The benefits of a humble boss on mindfulness and creativity

By Dr. Emily Huang, Dr. Song Chang & Prof. Liqun Wei

These days ‘mindfulness’ is thrown around in the context of nutrition, movement and meditation, but how about at work? Being mindful while on the job seem to be tied to greater creativity. A study suggests that creative process engagement connects the two —mindfulness helps employees come up with ideas, identify problems, search and encode information more easily — all of which are vital for employee creative performance.

At work employees often try to read their boss to figure out how much scope they have for creative license. Those led by a manager who is perceived to be humble are more likely to explore this side of themselves, facilitating creative process engagement, which enhances the link between mindfulness and creativity.

Characteristics which create the appearance of humility in a boss include openness and a willingness to learn from others. The more they are able to admit their own mistakes, the more comfortable employees feel being their authentic selves and taking risks — like sharing ideas.

A mindful employee who is laser focused on the present has more clarity and a better capacity to process information, as a result of being free from automatic thought patterns. It allows them to be more open to ideas outside their usual realm, and this enhanced flexibility is conducive to better creative process engagement.

Achieving quality attention plays a role in predicting how creative an employee will be at work. A manager who is perceived to have humility also affects the outcome, and is considered an organisational resource enhancing the benefits of mindfulness on employees’ creative performance.

For organisations seeking creative staff, it may be worth listing mindfulness as a desired characteristic in job ads, given its vital role in problem-solving and engaging in the creative process. Incorporating mindfulness into staff training programmes could be a useful way to sharpen cognitive techniques. Instilling a sense of humility in bosses is just as important, since it has a ripple effect in boosting overall creative performance. They should make a conscious effort to acknowledge the strengths of their team, and actively seek ideas from them, to get the best out of them in return. Employers may benefit from 360-degree feedback or any coaching style which fosters self-awareness, as the combination of humility and mindfulness is most impactful.

Reference:

Cheung, S., Huang, E., Chang, S., & Wei, L. (2020). Does being mindful make people more creative at work? The role of creative process engagement and perceived leader humility. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 159, 39-48.