Exploring Emic and Etic Perspectives on 

Creative Leadership 
 
 

 

 

Name: Nadia Ellan 

Student no.: 868349 

Supervisor: Dr Nicky Israel 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of 

Arts by Coursework and Research Report (in the field of Organisational Psychology) in the 

Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 02 October 2021. 



  

DECLARATION 

 

 
I declare that this research report is my own, unaided work. 

It has not been submitted previously for this or for any other degree or for examination at this or 

any other university. 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 _02-10-2021  
 

Date 

 

 

 

 
N. Ellan 



  

ABSTRACT 

The aim of this research study was to explore emic and etic perceptions of creative leadership in 

the South African context, including exploring how creative leadership was defined, factors seen 

to promote and inhibit creativity in the workplace and the relationship between these and creative 

leadership, and perspectives on good creative leadership. It was hoped that this would be useful 

to gain a greater understanding of different perspectives on creative leadership and to identify 

how these relate to the available literature as well as to gain information about how to facilitate 

good creative leadership and develop more innovative working environments practically. 

The sample for the study consisted of ten professionals working in creative industries who 

volunteered to be interviewed. Four employees and three managers working as marketing 

specialists or strategists represented emic perspectives on creative leadership, and three 

leadership specialists with expertise in creative leadership represented etic perspectives. The 

design for the study was qualitative and emergent and it was based in the interpretive paradigm. 

Individual semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from each participant. The data 

was analysed using Braun and Clark’s (2006) approach to thematic analysis. 

The findings from the research study indicated that creative leadership is a transformative form 

of leadership that was seen as very important in the workplace, especially with the rapid changes 

currently taking place. Good creative leaders were seen as authentic and able to communicate 

with employees; the importance of creating a safe and conducive physical and psychological 

environment for employees to be creative was also emphasized. The participants also indicated 

that experience and practical training was very important for creative leadership. The 

information gathered provided a foundation for better understanding creative leadership in the 

South African context; and also supported identifying more theoretical and practical implications 

through further research on the topic. 

 

 
Keywords: Creative leadership, creativity, emic perspectives, etic perspectives, South Africa 



  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

 
I wish to thank my family, friends and spiritual guides for their constant support, guidance and 

motivation that started from the beginning of my academic journey. 

I would like to give a special thanks to my parents, Derrick Ellan and Subhashini Ellan for their 

undying belief in me, their words of encouragement and the never-ending time and effort given 

to me. I would also like to thank them for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to walk this 

academic journey, without their relentless care, consideration and support I would not have been 

able to get this far. I would like to thank my sister Alecia Ellan for being a reason in my life to 

stay motivated through my endeavours. 

I would like to thank my partner Kunal Bansi for supporting me in the final push for this research 

study. I would like to thank my best friend Lungelo Ncube for always believing in me and 

pushing me to keep moving forward. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to Sagren 

Munusamy, for being a pillar of strength in my academic journey and being the voice of reason 

during every hurdle. 

I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr Nicky Israel for her ongoing support and guidance 

throughout this research project. 

Lastly, I wish to dedicate this research project in memory of my baby brother, Zeus Ellan, who 

passed away during the course of this research project. He was the calm in the storm and my 

favourite study buddy. His spirit and memory motivated me to keep persevering. 

“A baby brother is a gift to the heart and a friend to the spirit” 



  

CONTENTS 
 

Chapter 1: Literature review 

Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 

Literature review ....................................................................................................... 3 

Leadership ........................................................................................................... 3 

Creativity ............................................................................................................. 5 

Creative leadership .............................................................................................. 11 

Characteristics of a creative leader ....................................................................... 14 

Factors that promote or inhibit creative leadership ............................................... 18 

Figure 1. Conceptual model of factors which inhibit and promote workplace 

innovation ...................................................................................................... 21 

Research about perceptions of creative leadership in South Africa ............................. 22 

The Current Study….................................................................................................. 23 

Research Questions.................................................................................................... 24 

Chapter 2: Methodology 

Research design ........................................................................................................ 25 

Sample and sampling… ............................................................................................ 26 

Table 1: Participant Demographics....................................................................... 29 

Data collection.......................................................................................................... 30 

Procedure ................................................................................................................. 31 

Ethical considerations ............................................................................................... 33 

Data analysis ............................................................................................................ 34 

Chapter 3: Results and Discussion 

Overview of the chapter ............................................................................................ 36 

Themes ..................................................................................................................... 36 

Theme 1: Perceptions of creative leadership ....................................................... 36 

Sub Theme 1.1: Defining creative leadership................................................ 37 

Sub    Theme    1.2:    Developing/improving    of    creative    leadership 

skills ........................................................................................................... 44 

Theme 2: Importance of creative leadership in the workplace .............................45 



  

Theme 3: Factors promoting creative behaviour in the workplace .................. 49 

Theme 4: Factors inhibiting creative behaviour in the workplace ................... 56 

Theme 5: Views of good creative leadership .................................................. 60 

Chapter 4: Conclusions 

Overview of the chapter ....................................................................................... 65 

Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 65 

Implications of the research ................................................................................. 66 

Strengths and limitations of the research .............................................................. 68 

Recommendations for future research ................................................................. 69 

References ...................................................................................................................... 71 

Appendix A. Email Invitation.......................................................................................... 85 

Appendix B. Participant Information Sheet ..................................................................... 86 

Appendix C. Informed Consent Form .............................................................................. 88 

Appendix D. Informed Recording Consent Form ............................................................ 90 

Appendix E. Demographic Questionnaire .........................................................................91 

Appendix F. Interview Schedule...................................................................................... 92 

Appendix G. Ethical Clearance Certificate ...................................................................... 95 
  



1  

Chapter 1 

Literature review 

 

 
 

Introduction 

 
Perceptions of creative leadership may vary between each individual employee and these 

varying perceptions may have an influence on the way in which creative leadership is 

implemented within organisations (Mainemelis et al., 2015). This study broadly intended to 

expand the knowledge available on creative leadership in the workplace from various points of 

view. Creative leadership may be present at any organisational level and position and therefore 

this study looked at the perspectives of employers, employees, and external practitioners. 

Mainemelis et al. (2015) state that creative leadership is derived from the relationship between 

creativity and leadership. The knowledge gained from this study aimed to provide insight into 

the different dimensions of creative leadership and the varying perceptions of these. Mainemelis 

et al. (2015) was used as the main theoretical base for this research study. 

Creative leadership is a form of leadership which is premised on the notion of employing 

innovation and innovative ideas in order to develop rational concepts and successful strategy 

(Mumford et al., 2002). Creative leadership is a form of leadership which moves past the concern 

and satisfaction solely for the self and its importance is premised on the positive impact it has on 

different individuals involved in a creative leadership engagement (Randel & Jaussi, 2019). This 

form of leadership allows for an environment within organisations which cultivates creativity 

and thus allows for a competitive lead to be held (Randel & Jaussi, 2019). Creative leadership 

also allows for employees within organisations to feel a sense of autonomy as their shared 

opinions can be heard (Gao & Jiang, 2019). There is a drive behind this form of leadership which 

strives to empower the individual in their current work environment, devoid of hierarchy (Gao & 

Jiang, 2019). 

The concept of creative leadership was developed in the 1950’s and shortly thereafter 

was related to organisations and organisational studies (Selznick, 1984). As research had been 

carried out on the concept of creative leadership, it had been noted that this concept within the 

work environment had increasingly become more important to employees’ progression and thus 



2  

their organisation’s progression (Dinh et al., 2014). Leaders who employ creative leadership 

styles within their professional working environments are seen to be enablers for creative 

behaviours from all employees they lead (Gong et al., 2009). There is a high level of 

engagement with innovation and transformation within professional industries which enables 

creativity and creative behaviour through creative leadership (Taylor et al., 2019). In addition, 

creative leadership allows for meaningful engagements and interactions between employees and 

their work (Taylor et al., 2019). 

Therefore, the hope for this research study is to contribute to further understandings 

around perceptions of creative leadership. In addition, this research study might achieve an 

understanding around whether people in real-world work environments believe that creative 

leadership is important and might illustrate different ways in which they feel this can be 

achieved. This study might also achieve a fresh understanding of creative leadership perspectives 

in relation to constantly changing economic and technological states. When compiling theory 

based on creative leadership, it was found that there were limited credible sources related 

directly to perceptions of creative leadership. In addition, the number of research studies which 

were carried out in South Africa around creative leadership is extremely limited. Thus, this 

current research study was carried out in hopes of providing further empirical evidence around 

perceptions of creative leadership, specifically in a South African context. Creative leadership 

plays out differently in different contexts and how it is perceived changes based on the context. 

Gaining an understanding of how creative leadership is seen is very important in terms of 

implementing this transformative form of leadership in organisations and everyday work spaces. 

Overall, theory around creative leadership seems to indicate that this form of leadership 

positively impacts not only the organization but individual employees as well (Rego et al., 2014). 

