We Need Creative Leaders
I would never forget that day I saw him, sitting on the ground in a roadside plants nursery, delicately shifting a young plant from a small pot to a bigger one. There was something in the way he held it in place supporting it with one hand while pouring soil with the other. As if he was a mother holding a new born baby. There was something which said, he has a deep connection with the plant, the soil, the process, he really cares about his plants.
It was year 2002. I just started working as an intern in an advertising agency. I got my first assignment, to build a digital catalogue that educates farmers on fertilizers for saving their crops from insects attack.
I was 23, a fresh graduate in social sciences. Born and brought up in an industrial city far from villages, farms and farmers.
I literally panicked. What do I know about farmers? I’ve never been to a farm. Who are they? What’s their life like? How do they grow crops? And what happens if something goes wrong with their crops? Oh God! I know nothing about farms and farmers.
That evening I came home and to give my mind a break from worrying about the project turned on the TV. While randomly surfing through channels I accidentally landed on a channel that was educating people about farming. From this day on it was my prime time favorite. I noticed how farmers talked, what their environment looked like, their work life, their families, how every member in the family worked hard hoping for a good crop at the end of the year. What happens to the farmer and their families when a crop goes bad. I felt close to them, felt their frustrations, their challenges, and the things that made their day.
Now that I knew my end-user, I realized I had to make the best use of audio, video and animation, no reading or long text. I knew I had to use easy language and simple visual aids.
2 years later, one day as I reached work I found a letter on my desk. Much to my surprise I was acknowledged and rewarded with a handsome bonus for successfully delivering the digital catalogue that helped farmers in far away villages save their crops from potential insects attack.
This project was attempted twice before over the length of five years by different teams and people, of course both times lacking EMPATHY with the end-user, hence never saw success. It was empathy with the farmers that guided me into creating a desired customer experience using the language they spoke and the medium they understood.
In the evolving world the only business left is customer experience. Doesn’t matter you’re in retail, hospitality, banking or whatever sector, your competitor would be anyone offering a great customer experience. That’s how customers view brands and businesses today.
Customer experience is becoming a key source of competitive advantage as companies look to transform how they do business. Creative leaders think customer first. Hence they’re crucial for this new world.
A strong Design Strategy guides and informs business about emerging and evolving trends, enables business to respond to market and user needs in timely fashion, empowers business to stay ahead of competition and become a leader instead of a follower.
The mindset of designers and design strategists is ‘CUSTOMER IS THE KING’
The mindset of designers and design strategists is ‘CUSTOMER IS THE KING’ and must be at the center of all solutions. With this powerful focus design has the power to enhance all interactions between businesses, clients and customers. Organizations aspired to innovate with clear results understand the role of good design beyond aesthetics. They invest time and resources into design strategy and hire creative leaders.
Let’s look at the characteristics of creative leaders…
Creative leaders show compassion for others with an open attitude. They use open dialogue to welcome perspectives and ideas from others. They understand the importance of empathy in the workplace. They are comfortable with contradicting insights, paradoxes, conflicting needs and ambiguity. Hence able to create a non-hierarchical, nurturing work culture.
Creative people are explorative and independent by nature. They are mindfully aware of their environment and what is happening in it. They are visionary in their thought leadership and think globally towards large social impact.
Creative leaders are not afraid of failure but embrace it as an opportunity for learning and development. They are not limited by present logic but challenge it. They passionately seek change and betterment hence inspire others to act.
We need creative leaders and decision makers to bring customers in the board rooms, build stronger customer+brand relationships, make business success a true social impact.
Icon credit: Be different by Victoruler from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)
