On the most basic of levels you can argue that the fundamental competency of leadership is the ability to create.  A leader focuses this fundamental competency so that they can generate value in the market place, empowerment for their teams, solutions for their clients and ultimately to continue the process of innovation that allows for the sustainability of their brand.

As I have said before – we can always rely on basic foundations whether we find ourselves in times of uncertainty or times of prosperity.  It is never more true than for the power of creativity.  There are two fundamental ways we can consider how we bring vision into reality.

1. Traditional Strategic Planning
2. The “Creativity Formula“

Traditional Planning

There is no need to spend a lot of time discussing the planning process.  We all know it well – we deploy it by:

• Developing a clear vision and/or outcome we wish to generate.
• Setting some powerful measures of success or milestones that move us towards the accomplishment of the vision or outcome.
• Building a set of S.M.A.R.T. goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.
• Generating a tactical plan that moves us forward and then we work the plan.
• Stepping back, from time to time, to determine if your strategies are working and consider other options that might support us in attaining the goals and vision if those strategies are not working.

Again, this is not rocket science.  Yet, we are discovering some draw backs to this process during the uncertain times we find ourselves in.  Why does this  analytical planning approach not seem to work as well during times of growing ambiguity?  Quite simply – it is because the approach relies too heavily on external circumstances turning out in particular ways and during times of high ambiguity we have far less control over external factors than normal.

The Creativity Formula

Another way to generate outcomes is in my view is the most powerful approach to creating and it works in good and bad times.  It is what I call the “Creativity Formula.“  This formula has the following ingredients:

• Connecting deeply to what we care most about.
• Consciously choosing to manifest it.
• Tapping our passion
• Holding an intention in the face of everything that it will be created.
• Allowing the intention to tap our passion and motivate our actions.

Take a moment and consider a time when you actually manifested something you deeply cared about in your life or work.  It might have been when you landed on the profession you wanted to practice, wanted to land a specific account, desired to improve a specific relationship or to achieve something in your personal life.

Given your success – did you make a clear choice to move forward on your quest after considering your options?  Did this choice remain foremost in your mind as an unstoppable intention?  Did you move forward using the fuel of your passion?  Ultimately if you did you achieve what you set out to using this formula?  Most clients I talk to relate to this process and ultimately realized it was a repeatable formula that consistently works. Let’s take a look at this one step at a time.

Connecting to What We Deeply Care About

We must start by asking ourselves – what is truly important to us?  This could be for our business, our clients, anything in our personal life.  This  can be in the form of a vision, a sense of purpose, or some outcome you deeply care about bringing into reality.

Consciously Choosing the Thing We Desire

If we truly care to bring something into reality – we have to make a choice to do so.  Without conscious choice – our desires – no matter how deep – will remain fantasies.  So we must chose and then let the world know we have done so.

Tapping Our Passion

If we have made a choice about something we care deeply about then passion will be there.  Passion energizes our intentions and actions in this process.  Reminding ourselves about the choice we have made and remembering how important it is to us brings passion to the surface for our use.

Holding an Intention to Manifest What We Care About – Even in the Face of Challenges

The power of intentionality is far underutilized by business people yet it is the transmission point for creativity.  Dictionary.com defines intention as “an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result or the end or objected intended; purpose“   When we have gained clarity around what we want to generate, focus our desire by choosing it, and then hold an unwavering intention to manifest it – we begin to naturally orient our actions that are consistent with the original desire.

Allowing Our Intention and Passion to Direct Our Actions

When we do this our actions are natural and are not forced.  We are simply motivated to move things forward, to seek opportunities for turning our desired outcome into reality, to not be stopped by apparent obstacles.

Now take a look at things that have not been created for your organization, your leadership and in your life.  Ask yourself:

• How clear was I around what I truly wanted?
• Was there something I wanted that was even more important than what I said I wanted? (e.g. I want to make a million dollars yet what I realize I truly want is to feel secure and have the freedom to accomplish what I want.)
• Did I choose to go for it or was there something inside holding me back?
• Did I allow my intention to direct my actions or did I struggle and try to control the outcome by pushing too hard to make something happen (usually when we push too hard we hinder the creativity process).

Every step in the formula is critical yet if we have not connected deeply with what we REALLY want and make a choice to make it happen – we have already weakened the impact of the formula.  We will tend to avoid taking actions because our intention is not strong enough or filled with enough passion.

The good news is this formula works during good times and bad times.  In more challenging times – like the one we face now – it is actually far easier to determine what it is that we really want.  For example, due to the current market, one of my clients has had to deal with losing well over half their net worth.  It has been a challenging time for them.  Yet, after examining what they truly cared about – they came to realize they wanted three fundamental things:

• To spend time with their family and be a primary provider for their needs.
• To use their tremendous technical and interpersonal skills to add value to their clients and deepen those relationships
• To sharpen their focus on their mission in the market place.

When they realized this is what they truly wanted – while they still felt some frustration with their loses – they felt unencumbered by the current state of the economy.  They were not only certain they could create what they most wanted to – the felt a new confidence that if they did everything would work out.   Long story short – while the collection of wealth has been reversed a bit – their family is getting what it needs, business has gone very well considering the times and they have found a new inspiration in their approach to serving the market place.

I would welcome any stories you have when this Creativity Formula has worked for you!  Additional questions and other comments are welcomed as well.

Tags: creativity, leadership, Success Principles, Vision to Reality

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 8:15 am and is filed under Leadership Development, Personal Engagement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.