Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)

Leaders often have to make decisions without complete information, and those decisions are expected to be not only right but also timely. Using reflective techniques can help you learn to depend on your intuition for help in making good decisions quickly. Reflective practices may seem time-consuming at the beginning, but the time you put in on t...

Despite all of the attention and accolades that organizations place on teams, they are not always the most efficient way to meet a business challenge. It’s expensive and time consuming to launch a team, and it’s a full-time job to lead a team toward achieving organizational objectives. This guidebook was written to help managers determine if a t...

Conflict is inevitable when people work together, and it’s one of the most difficult challenges facing managers. But it’s a challenge that successful leaders learn to address. Managers who develop an understanding of difference without judgment and are willing to see more than one perspective or solution are in a good position to manage conflict...

Active listening is a person’s willingness and ability to hear and understand. At its core, active listening is a state of mind that involves paying full and careful attention to the other person, avoiding premature judgment, reflecting understanding, clarifying information, summarizing, and sharing. By learning and committing to the skills and ...

Creative solutions can be challenged and defended in the pursuit of profitability. But first, creativity must be demystified. A process that targets innovation provides leaders with just such a problem-solving approach. The goal is to produce high-quality ideas that are appropriate to the task—which means groups and organizations can implement t...

In a fast-paced global economy emphasizing innovation and productivity, leaders need to bring as much wisdom as possible to bear on their daily decisions. They often find themselves pulled between making decisions quickly and making them well. The processes described in this guidebook, inquiry and reflection, can help you develop your capacity t...

Balance isn’t an issue of time, but an issue of choice. It’s about living your values by aligning your behavior with what you believe is really important. Aligning your behavior with your values is much like any other developmental experience; the basic process involves assessment, challenge, and support. You need to determine where you are, def...

In today’s business world, the complexity and pace of change can be daunting. Adaptability has become recognized as a necessary skill for leaders to develop to be effective in this environment. Even so, leaders rarely know what they can do to become more adaptable and foster adaptability in others. This guidebook contributes to a greater underst...

Almost all managers regard job experiences and the lessons they provide essential for their development as leaders. But not all of those managers are successful at learning those lessons. That difficulty is often related to a manager ’s relying too much on one preferred learning tactic—a tactic that might not be suited for gleaning the lessons o...

Managers attend leadership development programs for any number of reasons. Sometimes an organization will nominate a specific manager for a program, or send all high-potential managers through a series of development programs. Some managers seek out development programs on their own as part of their personal career objectives. If you’re schedule...