Abstract
This chapter looks at an approach to leadership that addresses needs of twenty-first-century organizations. It starts with looking at the concept of leadership and explores the type of leadership needed for creative outcomes. Two approaches to leadership are compared: leaderless leadership and creative leadership. Creative leadership is defined as the type of leadership needed to guide a team toward a new or novel goal (Puccio et al. in Creative leadership: Skills that drive change, Sage, 2011). This approach to leadership is seen as essential in today’s complex and ambiguous world. We then look at the overlap between the desired output of a creative leadership approach, and the desired outcomes for a leaderless or peer-based approach. If creativity and innovation are the desired outcome, given a choice between leaderless management and a creative leadership approach, I choose the creative leadership approach. Ultimately, a deliberate leadership approach that addresses the organization’s environment will better produce creative and innovative outcomes.
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McKayle, C.A. (2022). Leaderless Organization Versus Leading for Creativity: The Case for Creative Leadership. In: Hertel, F., Örtenblad, A., Jørgensen, K.M. (eds) Debating Leaderless Management. Palgrave Debates in Business and Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04593-6_12
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