THE CREATIVE LEADERSHIP TRAIT

Allow people to try new things and take initiative.

Being a good leader is not something you do for people, it is something you do with them. P & D Zigarm

It is not because things are difficult that we do not want to take risks. It is because we do not take risks that things are so difficult. Seneca

Leadership is much more than so many things that you are supposed to do right. It is an art, a conviction; it is about the kind of heart you have. John Maxwell.

Knowing the people to whom you are a leader and understanding their dreams, is one thing. Actually giving them the chance to take the initiative and try new things, is a completely different story.

Here is a story that really give credence to the need to encourage young people today to take initiatives. People do not become creative when they are spoon fed, hand them the spoon and their genius would suddenly spring forth.

As a young man, the famous 16th century astronomer Nicholas Copernicus wanted to study the orbits of the planets. He often complained to his teacher that he would be able to get a much better idea of how this mystery worked if he could look at the heavenly bodies from the sun instead of from the earth.

"But I am stuck here in earth," he used to sigh. "I have no way of escaping from here to look at the planets from another perspective."

"....But there is!" his teacher exclaimed. "His do you know you are stuck on earth in all respects? I'm sure you can find out for yourself what you must do, without my telling you. Use your brain."

The teacher was confident that this creative young man would be able to think of a solution himself. He knew he should not limit his students with his own perceptions.

Copernicus then took the initiative. Even if I cannot physically jump to the sun, he said to himself, I could take a leap of the imagination!

So, in his mind, he tore himself away from earth, landing on the sun. And from that new angle, he was able to form an idea of how the orbits of the heavenly bodies worked.

Afterwards he did the endless calculations necessary to prove the stunning theory beyond any doubt. That heralded the Copernican Revolution, which established the theory that the planets revolve around the sun and earth around its own axis - an insight that would change the world forever.

Had Copernicus's teacher not allowed his student to take the initiative and discover things for himself, mankind still might have been under the impression that the earth is the center of the universe.

Leaders not only have the task of making their followers think independently or outside the box, they also have to inspire them to dedicate themselves to a shared dream.

Leaders should guard against the desire to be in control at all cost, leaving no one else the opportunity to take the initiative.

By doing so, leaders impoverish themselves and stifle their followers' Dreams.

In conclusion, the leadership expert Stephen Covey rightly remarked,

If you alone want to be in control, you will inevitably be very lonely. People will watch and criticize you from a distance rather than put their hearts and energy into realizing your dream. But if you involve people in a dream you all share, they will be right at your side in every success and every problem that arises - because their own hearts are in this cause.

Hope this rather lengthy article soulspired you today? May the creative leader in you begin to speak louder by the day.

Have an INITIATIVE INSPIRING Day.