There were four main aims within this research study. Firstly, the study aimed to explore 

emic and etic perspectives on creative leadership based on the perceptions of employees and 

employers as well as experts. The study further aimed to gain an understanding of what is seen as 

constituting creative leadership. The study also aimed to establish what perceptions exist about 

being an effective creative leader and to determine which factors are regarded as promoting and 

inhibiting creative behaviour in the workplace. 



3  

Within this research report, the literature review which follows provides a theoretical 

framework for the study. The review will begin with defining leadership as a concept, followed 

by defining creativity as a concept, and lastly defining creative leadership. These defined 

concepts will then be followed by a brief overview of how the concepts of leadership and 

creativity link to the term creative leadership. Characteristics of a creative leader as proposed by 

literature will then be discussed as well as the relevance and importance of creative leadership. A 

discussion will then follow with reference to different factors that either promote or inhibit 

creative leadership, specifically within the workplace. The literature review will be concluded 

with a brief discussion on this current study and its relevance to South African research. The 

importance of exploring emic and etic perspectives on creative leadership will be emphasized. 

 

 
Literature review 

 
Leadership 

 
A leader is an individual who is seen to guide other people, they generally have a lot of 

influence and interaction in what they do (Mainemelis et al., 2015). Leadership is viewed as a 

simple term, however when it is examined closely it can become quite complex (Grint et al., 

2016). Grint et al. (2016) state that leadership should be defined directly by the roles it serves, 

such as for people, to gain results, and to ensure that processes are run efficiently. Within many 

contexts, the term leadership in an organisational setting is closely thought of in relation to 

management (Grint et al., 2016). According to Grint et al. (2016), direction setting and change 

are important in leadership, unlike management which is heavily focused on control. In order to 

be viewed as effective, a leader needs to possess certain characteristics (Mainemelis et al., 2015) 

Effective leaders inspire others around them, they have high levels of perseverance, innovation is 

a norm, and they need to be creative (Mainemelis et al., 2015). 

Grint et al., (2016) state that a distinction can also be made between an individual formal 

leader which is the traditional view of a leader, and the multiple of informal leaders. Many 

people within an organisation may exhibit leadership qualities in order to get tasks done in 

accordance with the company’s goals and they tend to push employees in different ways (Grint 

et al., 2016). Antonakis et al. (2004) state that in order to define what leadership is, it is 



4  

important to distinguish between the concepts of management and power as these concepts are 

regularly considered to be the same as leadership. Power within leadership is the possessed skill 

to influence individuals, and to monitor performance of others (Braynion, 2004; Lunenburg, 

2012). Management is goal-driven and focuses on aligning a team’s objectives with success of a 

project; management is important in guiding productivity in organisations (Robbins et al., 2017). 

Leadership is the enhancer of the practice of management as it is more inclusive and allows for 

integration within teams (Antonakis et al., 2004). 

Leadership is a broad skill and allows for different leadership styles to be recognised and 

understood. Within the field of organisational psychology there are a few different leadership 

styles which are common within the context of professional work environments. The following 

leadership styles which will be discussed below are transactional leadership, transformational 

leadership, democratic leadership, autocratic leadership, bureaucratic leadership, laissez faire 

leadership, servant leadership, strategic leadership and coaching leadership. A supervisory style 

of leadership is known as transactional leadership, this leadership style focuses on working as a 

supervisor within teams and bearing thought of the organisation as a whole, this leader tends to 

focus on directed tasks and outlays reward as well as penalties in return for motivating 

employees (Khan, 2017). A common style of leadership is known as transformational leadership, 

this style focuses on required change that needs to be made and implements strategies amongst 

teams, motivating individuals to perform optimally (Andriani et al., 2018). 

Another form of leadership is democratic leadership, democratic leaders tend to 

encourage more participative behaviours amongst team within working settings, every employee 

is given opportunity to provide their contribution to decision making during allocated meeting 

times where it is deemed representative and fair (Liggett, 2020). Autocratic leadership style is 

one in which there is a high level of control held by the leader and the leader tends to dictate 

much of the formal proceedings to employees (Hogg, 2020). Similarly, to an autocratic leader 

which has majority of the power dynamic, there is a bureaucratic leadership style which is seen 

to be one where there are hierarchical structures in place and pre-developed rules by this 

leadership for employees to follow (Al Khajeh, 2018). Laissez faire leadership style is proposed 

to be the most relaxed style of leadership as there is an abundance of faith and dependence 

placed on the employees from the leader, this leader provides a space for creativity and leaves 



5  

minimal rules and guidelines to be followed (Breevaart & Zacher, 2019). A more uncommon 

form of leadership is known as servant leadership, this leadership style differs from traditional 

leadership and aims to provide service from the leader onwards (Eva et al., 2019). Strategic 

leadership is a common leadership style within corporate organisations and places emphasis on 

being influential in power, and leading others to decisions which in turn benefits the organisation 

holistically (Maghroori & Rolland, 1997). Lastly, coaching leadership is a leadership style that is 

seen as progressive, this leader provides their employees with a lot of support and helps them 

navigate through the journey of their work and careers (Berg & Karlsen, 2016). Creative 

leadership is an emerging form of leadership which adds to the above-mentioned existing forms 

of leadership, it depends on creativity. Creativity is a characteristic that is essential within 

creative leaders and will be discussed in the next section below. 

Creativity 

 
Creativity is seen as a characteristic which allows individuals to think laterally and to be 

innovative when dealing with complex tasks (Andriopoulus, 2001). Creativity can also be 

defined as the task of transforming inventive notions and original thought processes into a 

genuine form of usable creative strategies and procedures (Amabile, 2018; Rosaldo et al., 2018). 

There is also an underlying understanding that creativity draws from abstract thought and the 

ability to generate plausible solutions from this (Wiggins et al., 2015). Creativity can be found at 

two different points, the point of thought and the implementation of a plan or idea, which is the 

way one may use creative thought to develop a creative solution to a potential problem (Brem et 

al., 2016). Creativity may stem from the individual themselves or even the tasks at hand which 

require creative thinking (Andriopoulus, 2001). Within organisations, there are a few different 

ways which creative behaviour can be elicited and engaged in, for example, setting aside 

specified time within work weeks to allow for employees and leaders to engage in creative 

thinking and idea generation sessions (Ogbeibu et al., 2018). Another example of creativity in 

organisations is developing short visual displays of information in order to captivate the audience 

or create more out-of-the-box thought (Brem et al., 2016). 

Creative behaviour in the workplace tends to occur when an individual feels comfortable 

and free within themselves and their environments to be able to exhibit this specific behaviour 

(Roffe, 1999). Another way to facilitate creative behaviour is by setting up a physical 



6  

environment that is colourful and has pictures of positive imagery (Ogbeibu et al., 2018). As a 

leader, creating a safe environment for employees to exhibit creative behaviour stems from 

opening up opportunities for employees to engage in conversation (Ogbeibu et al., 2018). It is 

argued that creative behaviour should be encouraged within teams and organisations in order to 

allow for growth and innovation from many more dimensions than just the standardised 

managerial aspects (Roffe, 1999). Creativity in the workplace specifically has led to people 

wondering how creativity can be promoted and implemented within their respective spaces 

(Mainemelis et al., 2015). Creativity can come from team building within organisations as well 

as individual training around innovation and creation (Andriopoulus, 2001). Creativity in the 

workplace can also be encouraged through effective creative leadership (Larsson & Vinberg, 

2010). 

There are many different characteristics that underlie understandings of creativity. One of 

these characteristics is that of having the capability to distinguish the mechanisms of the world in 

alternative, novel ways (Amabile, 2018). These alternate, novel world views are usually with 

specific regard to discovering enclosed sequences as well as being able to find similar influences 

and patterns amidst singularities which were seen as completely disconnected therefore 

producing problem-solving through creativity (Amabile, 2018). Amabile (2018) makes mention 

of the different thought processes and the constructing of these thoughts of creativity into fruition 

- these can be seen as two essential processes in producing creative output. 

 
When creativity starts being viewed as a procedure instead of just a personal 

characteristic which can be tapped into at will by people who are ‘creative’, then it becomes 

much easier for people to bring these original ideas and notions into reality (Unsworth, 2018). 

Amabile (2018) expresses that in order to exhibit creativity, there are certain requirements - these 

characteristics are premised on the ability to demonstrate both passion as well as commitment. 

By exhibiting these characteristics of creativity, there is an extended active consciousness 

surrounding creative behaviour in the workplace (Amabile, 2018). Creativity should be exhibited 

with the intention of bringing to light new opinions which had been previously hindered by rigid, 

traditional mindsets (Shalley & Gilson, 2017). This intended practice of creativity can allow for 

individuals to be involved and better understand the importance of creativity in current changing 

environments (Shalley & Gilson, 2017). 



