Photo credit: popsugar.com
This week-end, dear hubby and I got stuck in Charlotte, North Carolina, on our way back to a wedding in the Dominican Republic, due to yet another snow storm beating up the Northeast. When the airline rep told us there would be no flights until Wednesday, the Hawaiian flower in my hair and I had to sit down for a minute.
Thankfully, we were blessed with an airline rep who had her creative juices flowing right then (and probably also felt bad for my Hawaiian flower and I), and worked her magic to find us a flight to get us closer and a car to get us home. Now some may argue she was just doing her job, but that was some serious airline booking magic at work there!
As we watched her do her thing, juxtaposing itineraries, mixing and matching seats like a Lego set, I started thinking about how much (or how little) creativity) we are encouraged to bring to work. After all, isn’t innovation the pulse of a business, and by extension, that of the careers it fosters?
Yet in most businesses nowadays, the rulebook rules, political correctness is in, and we find more barriers to implementing new ideas than ways to bring about positive change. Employees are not encouraged to play up to their strengths, even more so for introverts, and are rather compelled to conform to internal politics for the sake of keeping their jobs. Where have the creativity and innovation gone?
Here are a few reasons why you should rekindle your creative flames at work, regardless of the way it looks or feels to others:
1. Creativity reinforces your brand! Your work is a product of your personal brand, which should reflect who you are and how you present yourself. Infusing it with your personality and creativity not only helps you own and claim it, but it also benefits your brand, reputation and ultimately your success!
2. Creativity lets you play up to your strengths! Remember when you were a kid and would build the most complex Lego houses, shoe closets and sandboxes included? Unleashing your creativity, even when it comes to the most mundane of tasks (read boring Excel spreadsheets), allows you to tap into your strengths (and also figure out your weaknesses). Let it showcase how brilliant you are…
3. It’s fun, simply! We’ve forgotten that work can also be fun and rewarding, or that Monday mornings are not an excuse to eat a pint of ice cream the night before. Without creativity, we stifle our ability to have fun while producing our best work. No wonder so many people did not want to get out of bed this morning…
What are other reasons to unleash your creativity at work?
The Corporate Sis.
