Creative Leadership

2009 March 16

Characteristics of the Creative Leader

From 2009 ... | and from 2025, visit the new Design.Co

I made this chart with Becky Bermont for our presentation at Davos World Economic Forum on “Creative Leadership” in January 2009. Since it has been requested ... here it is. I hope it’s useful. -JM

Authoritative Leader	Creative Leader
Symbol of Authority	Symbol of Inspiration
More Sticks	More Carrots
Hierarchical	Networked
Linear Path	Nonlinear Path
Plan and Execute: Launching with 1.0	Iterate and Do: Living in Beta
Sustaining Order	Taking Risks
Yes or No (clear)	Maybe (comfort with ambiguity)
Literal in Tone	Metaphorical in Tone
Concerned with Being Right	Concerned with Being Real
Think like a General or Conductor	Think like an Artist or Designer
Delegates Actions	Hands-On Driven
Closed System	Open System
One-Way	Interactive
Close the Ranks	Permeable
Follows the Manual	Improvises when Appropriate
Loves to Avoid Mistakes	Loves to Learn from Mistakes
Reliability	Validity
Orchestra Model	Jazz Ensemble
Community in Harmony	Community in Conversation
Wants to be Right	Hopes to be Right
Open to Limited Feedback	Open to Unlimited Critique
Your Opinion Matters	What are You Really Thinking?

PS Here it is in the original visual form (PDF).

This has proven to be a sturdy idea, and was created with Becky Bermont.

leadership creativity pragmatism