If you are going to boost the creative performance of your business and become a thought leader in your industry you need to tap into and utilize the talents of very clever, innovative and creative people.
To do that, one question that surfaces is, where do you find great creative people? Especially ones who are going to contribute to your business?
More often than not the impulse for a leader is look out into the world and find ways and means of attracting the very best people to suit their business, and who are aligned with their purpose, people who are extraordinarily good at what they do, people who they can inspire to be more creative by providing the best resources, culture and leadership so that these creative people can in turn provide truly creative and innovative solutions that drive a business forward.
Which is great and needs to be done. However…
Let me propose that some of the best creative people you could possibly hope to find are already in your business and you may not even know they are there. All you need to do is be open enough to look for them, listen out for them, and start finding ways to encourage them to come forward.
How do you recognize them? Some could be those shy, demure types who every so often illuminate proceedings with an insightful observation that changes everything. Some are those maverick types who constantly push the envelope with crazy ideas and schemes, and some are those sensible intellectual types, who are constantly learning and gathering information so they can contribute in amazing ways. There is no common look or handshake but they all want to express themselves, be heard, contribute and be part of something bigger than themselves.
The point is creative people come in all shapes and sizes and can be found on all levels of an organization and are all extremely valuable to your business. They can help you disrupt the market and outpace your competitors, drive innovation, solve problems, find opportunities, streamline processes and reinvent the wheel if needed. In short they can help your business move forward and be more profitable if your let them.
I believe it’s also the responsibility of an organization’s leadership to find them and seek them out and create an environment, which encourages and stimulates them and gives them permission to be creative and help them be the best creative people they can be.
