Our Centre for Creativity at City University yesterday held a “Creative Leadership Summit” at Cass Business School – a select group of leaders assembled to explore the implications arising from IBM’s recent global study of Chief Executives.
That survey revealed for the first time that “creative leadership” is now the number one requirement from CEOs around the world, 60% of them naming it as their top priority. It is an extraordinary rise in the perceived importance of creativity to leadership, quite unprecedented.
But how well equipped are British organisations to recruit and support creative leaders? The meeting concluded that Britain is at risk in two key areas that effect creative leadership.
First, current research conducted by Social Science colleagues at City makes it clear that less than a third of British organisations (29%) include innovativeness or creativity in their recruitment selection criteria. Yet the vast majority of our businesses (78%) recognise that innovation is vital to their future survival and success.
And second, less than one in three British organisations build innovation and creativity into their appraisal and reward programmes. This is quite tragic! Every company’s appraisal and reward processes need consistently to enhance creative potential.
In short, unless these issues are addressed, we will simply not have the creative leaders and innovation needed to get Britain moving decisively out of the current economic doldrums. CEOs in both the public and private sectors need to understand these issues and take decisive action to remedy the situation.
But not only CEOs. Government can also play a much more dynamic role in re-shaping attitudes and behaviours.
That survey revealed for the first time that “creative leadership” is now the number one requirement from CEOs around the world, 60% of them naming it as their top priority. It is an extraordinary rise in the perceived importance of creativity to leadership, quite unprecedented.
But how well equipped are British organisations to recruit and support creative leaders? The meeting concluded that Britain is at risk in two key areas that effect creative leadership.
First, current research conducted by Social Science colleagues at City makes it clear that less than a third of British organisations (29%) include innovativeness or creativity in their recruitment selection criteria. Yet the vast majority of our businesses (78%) recognise that innovation is vital to their future survival and success.
And second, less than one in three British organisations build innovation and creativity into their appraisal and reward programmes. This is quite tragic! Every company’s appraisal and reward processes need consistently to enhance creative potential.
In short, unless these issues are addressed, we will simply not have the creative leaders and innovation needed to get Britain moving decisively out of the current economic doldrums. CEOs in both the public and private sectors need to understand these issues and take decisive action to remedy the situation.
But not only CEOs. Government can also play a much more dynamic role in re-shaping attitudes and behaviours.
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