Today the Independent has published an article on ‘The Art of Being a Good Manager’, which explores how various universities are responding to a demand for leaders in business to have creative and analytical skills.
This shift follows leading organisations looking for new and creative ways to spark innovation. The Independent article specifically highlights LVMH as an example of a company igniting innovation through creativity, and we’ve all heard the tales of legend inthe land of Google where table tennis and dance classes are the going rate, and 3M teams think tank time to work on projects outside of their day-to-day jobs to trigger innovation. It’s safe to say that these attractive work cultures don’t do much to harm the recruitment pitch of these organisations to the brightest emerging talents, not to mention the impact on retention and morale.
Artistry in business will be a welcome change and the Independent article also highlights that new educational developments to reflect this will break away from a one-size-fits-all leadership develoment solution. MBAs that do ‘churn them and burn them’ have got to be a thing of the past – and it seems they are. One method of learning doesn’t necessarily suit everyone, and it is fantastic to see the education taking stock of that and responding.
There is no doubt a place for what we refer to at Common Purpose as the ‘mechanical’ knowledge of leadership. What we mean by this is that you need to understand different leadership models and theories, strategy, why leadership is vital, the various approaches and styles of leadership, and case studies of how management and leadership works in various situations and organisations. But there is nothing like experience to teach you – you personally, as an individual – how to lead. That’s why we use experiential learning methods.
Not until leaders – and that includes very established leaders as well as emerging ones – are thrown in the deep end, and confronted with a situation or environment that is unfamiliar, do they truly understand and confront their limitations and the barriers they have to working with others.
This is when they learn the valuable lesson that the complex change, stakeholder engagement and problem solving means working not just within the realm they’re comfortable with, but outside their immediate sphere of influence and specialism. When you’re in unfamiliar territory, suddenly those neat leadership models don’t apply so neatly.
Experiential learning at Common Purpose does place senior and established, emerging and young leaders into situations where they have to work with other people from various backgrounds, and in situations where they are completely out of their comfort zone.
We may send a group that consists of banking managers, policy directors and senior charity fundraisers to see what the leadership challenges are in a prison – for example. It is always rewarding to see people from very contrasted backgrounds emerge from that experience seeing parallels with what they do every day.
It’s great to see creativity being used to reveal the propensity for innovation. Enhancing this type of learning with the development of leaders so that they understand complex problems and can be effective in unfamiliar situations, work with and engage diverse stakeholders, and participate and recognise the impact of their decisions on civic society and the wider community should also be seen as a creative process for learning. You just can’t beat experience when it comes to learning how to lead.
