Dr. Ulrike Lehmann Creativity is now considered one of the most important skills for the future. But how important is it for leadership? In her guest article, Ulrike Lehmann argues for a change of perspective and explains why curiosity, a willingness to experiment and the constructive handling of uncertainty are becoming increasingly important.
The business world of the 21st century confronts leaders with unprecedented challenges. Digital transformation, demographic change, the climate crisis and an increasingly interconnected yet unpredictable global economy have fundamentally changed the rules of the game. In this context, traditional management approaches are proving increasingly inadequate.
Planning, control and a sole focus on efficiency reach their limits when markets become unpredictable, systems more complex and certainty increasingly fragile. While traditional management seeks to extend the past and employees continue to say, “We’ve always done it this way”, Creative Leadership uses the present to shape a new future and enable innovation.
Management consultant Constanze Holzwarth captures this challenge succinctly:
“Managers today must question the thinking patterns, solutions and strategies they have carried over from the past and recognise which have become obsolete. Many former success formulas have now become counterproductive.”
Leadership culture is evolving from VUCA to BANI – from a world characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity to one that is brittle, anxious, nonlinear and often incomprehensible.
A new kind of leadership is needed
Yet amid this uncertainty lies an opportunity: the courage to rethink leadership. This is where the concept of Creative Leadership comes into play. It invites us to stop viewing leadership as the management of stability and instead see it as the creative shaping of change. In this sense, greater creativity is not only a cultural asset but also a source of tangible value and return on investment for organisations.
The „The Future of Jobs Report“ (World Economic Forum 2025) once again ranks creativity among the five most important soft skills. More than ever, creativity is not a talent but a mindset. It is the prerequisite for innovation. It is no longer a nice-to-have but a must-have.
Organisations that focus exclusively on efficiency while neglecting exploration and creativity risk being overtaken by more agile competitors. The success of digital transformation ultimately depends not on technology alone but on human collaboration and creativity.
The growing presence of artificial intelligence and robots leaves many people feeling excluded or no longer needed. In their search for security and stability, they may perceive change as a threat and reject new ways of working. Hesitation and fear, however, are among the greatest barriers to innovation. As feelings of overwhelm increase, innovative capacity declines.
People need goals that inspire them to look ahead and actively contribute. This requires a human-centred and ethical leadership style rooted in empathy and focused on individuals, their needs, inclinations, abilities and skills. Rethinking leadership means developing an approach that values not only key soft skills but also creativity and innovation.
Organisations that aspire to be innovative need a culture that is not driven by deficits and fear but by resources and potential. What strengths and capabilities do my employees possess? What strengths and capabilities exist within the organisation? Which ones can be developed further?
A culture that values individuals and respects them for who they are creates the conditions for courage to grow. Courage is the prerequisite for creativity, and creativity is the prerequisite for innovation.
What is needed is leadership that encourages different perspectives and critical thinking, takes employees’ ideas seriously and values their contributions.
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Learning from artists – and children
The artistic paradigm – characterised by radical curiosity, openness, experimentation and trust in the creative process – is becoming a key ingredient of future-ready leadership cultures.
What artists have always mastered – navigating uncertainty and thinking in paradoxes – must now find its way into boardrooms and production facilities. Nonlinear thinking is something artists excel at.
Art teaches us that innovation does not emerge from perfectionism but from experimentation, failure and the courage to begin again. It reminds us that originality and transformation go hand in hand.
Few sectors are as creative and innovative as the world of art. Artists create new works every day. They are original, distinctive and unique. This is precisely why art has so much to offer the business world.
Pablo Picasso can serve as a symbol and role model for a mindset that transcends familiar boundaries and dares to imagine the impossible in order to make the new possible. His remarkable stylistic versatility and capacity for reinvention continue to make him an icon of modernity. Through his work, he demonstrated the courage to break rules, challenge conventions and embrace new approaches. His success speaks for itself.
In this sense, Picasso becomes a role model for a new style of leadership: artistic leadership in times of uncertainty, complexity and change.
Creative Leadership advocates a paradigm shift – from controlled administration to creative shaping, from linear planning to experimental processes, and from hierarchical control to inspiring leadership. This approach is based on a fundamental insight: the complexity and unpredictability of today’s economy require leadership qualities that have traditionally been associated more with artists than with managers.
Creativity is not an innate gift reserved for a select few or for so-called geniuses. It is a capability that exists within every individual and can be developed, practised and strengthened.
Courage and curiosity are core competencies of both artists and children. They are pioneers of the impossible. They dare to do what others consider unrealistic, experiment without guarantees of success and transform the unknown into new realities.
Picasso once said:
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
This observation captures a central challenge of modern leadership: the tendency to become increasingly risk-averse and less willing to experiment as responsibilities grow.
Picasso offered another insight that remains highly relevant:
“The chief enemy of creativity is common sense.”
For him, art was never defined by rules but by the continual reinvention and breaking of existing forms.
The courage to make the first mark
Leaders and managers can learn artistic thinking and cultivate creativity. In many ways, the beginning of a painting resembles the beginning of the process of inventing something new and the practice of Creative Leadership.
The metaphor of the “first mark” on a blank canvas illustrates a fundamental leadership challenge. Applied to organisational life, the question becomes: Who makes the first move? Who takes the first step into unfamiliar territory?
These are not trivial questions. They touch on essential issues such as risk-taking, accountability and innovation culture.
Making the first mark requires overcoming the horror vacui – the fear of emptiness. In organisations, this fear often manifests itself as paralysis when confronted with complex decisions. Teams become trapped in endless analysis cycles, hoping that more data will eliminate uncertainty.
The artistic approach accepts that, in complex situations, complete information will never be available. Artists develop the ability to act despite uncertainty.
In the creative process, mistakes are not flaws but necessary steps towards a better solution. Serendipity, interdisciplinary thinking, diverse teams and creative techniques all contribute to innovation.
Imagine that the blank canvas represents your future – one that you are free to shape.
What feeling does that evoke?
Courage and freedom?
Or fear, uncertainty and doubt?
My personal hope is that we create a world of work in which a new vision becomes reality: organisations do not let people go because of artificial intelligence but invest in them because of their artistic intelligence.
If we succeed in making this shift, we will unleash fireworks of ideas that extend far beyond the next quarterly results.
And with that, innovation is virtually guaranteed.
Dr Ulrike Lehmann is an art historian, art educator, and art and agile coach. Her work explores the ways in which art can provide inspiration for leadership, innovation and collaboration within organisations. As a speaker, author and consultant, she supports companies in sparking creative thinking processes, facilitating shifts in perspective and developing new forms of collaboration. In doing so, she draws on art appreciation, workshops and interdisciplinary formats at the intersection of business, culture and leadership. Lehmann is the author of the book *Business Meets Art* and has been exploring the potential of artistic methods for change and innovation processes for many years. Her latest book, *Creative Leadership: What Leaders Can Learn from Artists like Picasso*, was published by Springer Gabler on 31 May 2026. You can find more information about Dr Ulrike Lehmann here.
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