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual are met. Many employees are afraid of implementation because they are afraid of distrust. Therefore, it is important to create autonomy.
Autonomy comes from 4 factors.
- Accept input
- Provide freedom, challenge and purpose
- Enable control
- Lead to innovation
“Need to feel control; acknowledged for their contribution”
Rule # 3: Connecting Polar Opposites
Business owners need to allow employees to look outside the box for answers. By creating new thinking, it allows people with different expertise and background to mix.
Danks believe new employees have no preconceived notions and expectations. This will allow them to seek new ideas or solutions for the organization. It is important for all business owners to seek out new experience and friendships. Danks believe this will help them to see new perspective and be inspired.
“Turn ideas upside down, back to front, what are the insights?”
Rule # 4: Active Brainstorming
Business owners are encouraged to challenge all assumptions. Sometimes it is difficult to see the roadblocks. Therefore, there are 4 pillars approach from Alex Osborn to help business owners.
- Differing judgment
- Generating lots of ideas
- Encouraging unusual ideas
- Combining ideas
Danks wants business owners to do brainstorm frequently. Business owners should start with warm up exercises with the team before brainstorm. Using white board or flip chart will help the team to engage the activity. It is important to frame the topic, so they can stimulate the right direction of ideas.
Danks believes there are no bad ideas. Business owners are encouraged wild thinking. After brainstorming, business owners can capture the ideas and implement with the team.
“Nonjudgmental free mind flow”
Rule # 5: Inspired Leadership
Business owners need to clarify their business purpose and the product values they want to represent. People will accept companies that can articulate what they believe in. Therefore, they need to feel there is alignment with beliefs.
Leaders’ energy must be contagious and convey passion. Leaders must care for their employees. All decisions from leaders in corporation must in line with the business purpose.
“Successfully communicate why they do what they do”
Danks believe if employees only come and do what they are asked to do, the outcome will be minimal. However, if employees are trusted in business culture, they will be supportive to each other. The outcome will go above and beyond.
“Remember what the business stands for”
Danks suggests many strategies for creative leadership to improve the business today.
- Set aside regular time for creative or strategic thinking
- Allow yourself time to focus on one thing at a time
- Connect your work in your mind to your company’s vision
- Develop new approaches to creative perspectives to handle complex problems
- Develop a sense of community within your team or department
- Understand empathy and communicate to others effectively
- Take advantages of time to learn and grow
- Look for opportunities to do what you do best
- Invest in opportunities to generate greater overall positive energy with your team
- Review your failure regularly and ask how you can learn and develop from them
- Strive for a balance of work life and home life
- Be confident to take risks and to truly be yourself at work
“Injecting Creativity into Leadership”