Creative Leadership: Design Meets Neuroscience to Transform Leadership

Creative Leadership is a tripartite leadership model that has been developed and pioneered by Rama Gheerawo, Director of The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design (HHCD) at London’s Royal College of Art (RCA). It evolved over the last decade through observation and experience of the limitations of hierarchical models of leadership across a diverse range of sectors. During this, the three Creative Leadership attributes of Empathy (EMP), Clarity (CLA), and Creativity (CRE), have been explored through a range of primary and secondary research methods. The next stage of research and development involves a multidisciplinary convergence of design thinking with neuroscience that relates to brain plasticity, neural connectivity, and emotional intelligence theory. The aim is to develop a comprehensive grid of key performance indicators of Creative Leadership. Dr Melanie Flory, neuroscience project partner, explains that the three attributes are learnable, and correlate positively with wellbeing-sustaining values and behaviours in individuals and groups. When the cognitive, emotional and behavioural aspects of these traits are identified and understood, a three-dimensional complementary feedback loop of Learn – Retain – Apply can ensue through experiential learning and development. This positioning paper presents the evolution, scope and applications of Creative Leadership alongside a discussion on the emerging opportunities for novel design-neuroscience intersection relating to personal, leadership and organisational development, growth and transformation. It also reflects on the pandemic context of 2020.