What nagging challenge have you lived with far too long?

On what problem would you love to unleash ingenious creativity?

Creativity Proposition

Every leader can unleash ingenious creativity by embracing one leadership ‘X’ Factor.

Leadership X-Factor for Creativity
Photo Credit: Todd Kemp

In a recent coaching session I asked about this challenge. Steve said he’d love to solve this, but how? Where to start? He asked for help. I agreed to facilitate a creative problem solving session for his team.

Thanks to the Creative Problem Solving framework in Gregg Fraley’s book Jack’s Notebook, we helped Steve’s team identify fresh solutions. He said they’ve “reinvigorated” the team and will likely increase performance.

The Leader’s Creativity Problem

As leader, would you like to harness more creativity to solve the tough issues?

Let’s face it: other people solve easy problems. Tough challenges end up at your doorstep because you’re the leader.

That’s why 60% of CEOs in a global IBM study of 1,500 CEOs from companies of all sizes and industries cited creativity as the most important leadership quality.

I see it differently.

Is creativity vital to a CEO’s leadership and company success? Certainly.

They ignore a vital prerequisite for unleashing team creativity, however.

Steve, CEO of the creative services firm, ironically, wouldn’t side with the 60% of CEOs surveyed. Working with him, I see that Steve has the ‘X’ Factor that unleashes greater creativity and other key cultural traits.

Unleashing Creativity – The Leadership ‘X’ Factor

Steve has it. The CEOs who gather monthly in our peer advisory forum have it.

Jim Collins’ research team identified this leadership ‘X’ Factor in his seminal bestseller Good to Great.

Yet 88% of CEOs in the 2010 global study ignored it, ranking it dead last!

Innovators at AT&T’s Bell Labs who held the most patents had it.

Executives and associates at IDEO, a global design consultancy, are exemplars of the ‘X’ Factor. (See Harvard Business Review, January-February 2014, p. 53.)

Sadly, the ‘X’ Factor is readily ignored in many leadership circles.

Abraham Lincoln practiced it with aplomb. Consider these words written by the President of the United States to an up-and-coming leader:

When you first reached the vicinity of [your objective]… I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right, and I was wrong. (Lincoln on Leadership, p. 104.)

Lincoln penned this letter of commendation to a victorious General Ulysses Grant during the U.S. Civil War.

Leadership Benefits of the ‘X’ Factor

The ‘X’ Factor enabled Steve to ask his team for help. Consequently, he gained fresh insights into long-standing challenges which reinvigorated his team.

The ‘X’ Factor causes like-minded CEOs in our peer advisory forum to seek help. They solve their tough issues and grow as leaders.

Evidence for it wouldn’t be ignored by Jim Collins. It is distinctive of Level 5 Leaders who built enduring great companies.

The ‘X’ Factor helped unleash vast innovation at Bell Labs.

It’s intentionally built into the culture at IDEO and drives innovation for clients.

The ‘X’ Factor marked President Lincoln’s leadership and helped his leaders achieve new successes.

The ‘X’ Factor and You

What problem could the ‘X’ Factor help you solve?

What issue confronts you, that if solved, could be a game-changer for you?

When you embrace the ‘X’ Factor you increase your capacity for exceptional leadership. With it, you harness the innate genius of your collective team.

What is the ‘X’ Factor?

Humility.

An ancient proverb states: “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”

Doug Guthrie, professor of International Business and Management at George Washington University, writes in a recent Forbes article:

 In the end, what we teach about leadership in business schools simply does not prepare students for leading, because we ignore the importance of humility in business and beyond.

Leaders who embrace humility can unleash ingenious creativity – and much more!

In what ways have you experienced authentic leadership humility, or lack thereof, and to what effect? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

In my previous post in this series, I described how a youth football coach neglected to own his leadership impact and one of the consequences of his approach.

Photo Credit: E. Kemp

A few weeks before this incident, I met a dedicated woman who has served as an employee at a faith-based youth services non-profit for nearly 60 years. When asked the secret to working there for so long, she replied:

“I serve a great boss and a great mission.”

I have the privilege of working with her boss, Dan, the CEO. He’s a talented yet humble servant-leader who owns his leadership impact and continues to work to improve his leadership. A seasoned executive, Dan is not satisfied with where he is as a leader. He knows that to stay true to his mission and reach the vision he has cast, good stewardship insists that he sharpen and magnify his leadership strengths so that he can finish well.

Three Big Implications

I submit to you that every leader should own their leadership impact ‘How’ because of three Big Implications:

1. Implication of Engagement

The football coach demotivated and ultimately lost some players with his approach. Some just tolerated him. Few seemed to respect him. The coach didn’t own his leadership impact ‘How’ and lost sight of a mission that was bigger than X’s and O’s, wins and losses.

Dan’s leadership approach, conversely, inspires and helps draw out the best in his team. Dan is highly regarded by his executive team and Board of Directors, as his 360 review makes clear. The contrast between these two leaders suggests an important lesson for us:

When you own your leadership impact ‘How,’ your team will engage.

2. Implication of Performance

It was never clear to me that the coach successfully scared any players into executing their assignments well. The coach’s means of influence simply did not motivate these young learners. Consequently, team performance suffered in various ways. A reasonably talented football team finished 1-7 on the season. Sadly, one kid who needed the positive influence of sports, team and coach, quit the team demoralized. Over the course of the season I heard some parents express their dissatisfaction with the coach, including Mr. “HIT Somebody,” who nearly did so in a lively exchange with the coach during the last game.

In contrast, with Dan at the helm, his team has made great strides forward in transforming the lives of at-risk youth around the U.S. Of course, many elements contribute to a successful enterprise. For Dan, one element shines in contrast to the football coach:

When you own your leadership impact ‘How,’ your team will perform.

3. Implication of Sustainability

It is possible to engage teams and even produce results in the short-term with bullying tactics. Under such conditions, however, team engagement and results are typically not sustainable.

Some players on the football team finished the season questioning whether they would even continue playing football. A few chose not to attend the end-of-season party. One parent said she was “so done” with the negativity her son experienced from the coach. Another parent said he would switch to a different program next year because of this particular coach.

In his eight years as CEO, Dan has intentionally changed the culture of his organization. He made some staff changes. He cast a fresh vision. He defined and measured some new key performance indicators. Today, Dan’s team flourishes. Moreover, he has positioned the organization for even greater impact in the years ahead. These two figures have another lesson for leaders:

When you own your leadership impact ‘How,’ your team will become sustainable.

Conclusion

In her book, How We Lead Matters, Chairman and former CEO of Carlson, Marilyn Carlson Nelson writes:

“Never forget that your role as a leader is to be a steward for future generations.”

Stewardship is the purpose of leadership. We lead in order to serve a greater mission or purpose, so that others may flourish, and to sustain these positive effects.

Purposeful leadership invites us to own our leadership impact ‘How.’ Why should you own it?

1. Implication of Engagement – when you own it, your team will engage.

2. Implication of Performance – when you own it, your team will perform.

3. Implication of Sustainability – when you own it, your team will become sustainable.

Let’s own our leadership impact ‘How’ and help our teams flourish!

Question: In what ways have you noticed leaders own (or ignore) their leadership impact ‘How’ and what were the implications? You can leave a comment by clicking here.