Creative Leaders Understand the Value of Security
Heidi Grant Halvorson wrote a spotlight piece for 99U titled, “What’s the Key to Being a Creative Leader? Provide Job Security.” The article cites a study by psychologists Cameron Anderson and Adam Galinsky, who point out that confident people take greater (rewarding) risks as a result of it. The question is how that confidence is created. According to Heidi, confidence is created by giving people a sense of power. She writes, “When you are in power, you can be more innovative because you feel more comfortable and secure, and less sensitive, or limited, about what other people think of you.”
As a leader, you can create singapore business fax list a sense of power by encouraging collaboration between employees by creating structures that encourage contribution and dialogue. It is relatively ridiculous to tell an employee to “be creative” and then expect them to be. It makes much more sense to have integrated platforms where employees can go and present their ideas and put them into action in the collaborative hive.
However, most employees do not engage at these levels due to a fear of job security, which in turn means that power is diminished. Heidi comments on this, adding that for employees and leaders, there is a risk of destabilization. She has written:
“When the powerful can be the powerless, and vice versa, psychologists call this an unstable power hierarchy. If you’re operating in that kind of environment—staying powerful and influential is your primary goal—then feelings of power can actually make you more conservative. When you don’t want to lose the power you’ve worked so hard to achieve, you avoid taking risks and potential mistakes, and your creativity diminishes.”