7  

As creativity is being defined and discussed, it is important to consider the concept of 

innovation as well, as there are views that suggest that creativity and innovation are two 

completely separate concepts and should not be viewed in the same light (Perry-Smith & 

Mannucci, 2017). The ideologies around innovation for the individuals with these views tend to 

regard the concept of innovation as one which constitutes knowledge that can be divided into 

different aspects, which implies that creativity is not like this (Perry-Smith & Mannucci, 2017). 

Amabile and Pratt (2016) express that creativity and innovation within organisations can be 

thought of as separate divisions of knowledge which are relevant to one another. Creativity can 

be seen as an imperative factor within the sphere of innovation; possessing creative 

characteristics in essence allows for one to be innovative (Amabile & Pratt, 2016). 

 
Amabile and Pratt (2016) discuss creativity and innovation as dynamic components 

within organisations, which further shows that the two practices are reliant on each other. 

Specifically, there is a reliance on creativity for innovation. Between the divisions of both 

innovation and creativity, it is important to understand that the best way to standardise the two 

concepts is by taking into account the notion of value creation (Pae & Lee, 2017). Value creation 

is producing a valuable product or service which then allows for more value to be created in 

return (Grönroos, 2017). Within organisations, value creation is related to the improved 

performance of work activities which in turn improves the concrete overall value of processes, 

due to better working structures of the activities (Pae & Lee, 2017). Whilst applying techniques 

for creativity in organisations, innovation specifically is applying original meaningful 

improvements towards either services, products, or procedures which should all have value for 

different domains, such as the organisation or the greater community as a whole (Pae & Lee, 

2017; Perry-Smith & Mannucci, 2017). In sum, innovation is an important aspect within 

creativity, and should be identified as a separate but related concept to creativity. With this in 

mind, an outline of the similarities and differences of innovation and creativity needs to be 

considered. 

 
Anderson et al. (2014) makes mention of creativity as being a phase of idea generation 

and innovation followed by a phase of idea implementation. Creating an idea involves a level of 

ingenuity which creative thought provides and implementing an idea involves a level of novel 

invention which innovative process allows. The main similarities are that both concepts involve 



8  

developing new sets of knowledge, and these new sets of creative knowledge may lead to the 

success of the organization, once innovation is used to implement these (Anderson et al., 2014). 

The main differences between creativity and innovation are that creativity is about developing 

ideas and innovation is then about implementing these ideas (Anderson et al., 2014). Creativity 

tends to revolve around more creative thought processes and innovation is the practical 

implementation of this thought (Anderson et al., 2014). 

 

 
Globally tracking trends within the broader sphere of the world of work, it is noted that 

technological trends are beginning to influence the world of work heavily (Shalley & Gilson, 

2017). There is an increase in technological advancements and the intellectual knowledge of 

machinery, which has transformed work environments over the last few years (Reiter-Palmon & 

Kaufman, 2018). Through technology there has been a renewed form of connected and 

cooperative environments formed across the globe which has translated to the growth of different 

social and worldwide hurdles (Reiter-Palmon & Kaufman, 2018). Within the twenty-first 

century, the fourth industrial revolution has increased the need for creativity, and there is a 

steady growth in complexity when trying to adapt to new working environments (Mayer & 

Oosthuizen, 2020; Shalley & Gilson, 2017). The effects of this complexity require individuals 

and teams within organisations to exhibit creativity through being innovative and imaginative 

(Shalley & Gilson, 2017). The change occurring around the world at the moment is extremely 

rapid, therefore businesses need to consider being much faster with their implementation of 

change as well as being more adaptable (Shalley & Gilson, 2017). By becoming much more 

adaptable and imaginative in relation to creative solutions, organisations can ensure success in 

this fast-paced environment (Shalley & Gilson, 2017). 

 
Reiter-Palmon and Kaufman (2018) state that within the workplace there are different 

creative styles, and in order to understand creativity, one needs to be aware that creativity is a 

skill, which can be learnt and further improved as any other skill can. It is also extremely 

important to consider the way in which creativity is managed within organisations - there needs 

to be emphasis placed on accepting original ideas and opposing thoughts (Reiter-Palmon & 

Kaufman, 2018). The entry way of creativity within organisations is that of building a solid basis 

for learnt knowledge, learnt divisions of work, as well as perfecting the manner in which one 



9  

may consider creativity in every element of work (Reiter-Palmon & Kaufman, 2018). Creative 

behaviour specifically can be learnt through trial and error, testing, and investigating as well as 

questioning things for more than what they may seem to be (Amabile, 2018). Learning the skills 

of creativity is much the same as learning the functioning of any discipline - it necessitates one to 

constantly train the mind to be and think creatively, as well as to form and integrate one’s self 

within a supportive environment (Amabile & Pratt, 2016; Amabile, 2018). 

 
In order for technological advancements and creative behaviour to be present within the 

workplace, there must be an environment which cultivates creativity (Shalley & Gilson, 2017). 

With organisations striving to be successful and sustainable, it is important to consider how 

creativity contributes positively to the outcome of this success (Doppelt, 2017; Schaltegger et al., 

2017). As defined and outlined above, creativity and innovation are two separate concepts which 

when used together allow for creative thought to then become usable innovative solutions. By 

emphasising the importance of creativity within organisations, the adaption to global 

technological advancements may become easier (Shalley & Gilson, 2017). Managing and 

promoting creativity can allow for not only the organization to benefit from the success of new 

ideas and strategies being developed; employees will also benefit through having working 

environments where they can engage in creative thought and express their originality (Amabile, 

2018; Amabile & Pratt, 2016). 

 
People are slowly moving away from the idea that there are certain people who have 

creativity innate within them and that they are a minority who have mastered the talent of 

creativity (Rosaldo et al., 2018). Due to the fact that creativity is deemed a trainable skill, 

individuals should build their self-assurance with their creative capacities (Unsworth, 2018). 

With the knowledge that creativity can be trained it is ideal to consider what environment may 

best fit the cultivation of creativity and the role of the leader and organization in achieving this. 

Amidst leaders within businesses currently, a significant asset to ensuring success is when the 

leaders choose to create and develop a conducive culture for creative behaviour (Reiter-Palmon 

& Kaufman, 2018). Having organised structures in place which promote rigidity within the 

workplace hinders creativity and creative behaviour within the workplace (Reiter-Palmon & 

Kaufman, 2018). The onus is thus on individuals within leadership positions to foster these 

desirable traits within the corporate surroundings (Reiter-Palmon & Kaufman, 2018). Creativity 



10  

can be viewed through the likes of one being inventive, having clear visions, being original, and 

using all available resources to accomplish a task or improve it (Amabile, 2018). Creative 

behaviour may also be exhibited through giving oneself the time to step away from the problem 

and allowing space and time to reflect to find a solution (Amabile, 2018). There is a lot of 

strategic thought which goes into identifying a problem and creatively engaging in finding a 

solution, as analysing risks is very important within standard business practice (Bowers & 

Khorakian, 2014). 

 
As mentioned above, creativity is not only a skill which is beneficial for the success and 

sustainability of organisations, it is also one which allows for employees to be engaged deeply 

within the strategic thought of their work and developing through it. It had also been outlined 

that the concept of innovation aids in the formulation and implementation of creative ideas. 

Through this understanding, it is also important to note that there are different skills that can be 

obtained within the innovative atmosphere which help to guide the process of innovation in the 

workplace. Dyer et al. (2019) writes about there being what they call an innovator’s DNA - in 

essence this DNA is used in order to control the “five skills of disruptive innovators”. 

The first skill Dyer et al. (2019) write about is that of associating, the action of linking 

different factors together such as questions, notions which come from areas which do not seem 

connected, and the possible problems which may arise. The second skill of disruptive innovators 

is questioning - this is about not taking things just as they are, but contesting normative 

knowledge and finding out the status of a situation (Dyer et al., 2019). The third skill is the skill 

of observation. Dyer et al. (2019) mention that disruptive innovators should engage in intense 

examination of the conduct of clients, contractors, and even the rivals of the organisation, in 

order to figure out original ways of actioning processes. The fourth skill is networking - this is 

done through connecting with different people who possess various notions and creative 

viewpoints within their specific industries (Dyer et al., 2019). The fifth and last skill is that of 

experimenting. This action is completed by building collaborative practices within organisations 

and bringing about unconventional conversation in order to see what understandings are present 

(Dyer et al., 2019). 



11  

Creative leadership 

 
In the late 1950’s, the concept of ‘creative leadership’ was initially written about and the 

term began to be employed in the specific context of organisations and organisational studies 

(Selznick, 1984). Since the inception of the term creative leadership, there has been steady 

development seen in relation to research regarding this topic (Mainemelis et al., 2015; Nayak, 

2008). Creative and innovative leadership specifically have been at the forefront of these 

research developments and there have been many significant contributions to the area (Larsson 

& Vinberg, 2010; Mainemelis et al., 2015). As the dimensions of creative leadership have 

grown, it has been noted that it is more useful now than ever before and it is seen as important in 

the progression of individuals and for their organisations (Dinh et al., 2014). 

