High-performance growth coach & trainer 💙 | The ultimate hub for revenue leaders & their teams 🚀 | Side effects include teams that brag & organizational WOW 😮 | Host of Books That Built Me – a podcast for leaders 🎒
Creativity and control don't hold hands.
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There’s just one thing standing in the way: your need for a plan. Because creativity and control don’t hold hands. You can’t chase originality while demanding guarantees. You can’t build something bold while clinging to what’s proven. One leader I recently coached nailed it in a single line: “If I’m trying to be original, I have to stop trying to be right.” BINGO. Your brain loves certainty (even when it's super boring)Neuroscience confirms what your nervous system already knows: uncertainty feels like danger. When things are ambiguous, your brain’s amygdala lights up (the same center that activates during real threats). Evolution taught us to avoid the unknown because in the wild, the unknown could eat you. Which means: even when your PowerPoint is soul-sucking, your brain still finds it safer than a blank whiteboard. But safety isn’t the goal. Leadership isn’t about certainty. It’s about creation. Vision. Stretching toward the edges of what’s possible and not doubling down on what’s predictable. And creativity? It doesn’t live on the map. It lives in the jungle. How to lead Into the unknown (without losing your mind)Here’s how to let go of the illusion of control and invite more spark: 1. Under prepare (I hear your gasp)Planning is a cozy security blanket. But if you’ve already pre-scripted the conversation, you’ve left no space for real insight. Try showing up with 80% of a plan and 20% curiosity. 2. Shift from winning to playingAsk yourself (and your team): “What would we try if we weren’t trying to be right?” Perfection strangles innovation. Play frees it. 3. Run creative reps (like reps at the gym)Schedule weekly “uncertainty sprints”: Bring a messy idea. Play with it publicly. Get fast feedback. Keep it imperfect on purpose. You’re not practicing success. You’re practicing courage. Ready to trade control for creativity?Ditch one over-planned meeting this week. Block time for messy thinking. Ask your team a question you don’t already know the answer to. Let’s go. And if you need help with this, let's chat. My best, always, Shar |
Shar Banerjee | ACCESS+ Leaders Inc.
High-performance growth coach & trainer 💙 | The ultimate hub for revenue leaders & their teams 🚀 | Side effects include teams that brag & organizational WOW 😮 | Host of Books That Built Me – a podcast for leaders 🎒
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