The great innovative leaders of our time—Steve Jobs, Sheryl Sandberg, Richard Branson, Angela Ahrendts—they all have one thing in common: Vision. The vision of what they wanted to be was so clear, it drove them, and their teams, to work towards achieving it. Visions so compelling that it pulled them through dark days. Some say it’s like swimming naked with great white sharks.
We often read about such successes, and think we can wait for such a compelling vision to strike us.
In the meanwhile, we work with what we have, following the safe path to success – whether it’s climbing the corporate ladder, or lying back within our comfort zones, enjoying our golden handcuffs.
Even then, the niggling feeling will not go away, the feeling of wanting to create more impact in our work. Truth is, we make all kinds of excuses from pursuing our vision. It’s often an undefined, vague and murky “what’s next” question. And, fear always creeps where there is uncertainty, like skydiving for the first time. That fear stops us from acting on the niggling “what’s next” thought bubbles in our mind.
What does creative confidence have to do with it?
The term “creative confidence” was coined by Tom and David Kelley, Partner and CEO respectively at IDEO, from their book of the same name. In this video, Tom Kelley says: “Creative confidence is the combination of the natural ability to come up with breakthrough ideas and the courage to act on them.”
“Creative confidence is the combination of the natural ability to come up with breakthrough ideas and the courage to act on them.”
Your vision will be a breakthrough idea, a combination of every aspect of your life, personal and professional, tangible and intangible. The future is undetermined and you’ll need to pave your own way.
This path is by no means easy. There will be stumbling blocks and likely, big failures. You need the creative confidence to continually build breakthrough ideas and take incremental steps to push towards your vision.
In our role as recruiters, we have conversations with many candidates who want to do something different. But that tendency to self-edit often traps them in their status quo.
Unknowingly, they build their own glass ceiling.
Finding the creative confidence to make your future
And that’s what my team and I have been doing—building a platform to help purpose-driven individuals shape their vision and tell their stories, and match them with purpose-driven organisations.
Everyone gets stuck somewhere. If you look inside, you can find the answer. The answer is not outside. Everyone is unique. We all have to connect our own dots, because there’s no one pathway to success. We can’t follow in the footsteps of our heroes.
Here’s our tip for you: Capture your “what’s next” thought bubbles into notes. Write them down. Even if it’s ambitious, it’s not ridiculous if you take that first step.
Stop looking to the sky for that lightning bolt of inspiration, because these days, it’s kind of hazy. Your dream job is much closer than you think, waiting to be unlocked.
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PERSONNA is a leadership development company focused on the people side of transformation. We hold a simple belief that everyone is an extraordinary and powerful force for positive change. When you make work personal, naturally you become a better leader.
We’re here to help people become better leaders, build highly-effective teams, and create a culture of trust & collaboration in their organisations. We provide leadership branding, leadership coaching and group experiences. If you are curious to learn more drop us an email to hello@personna.me.
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