The novel Leader

Acclaimed leadership academic Prof Keith Grint describes leadership as one of novelty, going to where you’ve not gone before.  How many leaders do you know that has that element of novelty about them, without driving everyone mad!
 
For me it’s more akin to being creative and nimble in imagination to be able to see possibilities and challenge assumptions.  Unfortunately our workplaces have become quite stultified: we’ve become digitised and automatic in our thinking, driven by targets into well-worn paths.  How then do we break out of that and re-energise novelty in our leaders?
 
Rapid creative thinking
I’ve found in my work with leaders that introducing the Thinking Environment transforms people’s ability to think creatively.   Issues that have been troubling them for weeks, or even months, can be resolved within an hour, sometimes within 20 minutes, once they have embraced the principles of TE and #TimetoThink.  
 
How do we embrace the novelty that sits in us all and harness it within our lives and our workspace?  First, we have to accept that we all have the potential to be creative.  Second, we have to give ourselves permission to access that creativity.  Third, we have to give ourselves time. Time to Think.
 
Go Beyond normal thinking
Take that first step by telling the person who is talking that you are not going to interrupt them until they’ve finished their train of thought.  They’ll find it weird at first and may not like it – after all we’re used to being interrupted. It’s a change to a programmed pattern of behaviour.  Give it a go, put a timer on if you’re really strapped for time.  Then sit back and wait to discover how far the thinking can ‘Go Beyond’ what is expected.
 
To discover more about how you can ‘Go Beyond’ in your thinking get in touch.