Leadership connections: communication, diversity and creativity

Abstract

The ability to innovate is one of the main factors that distinguish successfully led enterprises from mediocre ones. Innovation depends on the application of individual and team creativity to the task at hand. Creativity in the team depends on open communication as well as understanding of ourselves and our diversity. We present fresh insights into the essence of interpersonal communication, borrowing partly from sociobiology, a field that is not familiar to many managers. We discuss people diversity in a way that cuts through the traditional barriers of culture, race, ethnicity, language etc., based on the Myers-Briggs (Jungian) psychological typology. The influence of type on communication and teamwork is pervasive but not well understood. We then look at creativity as a process and reveal the intimate connections between this process on one hand and communication and diversity on the other. An important ingredient of effective leadership is understanding the process of creativity and learning how to overcome or by pass obstacles in its way. Embracing of these insights by the managers of technology-based enterprises leads to a more effective and satisfying teamwork and, ultimately, to better bottom-line results for the company.<>