There are numerous books, some good, some not so good, written with the intention of “opening the box,” to the creatvie process. Every CEO I’ve met and every client I’ve built wants more creativity for themselves and more innovation from their team. Few get it, literally and figuratively.
I can remember forcing my early teams at CompuServe to listen to John Mellencamp records. I would play them in my car on the way to important meetings and ask the team sitting next to me and behind me, to disect the lyrics and extrapolate what they heard to our work. They tried, mostly because I was their boss. Inevitably, I would give them the “melody line,” and they would nod their head, not so much in agreement, but in hopes that I would just make it STOP.
The use of music, movies, and meaty books are the genesis to my writing and the seeds to my speaking when either are any good. My listening skills have been honed not just while studying family, friend, and client one on one, or one on a few. My tuneage has been refined, most profoundly, when I’m watching a movie clip for the tenth time or listening to U2, Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Dylan, Switchfoot, Reliant K, Twenty One Pilots, Pearljam, Eddie Vedder, Jimi Hendrix, Seabird, Civil Wars, Johnny Cash, and John Mellencamp.
My creative place is on my bike, in front of my keyboard, listening to ONE, again, and watching Mr. Hollands Opus for the umpteenth time. I gain more clarity for BTL from reading C.S. Lewis books over and over than I do from trying to make it through another candy dripping Maxwell, Robbins, or Leadership guru of the month kinda read.
Authoring your OPUS is not an assignment, it’s not something you check off the list on your way to becoming BTL. Authoring your OPUS is a creative work of art that can only be authentically accomplished when the author knows what works for him or her.
Your creative process is your creative process.
Your job is to figure out your creative way forward. Problem. You have to be going slow enough to give your senses a chance, you have to be aware enough to notice, and you have to be willing to look a little foolish in front of your peers, your team, and yourself. Problem. You are, most likely, going too fast forward. Funny, it doesn’t feel like you’re making much in the way of progress. Funny, huh.
In the end, if you embrace finding your creative way regardless the price, you will stumble upon what works for you. You just will. And, you will know it. God will give you such a jolt you won’t be able to miss it. And, in the process, you will become the original you already are. You will be awakened, challenged, and transformed. You will become Y.O.U. and you won’t care what others think. You will become ONE, distinct and deeply connected, that is BTL.
Today, a client of mine got such a jolt. I could see it in their eyes. Today, one gained a little clarity into their creative process. Anger and fear took a direct hit. The dream got a little clearer.
Who knew all those hours listening to Mellencamp were part of the plan. Who knew?
He did…
BUILT TO LEAD 