Building Innovative Capacity across Sectors

[Malene Post]

Creative Leadership in social entrepreneurship, health and public governance

An ever-changing world needs leaders that can create spaces for people and ideas to grow. Creative Leadership trains leaders to initiate and facilitate an innovative process. The engagement of the people involved is a focal point because the implementation and success of an innovative outcome ultimately depends on the commitment of the team. Creative Leadership offers more than just a methodology on how to move from A – Z in a process. It is a mindset that embraces the diversity of people and ideas; this is why Creative Leadership is relevant in so many different contexts.

In 2011 we have witnessed how Creative Leadership has fostered new initiatives in different places of the world.

The Anglican Church in Portsmouth, one of the most tradition-bound institutions, has chosen to make Creative Leadership part of its culture. The Reverend Canon Nick Ralph is social responsibility advisor and the pioneer of the initiative in the church:

“We have realized that it is possible to change the way we work and to implement creativity as a part of our daily work,” he says.

One of the outcomes is a new strategy in how to support social projects. Instead of giving grants and donations, the church is now working towards more self-sustainable solutions that support social entrepreneurs who wish to make a difference in the local community. The aim is to develop a strong entrepreneurial culture that can bring new ideas to life. Ideas that are both environmentally and economically sustainable.

“Creative Leadership has affected my own practice and it is beginning to affect the whole organization. I am now encouraging The Anglican Church to take it up nationally. A big challenge – but not impossible,” Nick Ralph concludes.

At the New University Hospital of Aarhus 40 doctors, nurses and administrative leaders met Creative Leadership as part of a larger training program. Medical doctor and PhD student, Anette Tarp Hansen explains how she has implemented Creative Leadership in her job:

“To be open minded to the ideas of others is very useful and inspiring in my daily work as a medical doctor doing research. And it helped us to boil down our innumerable ideas and energy into something tangible.”
She is referring to the newborn project “Ambassador for the young scientist”. It is an arrangement where a medical doctor (the ambassador) supports and coaches a young and often vulnerable student or doctor. The ambassador does not only deals with the practical obstacles of science but is also concerned with personal matters.

“We used the methods from Creative Leadership to concretise our idea and to define the role of the ambassador. We will also use it when we will be making a training program for the ambassadors,” Anette Tarp Hansen says.

Creative Leadership is connected to a training program at the Humboldt Viadrina School of Governance, in Berlin. It was offered as an intense 2-day supplement to their master program in Public Policy.  Former student Susanne Stövhase, who organised the training is now employed at the school:

“We are actually considering to make it a part of the curriculum because Creative Leadership really fits the needs of the students. “

The Public Policy students are only part time students. They also have a job and as students they develop their own work projects during the learning process. Susanne Stövhase explains how the tools from Creative Leadership helped her not only to unfold the potential of the team but also her own potential:
“We learn to speak with a clear voice, which basically means to be true to yourself. At my job I lead a project and I often tend to feel too responsible and eager to create harmony by pleasing every member of the team. That is neither good for the group nor myself. Using my clear voice is a way to coach myself,” Susanne Stövhase concludes.

This is just a sample of the diverse scenarios in which Creative Leadership is alive. It is very valuable for us to experience how Creative Leadership can be used across sectors. We hope that 2012 will bring us more possibilities to unfold the innovative potential in organisations all around the world.