CREATIVE LEADERSHIP: BORN FROM DESIGN – BY RAMA GHEERAWO

Rama Gheerawo – EIDD member – just released a new book intended for three types of people: established leaders; emerging leaders; and the biggest group of all – those who were never billed to be leaders. 

Cover design by WSDIA for Lund Humphries, 2022

 

This is a book not only for designers, but also for those who are dormant with a lot of creativity that lives in every human. It shows real case studies as a starting point for the performances of creative leadership as a transformational process that can be applied to individuals, groups, organisations and projects.

At the book’s core are three leadership values of Empathy, Clarity and Creativity. These three values balance each other. All are needed. If you only have Empathy you might be seen as a pushover, or plumb the depths of Empathy exhaustion. Only Clarity and you may be dictatorial, over-rational or intellectual to less human degree. Creativity by itself needs direction, impetus and channelling, else you are bicycle pedalling hard but with no chain. The interplay of these values is what gives the model its strength.

 

Inside design by Crow Books for Lund Humphries, 2022

 

These are based on the principles that:

• Everyone has leadership potential and most of us can access these three values
• Creativity is a universal ability to develop ideas that positively impact ourselves and others
• Empathy is the hallmark of a twenty-first-century leader and is recognised as a signature value
• Clarity is the link that aligns vision, direction and communication, personally and professionally

The Creative Leadership model is based on the three connected values of Empathy, Clarity and Creativity. Image by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design

 

The genesis of the book and model for Creative Leadership emerged from a single insight: we need creatives who are leaders, and leaders who are creative. It was fuelled by an ache for equity and a realisation that if you change leadership you can potentially change everything – Rama Gheerawo said.

The book can be ordered  on www.lundhumphries.com/products/creative-leadership 

More information you can find on RCA website www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/creative-leadership-born-from-design-by-rama-gheerawo-published-by-lund-humphries/ 

 

About the author:

Rama Gheerawo is Director of The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art, UK. He won a Design Week ‘Hall of Fame’ award in 2019 and was named a 2018 Creative Leader by Creative Review alongside Paul Smith and Björk. He is a serial innovator in the fields of Inclusive Design, Design Thinking and Creative Leadership having led over 100 projects working internationally with governments, business, academia and the third sector with partners such as Samsung, AgeUK and Panasonic. Rama advises awards, universities and organisations such as the UK Design Council, the Design Management Institute, The Bhavan Institute for Indian Culture and the RSA Decolonising Design Initiative. He has been a Visiting Professor in Denmark and Poland.

 

We also recommend podcasts with Rama Gheerawo: