There are many good people mired in mediocrity and comfort. They spend much of life defending why they do what they do, selling what they’ve always sold, and protecting their organizations from being devoured by the forces of the new.
This post is part of the series – What Ever Happened to Personal Responsibility?
Would You Return to Your Organization?
If You’re Not Growing, You’re Dying…Really?
Leaders are the Most Creative People on the Planet
Great Leaders Serve
Is Fear Taking Over?
Let’s face it – maintaining the status quo has to be exhausting.
I love new ideas. I love growth. And because I love growth, I love the creativity and innovation that growth requires! Creatives continually challenge the status quo. And since vision is at the core of leadership, leaders must be the most creative people on the planet! Which quite simply makes mediocrity poor leadership.
Here are 3 things that I’ve learned from
creative leaders…
1. To accomplish vision the culture must change. Effective leaders possess an extraordinary curiosity about the world they’re trying to change. And they do something about it. Seth Godin found that change almost never fails because it’s too early – it almost always fails because it’s too late. Great leaders challenge the status quo early and often.
2. The world’s most valuable assets are ideas. So great leaders align team members by listening to their ideas, developing a common vision, committing to the vision, and making decisions based on that commitment. Then, they clearly and consistently communicate the envisioned future.
3. There really is no secret to success. Success is simply the byproduct of trying harder and trying longer. And if you’re going to be successful, you’ll need an unrelenting vision from deep within that harnesses every ounce of creativity in your soul and consumes all of your energy every waking moment. Life is too short to live in comfort. Your calling is far too important to approach it with apathy.
In his book Primal, Mark Batterson observed that it’s far easier to find something wrong with a new idea than to admit something is wrong with the old way of doing things. We need fewer haters and more creators. We need fewer commentators and more inventors. And we need fewer imitators and more dreamers.
Question: What have you learned from creative leaders? Share in the comments.
So powerfully inspiring piece, thanks for writing it, for sharing it. My credo now.
Thanks for your kind words. Enjoy your day!
Michael, I love this article. You have helped me look at what I do differently. I can’t sing or paint. I love want others do. Because of that I never saw myself as that creative. As a leader of a nonprofit, you definitely have to innovate and change. You have inspired me to look at leadership differently!
That’s great David. Thanks so much for sharing your encouraging note. Let me know how I can serve you.
culture. the greatest bear to tackle.
So true, John. Often our number one organizational challenge! Good to hear from you! Michael