Creative leadership is a form of leadership which is premised on the notion of employing 

innovation and innovative ideas in order to develop rational concepts and successful strategy 

(Mumford et al., 2002). The leaders who use this specific form of leadership tend to enact it by 

developing environments which allow for creative behaviour and by encouraging employee 

creativity and innovation (Gong et al., 2009; Mainemelis et al., 2015). These environments 

which are created are also known as supportive environments and valuable contributing spaces 

(Gong et al., 2009; Martins & Terblanche, 2003). Ball (2014) proposes that there are five main 

competencies within creative leadership; these are: applying an explorative outlook, envisioning 

an improved future, conducting work with passion and purpose, composing creative groups, and 

pushing for breakthrough transformation. 

Through defining creative leadership, it is important to also understand how creative 

leadership engages within the work environment as well as the development of creative 

leadership and the ability to encapsulate transformation within any industry (Al Harbi et al., 

2019; Taylor et al., 2019). Randel and Jaussi (2019) mention that creative leadership can be seen 

as both an action and a novel view. Creative leadership is seen to be developed and understood 

through advanced and new notions, which initially come from the common drive to refine the 

world of work using innovative developments (Randel & Jaussi, 2019). Dovey et al. (2017) write 

about individuals who show creative leadership traits. In essence, it can be understood that 

people who use creative leadership in their work environments implement strategies of success 

by creating a conducive work environment that encourages creative thinking as well as goal- 



12  

oriented business. Creative leadership is seen to involve engaging well with transformation 

within industry, whilst also looking out for prospective chances to improve processes in the 

organisation (Taylor et al., 2019). 

 
As creative leadership is implemented in organisations, there should be notes made as to 

what this transformative form of leadership allows for as well as what it may create. Puccio et al. 

(2017) mention that creative leadership reveres desired visions and opens up the platform for 

people to be brave and communicative. Creative leadership is a form of leadership which moves 

past the concern and satisfaction solely for the self (Randel & Jaussi, 2019). Creative leaders 

tend to be a lot more giving of their time and knowledge transference; this drive is embedded 

within the practical ideals of the individual (Dovey et al., 2017). When engaging with the skill of 

creative leadership, innovative approaches are what give these actions a measurable ideation for 

success (Taylor et al., 2019). Engagement with creative leadership enables employees to become 

further motivated and driven to engage themselves towards creating worthwhile interactions with 

their work (Taylor et al., 2019). The collective of the leader and the followers allows for the 

organization to meet targets in relation to contributing towards employees, the organization, and 

the community as a whole (Taylor et al., 2019). 

 

 
In order to overcome the hurdles of rapid technological advancement, it is important for 

leaders to approach these situations directly with courageous and creative resolutions (Reiter- 

Palmon & Kaufman, 2018). The development of these requires creative leaders to close the 

divide between environments which are already existent and those that are cultivated (Reiter- 

Palmon & Kaufman, 2018). Creative leaders who go beyond the scope and understanding of 

their designated tasks usually confront the difficulties of being creative in a leadership role, 

which is experienced worldwide (Reiter-Palmon & Kaufman, 2018). The tactics used to 

implement solutions require specific and thoughtful information about the backgrounds, 

requirements, and cultural environment of the organization (Reiter-Palmon & Kaufman, 2018). 

Overall, what is seen is that creative leaders have a requirement to understand the organisation 

well and how it may relate to different challenges and advancements within national and global 

spheres. The creative and innovative strategies and solutions developed to overcome these 



13  

challenges need to take into consideration the background, organisational culture, and overall 

needs of the business and a clear understanding of these is thus required. 

The skill of creativity within leadership is imperative within any organization for the sake 

of their existence and success within the business world, especially given the rapid change and 

evolution of cultural environments which are present currently (Randel & Jaussi, 2019). When 

creative leaders shift towards achieving goals set out from a standpoint of being more innovative 

and creative, they tend to obtain the capability to achieve these goals much more simply (Randel 

& Jaussi, 2019). This is because creative thinking allows for leaders to engage in diverse thought 

around attaining the goal and the best possible way to achieve it (Agbor, 2008). The uniqueness 

of a creative leader is shown specifically through how well they are able to identify different 

ways to meet their targets (Puccio et al., 2017; Randel & Jaussi, 2019). As a creative leader, an 

individual must possess the capability to draw out an estimated guideline of how they would 

meet goals, solve problems, and build transformative areas of success which other leaders may 

not notice or be able to achieve (Dovey et al., 2017). 

 
Creative leadership not only requires solving practical challenges experienced within the 

working environment, it also requires enabling employees to have positive experiences (Zhou & 

George, 2003). The embodiment of creativity should not stop at the level of leaders being 

creative; this should filter through to employees by cultivating good working relationships and 

encouraging creative collaboration (Kim et al., 2014). Due to creative leaders approaching 

situations in more creative and innovative ways, they tend to recommend that employees should 

always think about different and new ideas (Taylor et al., 2019). This includes following their 

personal creative viewpoints instead of just following ideas fed from the top level of the 

organisation (Taylor et al., 2019). It should be considered that most employees would not always 

have the same ideologies and information sets as their supervising teams (Puccio et al., 2017). 

Therefore, by involving employees in implementing strategies more creatively, there would be 

different opportunities to view obstacles or even creative notions from a unique lens, and to 

develop knowledge to move from obstacles to solutions (Dovey et al., 2017). 

 
In order to succeed, an organisation has to ensure that they develop, adjust, and make a 

specific plan to achieve success (Randel & Jaussi, 2019). The success cultivated from creative 



14  

leaders is generally derived from the fact that these leaders welcome contested and disliked 

opinions (Randel & Jaussi, 2019). The contested viewpoints give rise to innovative and 

stimulating variations of processes to aid the organisation to succeed and develop (Randel & 

Jaussi, 2019). When fostering and implementing creative leadership, there are multiple different 

instances presented which would assist with changing traditional, rigid mentalities around 

leadership (Taylor et al., 2019). The assistance specifically comes from putting together non- 

traditional practices and concepts which involve both individual people as well as larger teams 

within the organisation (Puccio et al., 2017; Taylor et al., 2019). In essence creative leadership 

provides the opportunity for hindering structures to be eradicated and for employees to be 

brought into the work dynamics of an organisation more through creativity and innovation. 

 
As a creative leader, it is imperative that there is an equally creative work environment 

that enables creative and innovative thought and practices. This in turn allows for a working 

environment that caters to diverse working populations (Farndale et al., 2015). Apart from the 

fact that creativity and creative leadership enhance the chances of organisations being successful, 

an outcome which is of utmost significance for an active leader is the nurturing of a healthy 

organisational environment (Taylor et al., 2019). According to Hannum et al. (2007), there are 

different leadership strategies that can be referred to as leadership building strategies within the 

creative sphere and that aid in cultivating a healthy organisational environment. These strategies 

are things such as trusting reliable employees, fostering different thinking through leadership, 

ongoing learning and knowledge production, considering past events, and making time to further 

grow creative skills (Hannum et al., 2007). In addition to these more common strategies, it is 

possible that leaders seek support from coaches or mentors and spend downtime with fellow 

colleagues as this is important to stay focused and ensure success as a creative leader in a 

successful organization (Hannum et al., 2007). 

 
Characteristics of a creative leader 

 
 

Creative leaders are seen as promoting conducive environments for the people around 

them to be able to show their creativity as well as motivating these creative behaviours (Puccio et 

al., 2011; Rickards & Moger, 2000). These conducive environments tend to allow for obstacles 



15  

to be handled with more ease, improved priorities to be set, and different thoughts and practices 

to be revealed through new encounters of creativity (Puccio et al., 2011). A creative leader 

encourages those around them to concentrate on finding progressive ways to meet setbacks and 

to deal with these directly (Mainemelis et al., 2015). These leaders develop to become advisors 

or trainers in the process of resolving difficulties instead of just relaying instructions and 

commands or completing tasks by themselves (Mainemelis et al., 2015). 

Creative leaders generally give those working under them an abundance of freedom and 

the right to make tasks their own, and they also help people reach their own ambitions and goals 

(Mainemelis et al., 2015). In order to help develop creative thinking in others, creative leaders 

tend to rely on certain forms of support. This includes both social and psychological factors 

which are important as they allow for the creation of creative thinking as well as its sustainability 

(Hunter et al., 2011; Mainemelis et al., 2015). Many creative leadership characteristics do not 

coincide perfectly with the general management styles which most organizations use, however 

these characteristics and skills can be transferred (Mainemelis et al., 2015; Sternberg, 2007). 

