As a CEO, I’m no stranger to the pressures of needing to be constantly creative and innovative. When you’ve had successes in the past, there’s an anxiety that comes with wondering if you’ll be able to keep that up, to match or exceed what you’ve done before.
Society (and mostly we, ourselves) put an enormous burden on leaders and innovators, considering them to be the sole source of their own creativity and “genius.” I’ve certainly felt that weight myself at times. But as I’ve grown and evolved as a leader, I’ve realized that a big part of my job is actually to support the creativity and genius of others. Rather than trying to do it all myself, I’ve learned to be a coach and mentor, empowering my team to do their most innovative work.
This shift in mindset has been freeing. The Greeks used to view creativity as coming from an external divine source that collaborated with the writer, artist, or thinker. They had a bit of healthy distance between their own egos and the outcome of their work. I may not literally believe in fairies or geniuses invisibly assisting me but releasing my iron grip on needing to be the lone source of “genius” has made me a better leader.
All that said, I do still experience occasional breakthroughs and moments of inspiration myself. Rarely do they come when I’m actively grinding away at a problem though. More often, they arise when I manage to get some distance, to step back and gain perspective. That’s why I’ve made it a priority to take hour-long “clarity breaks” once a week to disconnect and ponder big picture strategy. I also use travel as an opportunity to do deep thinking (while someone else does the driving or flying).
In business, our job is to simply to show up and do the work, and eventually inspiration tends to meet you there. If my team and I put in the hours, follow the process, turn over every stone, the breakthroughs do come, sooner or later. The “divine spark” of creativity seems to favor the persistent, those with the stubbornness to keep showing up.
But even when that external genius appears to be on vacation, the work still matters. The unglamorous, daily effort is still worthwhile. We can’t always control the quality of the inspiration that comes to us. But we can control showing up to do our part, to the best of our abilities, every day.
How are you harnessing your creative genius and helping your team harness theirs?
