Preparing with Purpose: Part 4

Building Your Creative Confidence

Do you consider creativity an integral part of purpose-driven leadership? Many people don’t, thinking instead that creativity is reserved for artists, musicians, writers, developers, designers, architects, and similar professions.  Creativity guru and innovation consultant, Chris Barez-Brown, disagrees: “If you want to be creative, you simply need to be willing to imagine that things can be different.” Chris highlights the importance of leading creatively in his popular Leadercast talk, “Building Your Creative Confidence.” 

“A classic example of imagination driving new outcomes is Roger Banister,” says Chris. “He was the first guy to beat the four-minute mile. Now, nobody believed it was possible until he did it.  Physicians said the human heart and lungs didn’t have the capacity to carry a man so fast. And yet, Roger Banister managed to achieve the four-minute mile. Within one year, over 30 people had done the same thing; within three years, over 300 people had done it. Now, the human species hadn’t suddenly become faster and stronger, they just believed. 

Chris adds that we can increase our creativity based on the way in which we interpret our experiences.   To amp up your creativity, Chris suggests focusing on two simple actions:

- Experiment more.  Not big risky things, but simple, small activities. Find ways to be a little more creative every day.

- Be more flexible in how you interpret your performance. When something goes wrong, learn from it and tell yourself: I will try it differently the next time.

“Creativity takes a certain amount of energy and sometimes, of course, it will not go right. So unless you’ve got confidence in who you are and your creative output, nothing will change.  Where does that belief come?  Ultimately, your belief is yours.  Other people can impact it short-term, but it’s ultimately under your control. If it’s not where you want it to be … make it bigger.”