Rickards and Moger (2017) propose that there are four features that adequately capture 

the essential characteristics of creative leadership; they developed these using practical 

observation. The first feature is that of a value set which is known as the mutuality principle; this 

principle in essence refers to the fact that leaders who are deemed as creative leaders have a 

similar belief system. The underlying belief system held by creative leaders which encompasses 

the mutuality principle is that of a win-win relationship; it is mentioned that creative leaders 

always strive towards this mutually beneficial relationship (Rickards & Moger, 2017). The 

second feature is the characteristic of having both an empowering and motivating leadership 

style (Rickards & Moger, 2017). An empowering leadership style is one in which the leader 

empowers their followers to want to do more and to have the desire to take on more 

responsibility (Solomon & Steyn, 2017). This form of leadership is seen as one which is more 

transformative in nature (Solomon & Steyn, 2017). The third feature of creative leadership as 

stated by Rickards and Moger (2017) is that of task-based actions. Creative leaders are seen to 

initiate and implement various strategies and techniques in relation to their team members or 

followers in order to motivate and encourage them to perform through tactical work by learning 

about different problems and solving these (Rickards & Moger, 2017). The fourth feature of 



16  

creative leadership is related to aligning the individual and the team. The aligning of the 

individuals and the team is done with specific regard to the needs of the individual and the 

responsibilities and relevant tasks of the team (Rickards & Moger, 2017). 

Sohmen (2015) proposes that creative leaders who are seen as effective tend to 

continuously develop certain features within themselves. These features include: considering 

diverse cultures, personal and group inspirations, social and intrapersonal abilities, creativity at 

different stages, styles and observations of leadership, communication types, listening capability, 

decision-making abilities, ability to manage change, and individual morals and values. These 

features fit with the creative leadership contexts presented in the Mainemelis et al. (2015) 

creative leadership model. According to Mainemelis et al. (2015), creative leadership can be 

used within three main contexts, namely facilitating creativity, integrating creative contributions 

which are multidimensional, and directing visions of creativity. 

Facilitating is one of the contexts of creative leadership that is discussed by Mainemelis 

et al., (2015). People who use creative leadership generally promote creation as a primary task 

for employees and individuals as a form of support – this, in turn, tends to influence creative 

development and contributes to every step within the creative progression of the employee or 

individual (Mainemelis et al., 2015). Within the dimension of facilitating, creative leaders tend to 

premise their actions of leadership in a manner which promotes the individual’s chances of 

developing new ideas themselves. Creative leaders are therefore viewed as facilitators and, in 

many instances, they act in a way that grows other peoples’ creative nature and creative 

behaviour (Mainemelis et al., 2015). This can provide individuals with opportunities to generate 

new notions and enables them to display their own creative behaviours freely (Mainemelis et al., 

2015). Facilitating itself, within the context of organisational creativity, allows every individual 

to be brought into the process and creative behaviour becomes more common for all individuals 

due to the creative leader. It is also known that creativity and a creative environment is built 

upon the creative leader involving every individual within the creative process and implementing 

tasks that allow for this in different forms and stages of work (Mainemelis et al., 2015). 

Directing is the second context in which creative leadership is utilised (Mainemelis et al., 

2015). Individuals who implement a creative leadership style are usually the main originators of 

directing and promote their vision of creativity through working closely with everyone else 



17  

within their environments and providing positive contributions and encouragement (Mainemelis 

et al., 2015). Within directing, the leader is seen as critical in ensuring that creativity and 

creative behaviour occur (Mainemelis et al., 2015; Mumford et al., 2002). It is also important to 

note that many creative leaders are seen as primarily responsible for providing assistance to 

ensure that creative environments are filled with creative behaviours. Strong creative leaders 

therefore tend to show higher capacities for motivating others and skills in improving levels of 

collaboration and contribution (Mainemelis et al., 2015). 

Integrating is the third context in which creative leadership is utilised (Mainemelis et al., 

2015). Integration is a process in which certain actions are taken in order to involve others or 

even meld multiple ideas and notions together (Basadur, 2004; Roffe, 1999). Integration is the 

aspect of creative leadership which primarily emphasises the specific creative leader’s capability 

to combine, incorporate, and unify their own personal ideas with a multitude of creative ideas 

from other employees and individuals (Mainemelis et al., 2015). In relation to directing and 

facilitating, a comparison can be made that there is much more stability in integration and a 

sense of balance can be established. Mainemelis et al. (2015) state that this balance occurs 

between the proportions of the leader’s and follower’s creativity and their individual 

contributions within the integrating setting. Within the integrating context, there are many 

positives as it is common for all individuals to gain deserved recognition for their personal 

contributions (Mainemelis et al., 2015). In order to consider creative leadership successful 

within this specific setting, the leader has to be capable of bringing other individuals’ creative 

ideas together (Mainemelis et al., 2015). 

Certain traits and behaviours are seen as being associated with good creative leadership – 

these include competencies, behaviours, and personal qualities (Mainemelis et al., 2015). The 

competencies of a good creative leader are having expertise in the field, being able to think 

creatively, being able to manage creative processes effectively, being aware of and 

acknowledging complexity, and being emotionally intelligent (Mainemelis et al., 2015). The 

behaviours of a good creative leader are offering support, assigning goals, providing effective 

monitoring, evaluation, and feedback, encouraging play, empowering employees, providing 

ethical and authentic leadership, and building networks (Mainemelis et al., 2015). A good 

creative leader will even possess relational and transformational skills which tend to focus on 



18  

building strong relationships with employees (i.e. high-quality leader-member exchange), 

providing transformation leadership, and encouraging experimentation. It is often wondered what 

the personal qualities of a creative leader are, because these qualities are viewed as determining 

how good a creative leader is (Mainemelis et al., 2015). The personal qualities of a good creative 

leader are being intelligent, being wise, having creative vision, having good communication 

skills, being involved and motivated, being able to inspire, being charismatic, being flexible, and 

being able to improvise (Mainemelis et al., 2015). 

 

 
Factors that promote or inhibit creative leadership 

 
When considering creative leadership, it is important to consider that there are factors 

which can either promote creative leadership or inhibit it as a whole. In order for there to be 

creative leadership present, Moussa et al. (2018) state that there is a need for understanding 

workplace innovation. Moussa et al. (2018) break down factors of inhibiting and promoting 

creative leadership into three parts; namely barriers, leadership behaviour/skills, and 

environmental/climate issues; these are shown in Figure 1 below. Leadership behaviour/ skills 

involve immense amounts of communication, debates, and deliberations, which ultimately 

promote creative leadership due to the healthy relationships and environments formed (Moussa 

et al., 2018). When individuals exhibit interpersonal skills and consideration for the group’s 

wellbeing, this builds factors of reliability and trust which help to foster creative leadership as it 

builds a safe space for expression (Moussa et al., 2018). As most organisations previously 

adopted the understanding that level of importance and power came structured within a 

hierarchical fashion, it is important to note that senior management still has a dominant influence 

in how creativity and creative leadership can be implemented in organisations (Puccio et al., 

2017). 

There is further substantiation of there being merit to creativity when success arises, in 

response to senior managers who are willing to explore innovative ideas and developed forms of 

working (Puccio et al., 2017). By exhibiting courage within organisations, creative leadership 

can be present through allowing for novel ideas to appear from debates and challenges around 

normative knowledge bases (Moussa et al., 2018). Creative leadership can also be fostered and 

promoted by creative leaders who motivate employees to move past obsolete strategies and to 



19  

move towards encompassing balanced risk-taking into everyday tasks (García-Granero et al., 

2015; Moussa et al., 2018). Creative leadership can further be encouraged through building 

effective understandings between the newer and older generations within the working 

environment, as well as through self-awareness (Espinoza & Ukleja, 2016; Moussa et al., 2018). 

In addition, there are certain physical conditions which may either promote or inhibit creative 

leadership. If people come into a work environment where things are calm and conducive for 

them to think properly, they are able to be more creative (Moussa et al., 2018; Plambech & Van 

Den Bosch, 2015). Peoples’ ability to exhibit creative leadership becomes hindered in 

environments where they are stagnant, highly stressed, or even restricted exclusively from 

producing original thought (Moussa et al., 2018). 

 
 

Apart from the factors may allow for creative leadership to be present in the workplace, 

there are also factors which may inhibit creative behaviour and thus creative leadership in the 

workplace. Moussa et al. (2018) wrote of the inhibiting factors of creative leadership as barriers. 

One of the barriers mentioned is that of a lack of managing conflict; conflict left unresolved can 

create hostility thus diminishing the ability to be creative (Moussa et al., 2018). Another 

important point made by Moussa et al. (2018) is that of resistance to change. Considering what 

has been previously mentioned about the rapid change of the economy and the communities due 

to the fourth industrial revolution and technological advancements, one needs to be adaptable 

and flexible to succeed. This change can be navigated well by using innovative strategies and 

thinking beyond the traditional rigid task sets, which forms part of creative leadership. 

As mentioned above there is the possibility of creative leadership being either encouraged 

or hindered within the workplace. Kremer et al. (2019) write about the best practices which 

could promote employee creativity. As this is discussed it is important to keep in mind that the 

presence of these following actions means that there is a positive drive and promotion for 

creative leadership and the absence of these actions could imply that creative leadership is 

inhibited. When management or the leadership within organisations begin to allow freedom and 

independence for their employees in everyday work, then employees feel more engaged through 

challenges, begin to develop transparent tactical goals and team structures for support, and start 

to exhibit a wide range of skills and viewpoints (Breevaart et al., 2015; Kremer et al., 2019). 



