How do you prepare leaders for these uncertain and chaotic times? That was the question that drove my research for my book, “Leading with Wisdom: Sage Advice from 100 Experts.” Several themes emerged from interviewing the top thought leaders in the field that became the framework for the book.
One was that the value of creativity is essential in building a healthy work environment. To encourage my college students to be creative, I developed a mandatory and ungraded “creativity activity.” Students were required to spend time weekly doing something creative. It could be something they used to do or something they would like to learn. Examples included reading for pleasure, exercise, art, music, cooking, photography, and volunteering. The purpose was to allocate time in their life to “create” something meaningful of their choosing. They were required to reflect on the experience in their weekly journal focusing on the difference it was or wasn’t making in their life.
CREATIVE PROJECT DAYS
Another example is a program Terri Clark, the former director of Technical Services for the Kansas Legislature, implemented. Technicians come out of training with certifications, but no one is teaching them about how to relate to people in written and oral communication or other soft interpersonal skills. In response, Clark implemented her own creativity activity in the workplace. When the legislature was out of session, Clark gave her employees three vacation days to do an independent project. The ground rules included explaining to the team what you were going to do with the time and what you hoped to accomplish. Examples of projects were learning a new skill, reading a book, or researching a question. She discovered it was better if the projects were not work related but something they wanted to do. After three days, they returned to work and gave a presentation about their project to their team.
Some of the enhanced skills from this time away from work were in the areas of planning, public speaking, and problem solving. Initially, Clark said, employees were hesitant because they didn›t know how to spend this time. But by the next year, they had already decided on their projects.
After five years of this project, Clark was not surprised by the increase in morale. The employees felt she was investing in their lives, not just their work. Clark told me, “I feel this increased the trust my team had in me because I really cared about them.”
That’s precisely why leaders need to think outside of the box when developing others.