Home Pastors Articles for Pastors Make Your Team More Creative, Guaranteed

Make Your Team More Creative, Guaranteed

Much of your organization’s success may depend on the creative ideas that keep you on the cutting edge. In that sense, we’re all dependent to some degree on fostering creativity with those individuals capable of coming up with the new formula or process that will change the game.

But there’s a problem. Developing creativity within your team is a struggle for many leaders.

Fortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some really creative teams. In every instance, the one thing I’ve found is that the reason our creativity thrived is because there was a safe environment for our ideas and discussions.

Luckily, the leaders I’ve worked for understood the importance of creating a safe environment to foster creativity.

If you want to enhance your team’s creativity by creating a safe environment for them to express their ideas, here are three actions you can take in the way you lead:

1. Give your team information before the meeting starts.

By giving them time to think and prepare prior to the meeting, they can begin brainstorming ideas and fostering creativity. While some people think quickly on the fly, others need time to process ideas. It’s your responsibility to set your team members up for success, and one way you can do that is to give them the information they need far enough in advance to start brainstorming ideas.

2. Adjust your vocabulary from “No, but … ” to “Yes, and … ”

Hearing “no” time and time again can really kill your team’s willingness to come up with new, creative ideas. If you’re not really going to use their input, it’s better not to even ask. As a leader, it’s essential for you to still lead your organization with the best ideas—but there are ways you can direct the creative ideas from your team that get you to that spot.

3. Be patient.

Building a safe environment for your team to foster creative ideas takes time. Implementing these ideas won’t necessarily pay off after just a few days. However, the longer you consistently implement these strategies, the safer the creative environment will become, and the more free your team will feel to explore new and different ideas.

What can your church do to make its meetings more creative?  

Previous articleThe Biggest Mistakes Young Preachers Make
Next articleThe Difference Between Pastors and Worship Leaders
justinlathrop@churchleaders.com'
With over a dozen years of local church ministry Justin has spent the last several years starting business' and ministries that partner with pastors and churches to advance the Kingdom. He is the founder of Helpstaff.me (now Vanderbloemen Search), Oaks School of Leadership, and MinistryCoach.tv all while staying involved in the local church. Justin is obsessed with connecting people to people and lives his life daily to make the world a smaller place. He now serves as a consultant in the area of strategic relations predominately working with the Assemblies of God, helping to build bridges with people and ministries to more effectively reach more people. He blogs regularly about what he has learned from making connection at www.justinlathrop.com.