20  

Freedom within the workplace relates to contemplating what tasks one has to do and the manner 

in which to do it for oneself - this gives the employee an embedded sense of autonomy related to 

their tasks (Breevaart et al., 2015; Kremer et al., 2019; Saragih, 2015). In order for employees to 

feel valued and show creative potential, they would need to engage within certain levels of 

challenging work, which allows them to feel as if their projects are important and pushes them to 

work hard (Bhuvanaiah & Raya, 2014; Kremer et al., 2019). 

As creativity and creative leadership skills can be developed, it is important for leaders to 

provide employees with adequate encouragement to add value to the organization, complete 

successful projects, and allow them to feel more confident in their areas of work (Bhuvanaiah & 

Raya, 2014; Kremer et al., 2019). Further to this level of support, it is also feasible for there to be 

support coming from the teams in which employees work; this promotes creativity as there is 

diversity within teams and innovative conversations can be had due to different mindsets. This 

also helps to build employees’ trust between each other and with the leader (Kremer et al., 2019; 

Phong et al., 2018; Yasir et al., 2016). Another big factor to consider with regards to promoting 

creative leadership is the organisation’s involvement as a whole in relation to creativity and 

innovation. Organisations are able to encourage employees to be creative by fostering and 

promoting company cultures of creativity; these cultures revolve around reasonable and 

beneficial considerations of ideas (Ali Taha et al., 2016; Kremer et al., 2019). 

Ensuring that employees are creative and exhibit creative behaviours can be done through 

providing incentives and acknowledgement for creativity in the workplace (Charness & Grieco, 

2019; Kremer et al., 2019). In addition to this, there can be strategies put in place specifically for 

the development of innovative idea generation, for example, this can be done through having 

weekly innovation sessions where team members can discuss all their ideas openly and without 

any judgment (Kremer et al., 2019). Kremer et al. (2019) also mention that aside from leader and 

organisational support, there also needs to be adequate resources as well as no limits to the 

appropriate resources provided in order for employees to fulfil their tasks creatively. These 

resources could be in terms of knowledge bases, finances, and even facilities. In addition to all of 

this, it is also imperative to consider the amount of workload pressure that employees have. 

Creative leadership can be promoted through eradicating immensely stressful time 

constraints for completion of tasks, removing impractical outlooks on efficiency, and removing 



21  

any form of disturbances from the work environments (Kremer et al., 2019; Tuckey et al., 2015). 

As stated above, these are all factors which promote creative leadership and the absence of these 

factors could lead to the inhibition of creative leadership within workplaces. Kremer et al. 

(2019) do, however, state that an organizational culture which possesses internal political 

problems, engages in negative talk around innovation, and is disparaging in relation to 

competing with each other would cause serious barriers towards creative leadership. Based on 

this, it would be advisable for organisations to consider what they do that both promotes and 

inhibits innovation and creativity as well as what they are able to do to improve innovation and 

creativity within their organisations. 

 

 

 
 

 

 
Figure 1. Conceptual model of factors which inhibit and promote workplace innovation. (Moussa et al., 

2018, p. 236). 



22  

Within different workplaces there needs to be sufficient diversity in terms of employees 

and their individual creative behaviours (Farndale et al., 2015; Phelan & Young, 2003; Selvaraj, 

2015). Due to this, it is important to consider the understanding of creativity in the workplace. 

Phelan and Young (2003) mention that through their research, they found that there are different 

creative style preferences and levels of creative confidence. The results from their research 

showed that the creative style preference which inclined closer towards the innovator style was 

positively related to creative confidence (Phelan & Young, 2003). As a whole, creativity, 

creative behaviour, and creative leadership positions employees and their organisations to engage 

in creative and innovative thought and practice. Understanding these concepts allows for both the 

creative leader and the employee to promote a creative and healthy working environment which 

is premised on diversity and inclusivity. 

 

 

Research about perceptions of creative leadership in South Africa 

 
The Mainemelis et al. (2015) model is based on a large number of previous empirical 

studies and brings together different strands of theory and research on the topic of creative 

leadership - it also highlights the different ways in which creative leadership can be defined and 

enacted. Although the model is very comprehensive, there appears to be very little empirical 

work that has focussed on how well it captures/ represents perceptions of creative leadership in 

the South African context or on the concept of creative leadership generally (Mainemelis et al., 

2015). An anomaly to this is the research study by Mayer and Oosthuisen (2020) which had 

explored creative leadership of women leaders in the 21st century within a South African context. 

This research study focused on gaining an understanding of the current perceptions, of 

what creativity meant to them and what their experience of creativity had been, amongst this 

sample group whom came from diverse cultural backgrounds (Mayer & Oosthuisen, 2020). The 

findings from the study proposed that creativity within women leaders establishes itself when 

they are guiding creativity within higher education institutions (Mayer & Oosthuisen, 2020). The 

study proposed that this had been done whilst women leaders focused on developing the 

creativity of other people more than when they had displayed their individual creative view 

within the work of employees (Mayer & Oosthuisen, 2020). This suggested that women leaders 



23  

tended to be driven to a creative leadership style which had been quite strongly influenced by 

socio-cultural and environmental factors which is mostly context related and is neither related to 

the self or ego-driven (Mayer & Oosthuisen, 2020). 

Whilst the Mayer and Oosthuisen (2020) study does present vital points regarding 

creative leadership within the South African context, the study also places emphasis on a specific 

sample group and context, explicitly women leaders working within higher education institutes. 

Based on this, there is a requirement for further exploration of creative leaders with additional 

diverse categories of samples. This should be done to gather a fuller and improved understanding 

of how creative leadership is perceived by both employers and employees within the South 

African working populace and in varied fields of work. In addition to this it is imperative to 

gather a diversity of perspectives from individuals with key knowledge regarding creative 

leadership and individuals without this key knowledge; and to comprehend how creative 

leadership is perceived and put into practice. 

 

 

The Current Study 

 
As described above, there is in essence very minimal research that has already been 

completed regarding the perceptions and understandings of the theory and practice of creative 

leadership in the South African context. The current study therefore focused on exploring how 

creative leadership is defined and what qualities and skills are regarded as important for creative 

leaders to have in the South African context from the perspectives of employers, employees, and 

experts working in creative industries in South Africa – it also explored factors that are seen as 

promoting or inhibiting creative behaviour and whether these link to creative leadership 

(Mainemelis et al., 2015). Employers and employees are insiders who directly experience 

creative leadership therefore their perspectives can be classified as emic whereas experts have 

external knowledge and understanding of creative leadership and can thus provide an etic 

perspective (Morris et al., 1999). The study set out to add to current literature about how 

creative leadership is understood within the South African context and to offer an opportunity for 

the sample to share their opinions and perspectives regarding this progressively significant form 

of leadership. 



24  

 

 

Research Questions 

 
1. What are internal marketing specialists’/strategists (emic) and external practitioners’ 

(etic) perceptions of creative leadership? 

2. What are internal marketing specialists’/strategists (emic) and external practitioners’ 

(etic) perceptions of what it means to be a creative leader? 

3. What factors are perceived as promoting creative behaviour in the workplace and how are 

these seen as linking to creative leadership? 

4. What factors are perceived as inhibiting creative behaviour in the workplace and how are 

these seen as linking to creative leadership? 

5. What is viewed as good creative leadership from an emic and an etic perspective? 



25  

Chapter 2 

Methodology 

 

Research design 

 
This design for this research project was an emergent, qualitative research design (Fossey 

et al., 2002). Within the qualitative research process, whilst conducting research there is always 

the possibility that different ideas and concepts may arise (Fossey et al., 2002; Hesse-Biber & 

Leavy, 2010). Therefore, an emergent research design is important to consider, as it relates to the 

ability to adjust to emerging ideas, concepts, and findings that arise during the research process 

(Fossey et al., 2002; Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2010). Throughout the research process, a reflection 

was done in relation to emerging elements of the data from the research study. This specific 

research design was deemed as suiting the study well as it looks to acquire knowledge on the 

social and personal perceptions of a phenomenon from the participants and to obtain their unique 

understandings and experiences (Fossey et al., 2002). Qualitative research is also useful as it 

allows for additional information to be gained on a topic which can provide detail about more 

difficult and sensitive concepts (Queirós et al., 2017). This research study was also 

phenomenological as it considered the experiences of creative leadership for the participants 

through their perspectives of the topic (Vagle, 2018).  

