Creative leadership is the key

The implementation of design thinking training and the planning of individual sprints is not enough: The entire corporate culture must change in the direction of agile structures and create the corresponding freedom. It is also necessary to cope with the increasing complexity of tasks and accelerated processes. This means that managers need to create a network between day-to-day operations and the agile processes.

methods and work processes, as these should ultimately lead to innovations. At the same time, leaders must learn that they are in an interaction with their leaders and thus meet at eye level. A working environment must be created for creative employees in which they can use their potential profitably and are also allowed to make mistakes. The decisive factor here is primarily that a culture of trust prevails between the manager and the creative employees.

Rooms for the exchange of ideas
Many creative ideas do not arise during working hours. Therefore, spaces should be created that promote an exchange of ideas. These can be physical spaces, but also set periods of time in which agile methods are applied. Above all, the transmission of timely, comprehensive and appreciative feedback is important for the employees concerned. In addition, a rethinking of working hours should be considered depending on the generation, as it seems, among other things, that Generation Z places more value on regulated working hours in contrast to Generation Y, which prefers flexible working hours. However, mobile and flexible forms of work are leading to increasing communication at all levels of the company and in social networks worldwide. Therefore, clear agreements should be made on how, when and with what information is distributed within the company and how it is basically communicated. This also includes the handling of confidential information. In addition, attention must be paid to the right mix of teams to promote creativity. Ultimately, the greatest challenge is to achieve value-driven, agile and creative leadership by building trust and providing direction. The table on the following page shows both the changes for leadership and the consequences for the leadership personality that digitalization and increasing networking bring with them.

A new understanding of leadership
In order for leaders to meet the challenges of the future, they need to adapt their behaviour and role. Accordingly, they should take on the role of "enabler", coordinator and motivator. Above all, a climate of openness and support is necessary. Furthermore, the manager must be prepared to deal with contradictions on the part of the employees and to support possible wrong decisions. Further characteristics are the openness for changes, the promotion of discourses, the increase of free spaces of the employees as well as the acceptance of their willingness to take risks. Thus, the failure of ideas must also be allowed.

Empathy and holistic thinking characterize a leader of the future. Therefore, they must increasingly respond to the expectations and perspectives of those they lead through their behavior. Due to new technologies, leadership will increasingly take place on a virtual basis and will require managers to take on changing roles, especially in teams. Therefore, creative leaders should welcome revolutionary ideas, learn from past mistakes, bring flexibility and patience, and encourage their creative employees to leave the beaten path in order to achieve something new. Consequently, creative leaders have the right to an environment that is conducive to experimentation, are more open-minded, and are more imaginative the more they can apply new styles of leadership and communication. These new leadership and communication styles should be used especially in the exchange with the new generations of creative employees, partners and customers. This is how a company remains competitive in the age of digitalization.

New management approaches
Supervisors can only do justice to their creative employees if they adapt their leadership style to the respective situation. Ambi-dextrous leadership, i.e. "two-handed leadership", can be a particularly good way to lead creatively in the digital age. On the one hand, the leader should have an open attitude towards promoting exploration and creativity. This means creating space for own ideas and allowing autonomy as well as mistakes and risks. At the same time, creative thinking leads to enthusiasm as well as flexibility to respond to new demands. On the other hand, the manager must establish ex-ploitation, i.e. the promotion of the implementation of ideas, through routine activities and the avoidance of mistakes. According to experience, routine gives creative employees the desired security. Also the existing potential should be exhausted. The challenge here is to switch flexibly between both management strategies, depending on the situation, in order to promote a creative process as best as possible.

However, it is not only the type of management that is decisive for the emergence and development of innovations. The value chains and innovation processes of companies are opening up more and more. More and more network structures are being formed, which means that not only internal networks are gaining in importance, but also external ones. Due to the increasing importance of creativity, especially in the age of digitalization, creative leaders should be active as networkers in both directions. The introduction of internal as well as external networks results in a constant increase in knowledge. Internal networks (e.g. the intranet) are primarily used by creative employees to present their creative ideas to colleagues and to receive feedback at the same time. As a counterpart, external networks such as a special ideas portal should be provided to encourage customers to submit creative ideas or suggestions for improvement.

Anchoring in the company
In order for creativity to be encouraged in the company, it should be actively promoted. In particular, this means that managers should first adapt to the digital transformation themselves before passing it on to their creative employees. A high degree of flexibility and a pronounced learning culture are also required. In this context, it is particularly important that transparent communication takes place within the company and that creative employees are more involved in decision-making processes.

At the same time, a rethinking should take place when anchoring agile methods. For example, as already mentioned above, design thinking should not only be seen as a pure process, but rather as a (management) culture to promote creativity. First and foremost, it is the creative employees who are called upon to integrate Design Thinking into their daily routine and thus turn this technique into a way of life. However, this must be allowed by the managers, e.g. in the form of free space. This transforms Design Thinking into Design Doing or Design Being.

Conclusion
Whether the change from traditional leadership to the new leadership of creative and innovative employees can be accomplished depends on the one hand on the company and on the other hand on the managers. The primary question here is whether both the company and the leader are prepared to embrace the new conditions. The reason for this is that managers must increasingly act as mentors and coaches and leave more self-organisation and personal responsibility to creative employees. In this way, creativity can be better utilized as a key competence in the future.