More than 40 percent of the leaders in our surveys say they spend too little time working with individuals to help them unlock their creative energies. Asking yourself, “Have I found my own creative flow? Am I helping other people find their creative flow?”

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Leading at Light Speed is a groundbreaking leadership book by Eric Douglas describing the 10 Quantum Leaps which build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization. Chapter 6 covers how to Stimulate the Creative Flow. On page 159-160 Eric talks about how recognizing success is critical.

Coaching, empowerment, and praise inspire flow. Micromanagement interferes with creative flow. To encourage flow, good managers need to make sure people are recognized early on for their success. Every success should be recognized, even if it is recognized in a small way. Rewards and praise should be distributed liberally to all who were involved. At the same time, a special effort should be made to celebrate and recognize people who made special contributions.

I have a 10:1 rule about the balance between positive feedback and “constructive” feedback. People need to hear ten times more positive feedback than negative. Otherwise, they simply will not hear the constructive feedback. The “constructive” part of the feedback will be lost. By focusing on praise and encouragement, you can help prepare others for the day when they need to hear the constructive feedback.

Rewarding success is key to encouraging individually motivated professional development. As described in Chapter 3 of Leading at Light Speed, the Performance Development Life Cycle illustrates the specific points in a person’s development. An important step is creating and Individual Development Plan, in which you write down exactly what your career goals are and the kinds of training, mentoring, job shadowing, and feedback you need to prepare yourself. Encouraging creative flow means giving people the opportunity to reflect on and articulate their career aspirations, and later share their IDPs with people who can help them get there.