This research was also based in the interpretive paradigm (Fossey et al., 2002). The 

interpretive paradigm is based on the understanding that the reality within society is not based on 

objectivity or concrete knowledge; instead it proposes that societal reality is formed around the 

multitude of experiences held by people (Scotland, 2012; Willis et al., 2007). Based on the 

understanding of this paradigm, it is noted that the collection of the research participants’ 

understandings on the subject matter should be done (Willis et al., 2007). The study explored 

subjective perceptions and focussed on explaining the data in-depth – the aim was to provide a 

true reflection of the participants’ understandings and experiences of the topic (Fossey et al., 

2002). An issue in the interpretive paradigm is that the researcher’s subjectivity may obscure the 

interpretation and understanding of the data gathered from participants - this potential issue was 

considered when the data was being analysed (Fossey et al., 2002). When analysing the data, I 

had considered the potential issue of subjectivity by verifying the responses from participants 

using direct quotes, in order to validate the legitimacy of my interpretation of the responses. 



26 

 

Within any research study, there must be consideration given to the potential strengths 

and limitations of the research approach (Queirós et al., 2017). As interviews were conducted for 

the participants, it allowed for them to explain in more detail certain concepts as well as ask 

clarifying questions to answer appropriately. This form of research also allows for less expensive 

methods to gain the information through data collection (Queirós et al., 2017). During the 

analysis process in qualitative research, a limitation of complexity of analysis can be noted; 

converting information into standardized concepts can become difficult (Queirós et al., 2017). 

Another limitation of qualitative research is that it is more time consuming, for example, 

transcribing the information from the interviews takes quite a while as well as personally 

meeting each candidate for the interviews (Queirós et al., 2017). It is also important to keep in 

mind that qualitative research is not generalizable – the findings from the study cannot be 

assumed to apply widely to other people (Nicholls, 2017). 

 

 
Sample and sampling 

 
Within this research study, ten individuals who engage in creative work were selected 

and volunteered to be interviewed. This group represented two types of perspectives – emic 

(individuals working in creative job roles as either an employer or an employee) and etic 

(individuals with expertise on the topic of creative leadership). The emic group consisted of four 

employees and three managers working as marketing specialists and strategists. The etic group 

consisted of three leadership specialists with expertise in creative leadership. All of the 

individuals who participated were volunteers and were over the age of 18 – there were no 

restrictions on the basis of gender, race, or ethnicity. Practical considerations were taken into 

consideration when determining the sample size for this research study, such as time constraints 

as well as proximity of participants, therefore the sample size did not encapsulate the full extent 

of exploring this topic. 

The breakdown of the main characteristics of the sample shows that the sample group 

was quite diverse. There were ten participants who were interviewed for this research study. 

Participant 1 was an Indian male who is 45, his home language is English, and he is the 

marketing lead of a pharmaceutical company with four years of experience within this field. His 



27 

 

main tasks carried out as part of his role are developing and implementing marketing and sales 

strategies and tactics for promoted brands, training and developing marketers, managing sales 

force effectiveness functions, and managing data analytics functions. Participant 2 was an Indian 

female in her early 50’s, her home language is English, and she is the managing director of a 

marketing company which she had founded with nine years of experience within this field. Her 

main tasks carried out as part of her job are leadership, management, strategy, and operational 

tasks. 

Participant 3 was a black male who is 55, his home language is Shona, and he is the head 

of marketing and sales in his organisation with two-and-a-half years of experience within this 

field. His main tasks carried out within this role are strategy creation, strategy implementation, 

people development, organisational profit and loss, business development, and key opinion 

leaders’ relationships. Participant 4 was a white female who is 60, her home language is English, 

and she is the head of learning and development within her organisation with eighteen months of 

experience within her current role. Her main tasks carried out as part of her job are strategic 

development, global collaboration on curriculum, and operational drive of bespoke programmes 

for empowerment. 

Participant 5 was an Indian male who is 36, his home language is English, and he is the 

managing director within his organisation with three years of experience within the field of 

strategy. The main tasks he carries out as part of his job are managing all consulting activities, 

marketing within the organisation, sales function management, as well as brand and media 

management. Participant 6 was an Indian male who is 34, his home language is English, and he 

is the managing director of a training organisation with four years of experience within the field 

of strategy. The main tasks he carries out as part of his job are managing shareholders, company 

strategic directions, management of the company in achieving its goals and objectives, 

stakeholder engagement, and day-to-day operations. 

Participant 7 was a black female who is 37, her home language is Zulu, and she is a brand 

manager for her organisation with three years of experience within the field of marketing. Her 

main tasks carried out as part of her job are sales forecasting, managing the deliverance of 

budget, promotional material on brands, and strategy formulation. Participant 8 was an Indian 

male who is 31, his home language is English, and he is a design engineer within his 



28 

 

organisation with thirteen years of experience within the field of strategy. The main tasks that he 

carries out as part of his job are mechanical and structural design, project management, AR/VR 

development, design office management, and staff coaching and development. 

Participant 9 was an Indian female who is 55, her home language is English, and she is a 

leadership facilitator and coach of a training institution with thirty years of experience within the 

field of leadership training. Her main tasks carried out as part of her job are leadership executive 

development, executive coaching, executive team coaching, and leadership transformation 

interventions. Participant 10 was an Indian male who is 50, his home language is English, and he 

is a strategy executive with seven years of experience within the field of strategy. The main tasks 

he carries out as part of his job are developing business plans, formulating the unique service 

offerings of the business, and co-ordinating the implementation of the required actions. 

As most of the literature is European-based, interviewing these individuals based in 

South Africa allowed for a more detailed understanding of creative leadership within the South 

African context. The sample size was viewed as appropriate as keeping the sample size small 

allowed the researcher to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the data and to analyse 

the data collected in more depth (Ritchie et al., 2013). 

The sample was gathered using non-probability, purposive sampling, as well as 

convenience sampling (volunteers) and snowball sampling (Emerson, 2015). Email invitations 

were sent to individuals who met the inclusion criteria and these individuals were asked to 

volunteer to participate in the study. In addition, the individuals approached were asked to 

identify whether or not they knew of anyone else who was suitable for the study and to approach 

that person/ those people to ask if they would be willing to contact the researcher if they were 

interested and willing to participate. 



29  

Table 1 

 
Participant Demographics 

 
 

Participant Job Role Gender Age Race 

Participant 1 Marketing 

Specialist 

Male 45 Indian 

 

Participant 2 

 

Marketing 

Specialist 

 

Female 

 

50 

 

Indian 

 

Participant 3 

 

Marketing 

Specialist 

 

Male 

 

55 

 

Black 

 

Participant 4 

 

Leadership 

Specialist 

 

Female 

 

60 

 

White 

 

Participant 5 

 

Strategist 

 

Male 

 

36 

 

Indian 

 

Participant 6 

 

Leadership 

Specialist 

 

Male 

 

34 

 

Indian 

 

Participant 7 

 

Strategist 

 

Female 

 

37 

 

Black 

 

Participant 8 

 

Strategist 

 

Male 

 

31 

 

Indian 

 

Participant 9 

 

Leadership 

Specialist 

 

Female 

 

55 

 

Indian 

 

Participant 10 

 

Strategist 

 

Male 

 

50 

 

Indian 



30  

Data collection 

 
For this research study, semi-structured interviews were conducted as the method of data 

collection (Drever, 1995). Interviews allowed the researcher to gain a detailed account of the 

participant’s social world and a better understanding of the participants’ point of views (Ritchie 

et al., 2013). Within the context of interviews, the researcher becomes a co-participant in the 

study as the nature of an interview is conversational and the researcher becomes a developer of 

understanding as well (Ritchie et al., 2013). This also adds to the creation of new truths through 

the conversation (Ritchie et al., 2013). The researcher is also able to pick up non-verbal signs 

from the participant as well as their emotions and behaviours, which provides further insight 

(Ritchie et al., 2013). The interviews in the study further followed a semi-structured format 

which allowed for flexibility in asking additional questions dependent on the participants’ 

responses (Drever, 1995). The interview schedule (please see Appendix 6) was self-developed 

based on existing literature and the interviews were audio-recorded. 

The interview schedule included topics such as defining workplace creativity, 

determining what creative leadership was thought to be, and discussing qualities which were 

seen as important for creative leadership. The perceived importance of creative leadership in 

certain workspaces was looked at and the ways in which creative behaviours were thought to be 

encouraged or discouraged were also asked. The questions asked allowed the researcher to gauge 

ideas about ways in which to develop creative leadership skills and techniques to encourage 

creativity as well as the effectiveness of different management styles in a creative environment. 

Sources of inspiration in the workplace as well as perceived factors which allow for or inhibit 

creativity were also explored. 

As the sample population for this research study included both employees and managers 

to gather an understanding of perspectives on creative leadership from an emic point of view and 

leadership specialists to gather perspectives from an etic point of view, questions were slightly 

tailored according to this. The questions for the leadership specialists were directed to their 

experiences and the literature they had come across. The interview schedule for this group 

therefore also included questions that looked at the perceived link between the theory and 

practice of creative leadership as well as questions regarding the relevance of the literature 



31  

available. The leadership specialists were further asked whether they believed creative leadership 

should be developed from the literature available, workplace training, or both interchangeably. 

