Discovering and exploring what helps us to be, think, and feel creative can reinvigorate our imagination, allowing us to delve deeper into aspects of our minds and bodies that may have been ignored or overlooked for lengthy periods of time, and open new ways with which we can communicate our perspectives, our ideas, and our feelings.

In this blog, I am exploring how three key changes in our life and work can impact our creativity:

• A change of scene

• A change of pace

• A change of style

I will be reflecting upon how I have found myself using these three types of change and the impact that these changes have had on my life, my art, and my leadership. 

A Change of Scene

The biggest change for me this August was that I traded my annual holiday in Spain, with its delicious food, warm sunshine, the sounds of daily church bells, the amazing smells that surround me every day while I am there, all of which fuel my creativity and provide me with the time and headspace to reflect on my leadership throughout this month, for the sights and sounds of home. It was very different but it was also something that I found to be both fulfilling and beneficial. 

Instead of meandering through Spanish side streets, I found myself wandering through the Sussex Downs and taking in the things that I have seen so many times before, the green hills, the dew of the morning, the complex mechanical workings of the combine harvester as it trundled through the fields, but I started to observe each of these in a different light, from different perspectives. I began to look at these things that are part of my local environment through a creative lens, and I began to have a newfound appreciation for each. 

I believe that many people, when trying to be creative, feel the need for a massive change but, in reality, a slight change of perspective or appreciation is sometimes all we need to allow our creativity to flow. The same principles can be applied to our approach to leadership. Often, it is not a complete overhaul of the system that is necessary for successful and meaningful change, but rather if we start to take stock of what we already have, the ideas, the perspectives, the ways of thinking that already exist within our teams, and begin to appreciate how we can use these as strengths, we can bring important and beneficial changes to the way we lead. 

A Change of Pace

Not only did my usual August activities alter but I also accepted, or tried to accept, that I needed a change of pace this month. It has been a very busy year with so many changes impacting my everyday life and the combination of these things helped me to realise that a change of pace was perhaps what was needed. It can be a hard thing to admit, and an even harder thing to implement, but the benefits of slowing down with purpose and consideration are in certain times not only important but imperative.

Adopting a slower pace, by changing my working schedule from five days to four to allow me to spend a day each week with my wonderful grandson, by holidaying at home, by making time to be actively creative in my August holidays, I was able to reflect and focus on the things that are important to me and in my life, what is worth holding on to and what is necessary to let go of. The impact that this has had on my ability and desire to be more bold and daring in my writing, photography, and creativity in general has been a positive one. 

Often, when we feel that life and work are taking control of us, rather than us being in control of them, is when a change of pace might prove worthwhile. In the world of leadership, it can be tempting to want to jump straight to the results, to speed towards the end, when the reality is that we cannot skip the process that will help us mould our leadership and make it more meaningful and impactful for us and our teams. We need to remember to slow it down, assess, reflect, and learn from the people, situations, and experiences that surround us and shape our leadership. 

A Change in Style

This summer, for me, has come with a new approach to my writing and experimenting with a different style. I usually write memoir, life writing, and informational things, my ideas, my perspective, my work, the power of conversations between people, and about the impact that these conversations and our personal experiences have on our leadership. However recently, I was encouraged by my daughter to experiment with fiction, and it has been fun!

Writing and creating art through the eyes of someone else, playing with how they might think, engage with others, speak, move, and do what they do has opened up an entirely new way of reading and writing for me. Although on the surface changing a kind of writing may seem simple, it can and does, I have discovered, change how I view the world, experiences, and people around me.

Each new person we meet or converse with may have a characteristic that, as a writer, we can add to one of our own fictional characters, each new landscape we see can be the setting for a pivotal part of a story, and each experience we live or witness others having can be woven into our own creative writing bringing a reality and truth to fiction to which readers can relate.

It can also help us assess real life situations through a different lens; it can help us become more aware of and empathetic towards what those around us are potentially feeling, thinking, and experiencing. If, in our leadership roles, we can begin to experience our surroundings and human interactions and conversations in a different way, then we can possibly show more empathy in our thoughts, feelings and behaviours through Curiosity, Care and Courage.

Conclusion

Change can be both terrifying and exciting. It can turn our world upside down, and inside out, upsetting everything that we believed was secure and sure in our lives. It can be a catalyst for good, allowing us to move forward. Change is an important part of both creativity and leadership that can influence it, alter it for better or worse, and help make something that is in its early stages complete and whole. When we can embrace and accept change, we are providing opportunities for our creativity and leadership to grow and flourish.