Creativity a casualty of climbing the ladder?

Six CEOs walked into a meeting expecting another governance-type conversation (FYI: It’s not the start of a joke)….instead, they connected back into a part of themselves they had quietly packed away.

The silent drift away from creativity

As people climb the leadership ladder the centre of their work gravity can move. They stop creating. They shift to non-stop managing.

Front-line leaders often solve, troubleshoot and create. Executive leaders mostly steer, critique, approve, and scan for risk.

It’s not that creativity dries up; it’s just that senior leadership roles seem to be geared to reward a different set of reflexes. The more responsibility you carry, the less you are asked to imagine, and the more you are asked to review. To focus on budget lines, risk control, oversight, critique, etc.

Most get little time for strategic thinking (usually confined to a day or two a year- I know, as I often facilitate them) and less for creative thinking. Bit by bit, that creative instinct gets wrapped in layers of expectations.

And yet, in every senior leader I have worked with, the creative instinct is still there, just buried under urgency, maxed-out schedules and the pressure to “get everything right.”

But it’s like riding a bike, their know-how never goes away.

Why is this important now?  As AI accelerates, as complexity rises, and as public trust becomes more fragile, the leaders who will matter most are those who can shape and create, not just critique.

About those six CEO’s

A little while ago, a leader came to me with an interesting request.

He was running a governance board made up of six CEOs overseeing a complex, gnarly challenge, one where they had to roll their sleeves up and grapple with complexity and messiness across boundaries.

He said: “Jim - I don’t want any PowerPoints, just create a space for them to connect, think, debate and explore together.”

We met in our design studio in front of a floor-to-ceiling writable white wall.

As the conversation unfolded, I began sketching, doodling, scribbling, basically capturing the conversation and trying to find a good way in, or a useful anchoring point.

Then something powerful happened that has stayed with me, as I was capturing and nudging the conversation, one CE suggested a change to my sketch, I said, “Here’s the pen, feel free to draw it”.

He got up, took the pen and started redrawing the concept. Within minutes, the others joined him.

The energy in the room lifted significantly. I became more of a spectator as they added ideas, challenged things and strengthened other things. They ended up creating quite a powerful and impactful concept, certainly better than if I had kept hold of the pen.

In twenty minutes, they moved from being “the governance group” to being “the design team.”

What they created went on to spark an innovation that still lives today.

Since then, I used this mode switch to great effect.

Beliefs that can quietly hold us back

Before that evening, I’m fairly sure each of those CEOs carried some unspoken assumptions or beliefs:

“Creativity is delegated to others, and not part of my role.” No, it’s not. It’s a strategic muscle that actually grows the more experience you pack away.

“Imagination is not my thing.” The real risk is when leaders outsource imagination to others and don’t retain agency or creative control.

“If I step into creating, I might look foolish.” Leadership is a creative act; all change and progress come with risk, which can be navigated. Doing nothing can make you look more foolish.

Final thoughts

Most breakthroughs don’t come from better agendas; they come from well-designed spaces (mental and physical) for people to engage, or re-engage, their creative side.

I believe leaders are not short on creativity. They’re short on permission, opportunity and spaces that invite it.

Simple moves

If you want better strategy, better decisions, better futures, and are creating a space for your team/leaders to think, debate and explore together to create this, then:

• Tell them at the beginning to switch modes, especially if they have come from back-to-back meetings, which is often the case, e.g. “Please take off your governance critique hat and put on your creative/design hat.”

• Name the unspoken beliefs, so they lose their grip on the conversation, and give permission.

• Let everyone in the room see their thinking as it appears on the wall/whiteboard.

• When you sense the moment, give them the pen!

And feel free to connect, as I would love to help. You can reach me at jim@thejimscully.com