There’s something about the changing of seasons that makes me want to slow down.
Over the summer, I deliberately took a little break from digital, from screens, devices and the constant ping of notifications. Of course, technology is fundamental to the way we operate today, but I found myself increasingly wanting to reconnect with people and places in a more authentic way. To spend time in nature, to have proper conversations, and to create things with my hands.
Perhaps I’m not alone.
We talk about a loneliness epidemic, yet at the same time there seems to be a growing desire for real-life experiences. To be with people who feel like our tribe, to share a meal, walk somewhere beautiful, visit a gallery, listen to live music, make something, or simply sit and talk.
It got me thinking about creativity and the role it plays not just in business and leadership, but in our lives.
“I believe we’re at the very end of the efficiency movement in business. We can’t get any more ‘lean’ or any more efficient. We need to live as embodied humans, not just as cerebral beings. This means embracing all the senses and artistry and art of a life.
“For whatever reason, we’ve starved ourselves of all these other components in the sake of efficiency. Now, I think, it’s about joy, full human expression, and a embodied life where things matter.”
Keith Yamashita, Your Brain on Art
Your Brain on Art: creativity is where the magic happens
I’ve been rereading a book I love, Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us, and one chapter in particular, Learning at Work, really stopped me in my tracks.
It explores Starbucks and how, during a particularly challenging period for the business, former CEO, Howard Schultz returned to lead the organisation. One of the things he introduced was a leadership retreat for his senior team, with creativity playing an important role.
The thinking behind it resonated with me:
“I wish in the realm of business that we spent as much time on creative skills as we do technical skills. The technical skills are what helps us get things done. Can I navigate a spreadsheet? Can I code? Can I express my ideas? Those are all super important but to what end? The creative skills are where the ingenuity comes from.”
Keith Yamashita, Your Brain on Art
It’s a simple thought, but one I think we should pay more attention to.
We spend the majority of our adult lives working. We invest heavily in technical skills like learning how to analyse data, navigate spreadsheets, use technology, manage projects and get things done.
But where do we make space for our imagination, curiosity and intuition, for seeing something differently?
Our imagination is where the magic happens.
Art has an extraordinary ability to take us there by listening to music, looking at a painting, walking through a garden, visiting a gallery, making something with our hands: all these experiences can make us stop, notice and feel, and that matters.
I often think about the word e-motion: energy in motion.
I first came across this idea during my NLP Practitioner training, and it’s stayed with me. Our emotions influence how we think, behave, be that react or respond, and connect. Creativity can shift that energy and open up a different way of seeing and of being.
Creativity meets leadership
This thinking came to life for me recently when I collaborated with an executive coach to design a bespoke creative workshop alongside a global organisation’s transformation to a purpose-led leadership programme. I can’t share the organisation’s name, but I can share what I loved about the work.
We created space for people to step away from the everyday, explore something differently, connect with themselves and each other, and think beyond the obvious. It wasn’t about turning everyone into artists, it was about creating the conditions for curiosity and a new level of awareness.
Sometimes we need to deliberately create a situation that’s a little challenging. It might feel uncomfortable, but that’s the point; change and awareness rarely happen when we stay firmly within our comfort zone. And learning doesn’t always come from getting things right, more often it comes from making mistakes.
So, here’s a question for you:
- What mistake have you learnt from recently?
- And if you’re leading a team, when was the last time you created genuine creative space for people to think, explore, experiment and imagine?
Creativity in real life
Creativity has also been showing up in much more personal ways for me.
I recently completed a bespoke painting commissioned as a wedding gift. It was created intuitively through conversation, colour and emotion, and the finished canvas has now travelled to Morzine in France to become part of the couple’s story, and there’s something incredibly special about that.
The painting isn’t simply an object. It carries a feeling, a memory and a story from one person to another. That’s one of the reasons I love art, it creates connection, it gives us a reason to pause, and it can help us say something when words aren’t quite enough.
I’ll share more of the story and the visuals shortly, but for now, I’m enjoying the thought that something created from a conversation in Surrey is now hanging somewhere in the mountains of France.
Creativity in real life
In September I embark on a different creative and personal learning journey.
I’m starting a nine-month Foundation Training in Family Constellations with author and psychotherapist Victoria Smisek, following a workshop with Victoria in August that really stayed with me.
I’m curious to explore it further, to understand myself, relationships and patterns more deeply, and to see what I can learn that might support me both personally and professionally.
And perhaps that brings me back to where I started.
The more digital our lives become, the more important I think it is to make room for things that are real, tactile, sensory and human. Like looking at art, creating with our hands, having colourful conversations, being in nature, things that spark real connection and feeling.
They aren’t distractions from life or work, they are part of what makes us human. And perhaps creativity shouldn’t be something we turn to when we have a spare five minutes. Perhaps it deserves a seat at the leadership table, more space in our workplaces, perhaps it deserves a little more space in our lives, too.
So, if you work for a business or lead a team, I’ll leave you with this:
- What would happen if you made more room for creativity?
- What might you see that you’re currently missing?
- What conversation might you have?
- What ideas might emerge?
- And, ultimately, what could you create?
With joy and colour,
Emma 🧡
Brand Strategist | Artist | Coach 