What Creative Leadership Really Is
We don’t need the World Economic Forum or UNESCO to tell us that creative leadership is more important than ever. Across businesses, NGOs, local communities, and politics, the need for fresh, creative solutions is undeniable.
Yet, very few people can clearly define what creative leadership actually entails. By debunking a few myths and highlighting the insights of those who have thought deeply about it, we can begin to cultivate it ourselves.
What Creative Leadership Is Not
A leader of a creative agency or design studio is not necessarily a creative leader. You might manage an advertising agency with a talented team of creatives yet rely solely on traditional management practices focused on efficiency and optimisation, without fostering an environment that encourages exploration and innovation. In many cases, teams have to work creatively despite their managers’ lack of creative leadership.
Similarly, the leader of a business that produces innovative outcomes isn’t necessarily a creative leader either. In some organisations, innovation is driven by a select few while the rest of the team is focused on implementation. This can even limit the development of a culture that cultivates creativity or encourages innovative thinking across the organisation. Think of high-profiled kitchens, star architects, or tech companies with a strong focus on design.
No More, No Less
So, what is a creative leader if we can’t rely on the type of industry or the measure of innovative outcomes they produce? A creative leader is someone who empowers others to be more creative—no more, no less. Sometimes, the person exercising the most creative leadership doesn’t even hold a formal management title.
Why does this definition of creative leadership matter? And what might be wrong with a manager in a creative agency focused solely on efficiency, or with an innovative company relying on a select few? These approaches are fragile and unsustainable. Creative teams can hit a wall, writers’ block may slow production, and top talent might leave in search of better offers. People may burn out, or innovative founders may miss the next wave, too attached to their own perspective.
Moreover, these leaders don’t provide insights into how to cultivate a creative, innovative culture that others can emulate. Building a truly creative culture requires leaders who empower and inspire creativity across the board. It’s the only way to create an environment where creativity can thrive sustainably.
No Vision, No Creativity
Before exploring creative leadership further, I’d like to clarify its distinction from what we might call visionary leadership. These two types of leadership are often seen as one and the same, yet they serve different roles. Without a strong sense of purpose or vision, sustained innovation is unlikely. Vision provides the essential ‘stretch’ that fuels creativity; if we’re content with the status quo, why would we push ourselves repeatedly? A crisis can provoke an environment of creativity, but in order to play the long game and for creativity to take root you need an ambitious and a never good enough mentality.
To me, Steve Jobs wasn’t primarily a creative leader; he was a visionary—perhaps one of the best product owners in history. His visionary thinking provided that ‘stretch’ for Apple. Similarly, Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, set a powerful purpose for the company, using business as a force for good, which has fueled many creative breakthroughs. These companies have repeatedly pushed boundaries by combining creativity with a strong, purpose-driven vision.
From a Knight in Shining Armour to a Gardener in Wellies
Stories of true creative leadership often go unnoticed, slipping under the radar. As human beings, we crave captivating narratives featuring heroic leaders; the story of a leader who empowers creativity in others simply doesn’t resonate as strongly.
But once in a while, a bright star lights up the sky, in a way we can’t ignore. Ed Catmull of Pixar is one of those stars. The success of Pixar is extraordinary, and his ability to replicate that success at Disney Animation Studios is equally remarkable. More importantly, Catmull is so clear and outspoken about his role as the guardian and custodian of the creative culture. He and his team have found ways to genuinely empower creativity in others. They have built an environment that fosters collaboration and innovation, where they’re not just empowering creativity in individuals, but nurturing it among everyone involved.
The way Catmull describes how they cultivate creativity at Pixar is both concrete and actionable. While their journey involved trial and error and intuition, many aspects of their approach resonate with principles from business and psychology scholars. What’s fantastic is that these insights are highly transferable; they can be applied to any type of organisation. There are plenty of writings on Pixar and Ed catmull, not least in his own book.
What if it’s okay to be 80% off-target?
Anders was working as a team lead for a team at a digital design agency, tasked with revamping a classic product line for a client. Midway through the project, it was clear the team was stuck—ideas felt uninspired, and frustration was setting in.
Anders decided to restart the process by posing a couple of simple yet powerful questions: “What’s one assumption about this project that we haven’t yet questioned?” and, “What if it’s okay to be 80% off-target as long as it opens up something new?” This shifted the atmosphere immediately, creating a space where no idea felt too weird or wild.
The team then began exploring their assumptions, challenging ingrained thinking that had kept ideas too safe. They felt encouraged to take bolder steps. Rather than seeking perfect answers upfront, Anders introduced “creativity sprints”—a kind of rapid prototyping session that allowed the team to experiment and gather insights.
This approach reinforced a growth mindset, where each iteration became a valuable step in the creative process, even when outcomes were unexpected. By fostering psychological safety, Anders cultivated a culture where team members felt empowered to take risks and explore fresh perspectives.
Ultimately, this renewed energy led to a concept packed with fresh ideas that aligned with the client’s needs. Beyond the successful project outcome, it reinvigorated the team’s creative potential. Creative leadership is about building an environment where continuous learning and curiosity drive meaningful innovation.
The Shared Ground
All forms of leadership require vision, empathy, and the ability to motivate others toward a goal. Like Ed Catmull’s approach at Pixar, leaders who embrace creativity build trust, support risk-taking, and prioritize collective learning—qualities that any effective leader would employ. This creates a solid foundation of psychological safety, where team members feel free to voice ideas and experiment without fear of failure.
The Creative Leadership Edge
However, in creative leadership, several elements take on a new depth of meaning, particularly when the goal is to cultivate a culture that actively values curiosity, agility, and learning over rigid adherence to established protocols.
Openness to New Perspectives: Creative leaders prioritize diversity in thought, actively seeking out and incorporating perspectives different from their own. This requires not only listening but allowing new ideas to reshape the direction of a project or the organisation. It goes beyond openness; it’s about inviting disruption to foster fresh insights.
Letting Go of Outdated Beliefs: Traditional leadership may focus on best practices and proven methods, but creative leadership requires leaders to question and even abandon practices that no longer serve a purpose. This approach encourages teams to challenge assumptions, rethink norms, and adapt more flexibly to changing contexts.
Building Psychological Safety: Creative leaders safe guard and actively cultivate an environment where individuals feel safe to take risks and share bold ideas. This psychological safety is essential for creativity, as people are more likely to experiment and learn from failure when they know they’re supported. It’s a culture where “failure” is seen as a stepping stone to success.
Learning Agility: In creative contexts, agility is about continuously evolving—being able to learn, unlearn, and relearn as circumstances change. Creative leaders model this by embracing feedback, adapting, and encouraging teams to explore uncharted territory without rigid adherence to past approaches.
Growth Mindset: Creative leaders embody and instill a growth mindset, believing in the potential for development, not just in skill but in thinking patterns, problem-solving, and collaboration. This mindset fosters resilience and innovation, encouraging teams to take on challenges and grow through iterative processes.