You're leading practical thought leadership initiatives. How can you maintain creativity and innovation?

Creativity and innovation are byproducts of curiosity; in other words, creativity and innovation emerge as a consequence of curiosity. When your team is genuinely curious about something, they will ask questions and explore new possibilities, and new possibilities bring new ideas.

Practicality has no prerequisites of boredom. Often, so many believe that you can only have one or the other. But what happens when the most practical thing is actually the most innovative thing? If I have an upcoming speaking engagement, my mind will likely go into hyperdrive trying to assess the best bits of information to share. Oh, and my audience is a low attention group, so I have to be engaging. Both of these are practical needs. 1. I need to develop content. 2. I need the content to be engaging. So how do I do this? Well, I will likely spend time ensuring my content is strong and that I have activities, thought starters, or great visual aids. For low attention groups, I’ll have to be innovative in my approach. Both can be true.

To keep creativity and innovation alive while leading practical thought leadership initiatives, encourage an environment that values experimentation and diverse perspectives. Balance the need for practicality with opportunities for creative exploration and new ideas. Regularly seek input from your team and industry peers to inspire fresh approaches. Integrate innovative thinking into your strategies and be open to evolving your methods. By fostering a culture that embraces both practicality and creativity, you can drive impactful thought leadership that stands out and addresses real-world challenges.

Leverage diverse networks to maintain creativity and innovation in practical thought leadership by actively engaging with professionals from various fields and backgrounds. Seek input from different industries and disciplines to gain fresh perspectives and novel ideas. Encourage cross-network collaboration and share insights from these interactions with your team. By integrating diverse viewpoints and experiences, you enrich your thought leadership approach and foster an environment where creativity thrives. This diversity of thought not only enhances innovation but also ensures that your leadership remains relevant and impactful.

To stop learning should be illegal. I think every day of life, even as a professional is used as some lesson to learn from. When you have the mindset to learn continuously, it helps free you to think creatively, while increasing your risk tolerance to try new ways of thinking, leading to innovation. Always find some way to learn even if it's from the smallest thing.

There is an old saying, "Scared money, don't make no money." This saying applies to all fields, especially when it comes to innovation. You can't be afraid to take risks. To eat the fruit from your tree, you first have to be willing to plant the seed. Just ensure that your actions are well thought out and calculated. All the innovations and things we enjoy today is someone having the courage to take a risk and think outside the box.