Stimulate Creative Flow

p style=font-weight: normal;More than 40 percent of leaders surveyed said that they spend too little time working with individuals to unlock their creative energies. So ask yourself: ldquo;Have I found my own creative flow? Am I helping others find their creative flow?rdquo;/p
pTake this free ua href=http://www.worksurvey.net/strongwork survey/strong/a/u to assess your organizational strengths and weaknesses./p
pua href=http://my.leadingresources.com/links/buy-lals/lvstrongLeading at Light Speed/strong/a/u is a groundbreaking ua href=http://www.leadingatlightspeed/strongleadership book/strong/a/u by Eric Douglas describing the 10 Quantum Leaps which build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization. Chapter 6 is all about how to strongStimulate the Creative Flow/strong. On page 159-160 Eric talks about how recognizing success is critical.br /br /strongCoaching, empowerment, and praise inspire flow./strong Micromanagement kills flow. Good managers encourage flow by making sure people are recognized early on for their successes. Every success, no matter how small, should be recognized. Rewards and praise should be distributed liberally, to all who were involved. At the same time, a special effort should be made to celebrate and recognize people who made special contributions.br /br /strongI have a 10:1 rule about the balance between positive feedback and ldquo;constructiverdquo; feedback./strong People need to hear ten times more positive feedback than negative. Otherwise, they simply will not hear the constructive feedback. The portion of the feedback which is constructive will be lost. By focusing on praise and encouragement, you can help prepare people for the day when they need to hear the constructive feedback.br /br /strongDeveloping professionally is encouraged by rewarding success./strong As described in Chapter 3 of Leading at Light Speed, the Performance Development Life Cycle illustrates the specific points in a personrsquo;s development. An important step is creating an Individual Development Plan, in which you write down exactly what your career goals are and how you need to prepare yourself ndash; the kinds of training, mentoring, job shadowing, and feedback you need. Encouraging creative flow means giving people the opportunity to reflect on and articulate their career aspirations, and later share their IDPs with people who can help them get there./p