Developing Leadership and Creative Thinking Skills

Do you wish to improve your leadership and creative thinking skills? Do you or your organisation struggle to come up with new or innovative approaches? If so try out some of the following development ideas listed below. The list is not meant to be exhaustive but if put into practise they will enable you to improve your creative thinking and leadership capability.

· Regularly practice brainteasers to help you get into the habit of challenging your assumptions.

· Approach problems with open mindedness. Use questions such as why, what, where, when, and how when approaching problems.

· Believe you are an innovative person.

· Create time for you and your team to think creatively and in an innovative way. Consider going off site away from day to day distractions and interruptions.

· Critically look at your personal behaviour. How do you promote creativity? Do you use creative techniques in your meetings, such as Brainstorming techniques, 6 Thinking Hats, etc?

· Do you create an environment that encourages rather than criticises new ideas? Think about the last idea a team member came to you with.

- Did you agree with it?

- Did you support it or were you critical?

- What happened to the idea?

Use the insights in to your own behaviour to identify improvements and make a plan.

· In what ways can you reward creativity and innovation in your team? Identify 3 different ways and action them.

· Identify organisations that display excellence in innovation. Arrange visits for yourself and colleagues. Identify 3 actions you can implement in your organisation or function.

· Undertake a SWOT analysis of your function/organisation with your colleagues. Find at least one key recommendation to action.

· Allow yourself quiet time to think and reflect. Plan time in your diary and keep it.

· Read material different from the kind you usually read. Read biographies of great artists, scientists or engineers. What can you learn from them?

Alternatively, if the above ideas don’t give you what you need try reading one of the following books:

· Six Thinking Hats, or Lateral Thinking, by De Bono, Penguin, ISBN: 0140137793

· Learning Maps and Memory Skills: Powerful Techniques to Improve Your Brain Power, by Svantsesson.

· The Creative Edge by Miller.

· The Age of Unreason by Charles Handy.

· How to be Better at Creativity by Petty.