As the interviews were semi-structured, it is important to note that throughout the process 

of asking the interview questions there was information raised which supplemented the data 

(Drever, 1995). This additional information allowed for additional questions to be asked in 

regard to the new information provided and further insight to be gained into the topic (Kvale, 

1994). An important point to note within qualitative research is that the researcher is also an 

instrument within the study itself, specifically the researcher is the primary instrument of 

interpretation (Pillow, 2003). Due to this, a reflexive journal and an audit trail were kept 

throughout the study in order to allow the researcher to better identify with the research process 

and to better understand the data (Pillow, 2003). The reflexive journal specifically was important 

to the research process as this allowed for credibility and transferability to be established (Pillow, 

2003). 

 

 
Procedure 

 
At the start of the study, ethical clearance was obtained from the University of the 

Witwatersrand Human Research Ethics Committee (non-medical) (protocol number: 

MORG/19/004 IH - please refer to Appendix 7). Once ethical clearance was obtained, an email 

invitation (please see Appendix 1) was sent out to individuals identified by the researcher as 

fitting the criteria for the sample with a full participant information sheet attached (please see 

Appendix 2). These individuals were asked to volunteer to participate in the study and were also 

asked to identify whether or not they knew anyone else who might be suitable for the study and 

to approach that person/ those people to ask if they would be willing to contact the researcher if 

they were interested and willing to participate. This process continued until the sample was 

obtained. 

After it was known which individuals were willing to participate, an interview place and 

time was determined. The setting in which each interview was conducted was quiet, private, 

comfortable, safe, secure, and accessible for both the researcher and the participant. The 

interviews lasted approximately forty-five minutes to an hour per participant. The first interview 



32  

with a participant in each group was used as a pilot interview to check that appropriate data was 

collected and that the interview schedule was effective (Kim, 2011). The interviews were audio- 

recorded once the participant provided consent for this. 

As the interview process started, it was important for the researcher to introduce herself 

and to do her best to put the participants at ease. A hard copy of the participant information sheet 

(please see Appendix 2) was given to the participant along with a consent form (please see 

Appendix 3) and a consent for recording form (please see Appendix 4). The researcher then 

asked the participants to read through this information and made sure that they understood all of 

the information before asking them to sign the consent forms if they agreed to participate in the 

study. It was important that the researcher kept a copy of these forms and the participant also 

received a copy. The researcher then asked the participant to complete a short demographic 

questionnaire (please see Appendix 5) and then the actual interviews began. The recording 

device was switched on once the researcher asked if the participant was ready to begin and they 

confirmed that they were. 

Throughout the interview, a good interview style was maintained. Typically, a good 

interview style involves using prompts to gather further information and to develop discussions 

and good rapport with the participant to ensure honest and full answers during the interview 

(Drever, 1995). Participants were made aware that if they did not understand any question that 

was asked, they were free to ask for the question to be repeated or even clarified. Once the 

interview was completed, the researcher then asked the participant if they had any questions and 

allowed them to give any additional comments on the subject matter that they felt was important 

and that might not have been raised. Participants were further reminded that they could contact 

the researcher once the research was concluded if they would like to obtain a brief summary of 

the findings or if they had any further questions. Once all interviews were complete, the audio 

recordings from each interview were transcribed. After all the data was transcribed, the data 

analysis commenced. 



33  

Ethical considerations 

 
In order to ensure that the welfare of the participants was protected (Halai, 2006), the 

researcher obtained clearance for the study from the University of the Witwatersrand Human 

Research Ethics Committee (non-medical) (protocol number: MORG/19/004 IH - please refer to 

Appendix 7). Safe, secure, private, accessible, quiet, and neutral locations that were accessible to 

both the researcher and the participant were used for the interviews. In addition to this, there 

were no foreseeable risks involved in the study and no direct benefits for participating (Halai, 

2006). 

To ensure that there was informed consent, participants were briefed and given a detailed 

participant information sheet (please see Appendix 2). This participant information sheet 

included an explanation of the purpose of the study, the participants’ rights within the study, the 

option of withdrawing from the study at any point, as well as information about how the data 

would be stored and used and confidentiality (Guillemin & Gillam, 2004). The participants were 

also asked to sign a consent form to participate (please see Appendix 3) and a consent form to 

record the interview (please see Appendix 4). The interviews only commenced once the forms 

have been signed and participants were able to choose whether they wished to do this or not 

(Halai, 2006). 

The third principle that was considered in this study was confidentiality and anonymity of 

participants (Halai, 2006). In this study, it was not possible for participants to be anonymous to 

the researcher however they were assured that their identity would be kept strictly confidential 

and that pseudonyms would be used when the data was reported. The original recordings of the 

data were further stored securely and were only able to be accessed by the researcher and her 

supervisor, and the transcripts did not contain any identifying information for the participant. 

For debriefing and feedback (Gardner, 2013), at the end of the interview the participant 

was provided with an opportunity to ask any questions or give any additional information they 

would like to. Participants were also told that if they would like feedback, they could contact the 

researcher for a brief summary of the findings once the study was complete. They were 

additionally informed that they could contact the researcher if they had any questions or would 

like further information, and contact details for the researcher and her supervisor as well as the 

Ethics Committee were given in the participant information sheet. 



34  

The last principle is protection of the data - all data collected was stored safely so as to 

ensure that the information obtained remained private (Abowd & Lane, 2004). For this study, the 

original recordings were stored in a secure location and were only be able to be accessed by the 

researcher. The transcripts, which did not contain any identifying information, were stored 

securely on a password-protected computer and were only be able to be accessed by the 

researcher and supervisor. 

 

 
Data analysis 

 
The data from this research study was analysed using thematic analysis, specifically 

Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis method. Thematic analysis involves analysing data 

in a manner which categorizes and codes the data into themes to understand the latent meanings 

of the data collected (Braun & Clark, 2006; Joffe & Yardley, 2004). Thematic analysis involves 

certain steps which are included within the process of analysis in order to thoroughly analyse the 

data (Braun & Clarke, 2006). There were six main steps within the process of thematic analysis 

that were followed – these steps flow into each other but were done in a systematic order. 

The first step was for the researcher to familiarise herself with the data - understanding 

the data as well as the information in the study and literature is important (Braun & Clarke, 

2006). This step consisted of initially transcribing the data, reading over it, and, in some 

instances, re-reading the information as well as making notes of various thoughts (Braun & 

Clarke, 2006). The second step was to generate initial codes by developing codes from the data 

gathered in the study (Braun & Clarke, 2006). All similar codes which are generated were 

grouped together. The third step in the analysis was searching for themes - during this step the 

codes that were formulated in the previous step were grouped into potential themes and all 

relevant data was put into the respective themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The fourth step was to 

review the data which was categorised within the previously determined themes (Braun & 

Clarke, 2006). During this review, the themes were checked to see if they fitted with the coded 

information obtained. From this, a thematic representation of the analysis was developed (Braun 

& Clarke, 2006). Comparisons and inferences are usually made during this step of analysis (Joffe 

& Yardley, 2004). 



35  

The fifth step of the analysis process was defining and naming the specific themes (Braun 

& Clarke, 2006). During this step, analysis was continuous in order to improve every theme that 

was developed. In addition, definitions for each theme were generated and names were created 

for each theme (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The sixth and last step was to produce the report. In this 

step, there was a last opportunity to analyse the information and examples that were captivating 

and rich (Braun & Clarke, 2006). During this specific step, the analysis of the data was related 

back to the research questions and the literature and understandings and interpretations of the 

data were concluded (Braun & Clarke, 2006). A detailed report was then produced within the 

results and discussion chapter of this research report, in relation to all the information gathered 

from the interviews. 

Throughout the process of analysing the data gathered from the interviews and comparing 

the themes created to the literature, it was noted there were connections between these two 

sources of information. It was found that there were also quite a lot of commonalities with 

reference to the participants’ responses. In addition to this, there was some new information 

arising around the perceived ideas of creative leadership from the participants which had not 

been included within the literature. 



36  

Chapter 3 
 

Results and Discussion 
 

 

 

 

Overview of the chapter 

 
The overall aim of the study was to explore emic and etic perspectives of creative 

leadership; the perspectives were obtained from marketing specialists and strategists (emic 

perspectives) and leadership specialists (etic perspectives). Thematic analysis was used in order 

to find themes within the research; the results from these themes have been provided and are 

followed by a discussion of each theme in the chapter that follows. 

Themes 

 
A few themes materialised from the qualitative data that had been gathered from 

participants’ responses through the interview process. The five main themes which emerged 

were: (1) Perceptions of creative leadership, (2) Importance of creative leadership in the 

workplace, (3) Factors promoting creative behaviour in the workplace, (4) Factors inhibiting 

creative behaviour in the workplace, and (5) Perceptions of good creative leadership. 

These themes addressed the main research questions in the study and provided relevant 

information regarding perceptions of creative leadership in the sample. Overall, even though the 

participants described creative leadership differently, there were also many similarities that 

emerged from the responses. 

 

 

Theme 1: Perceptions of creative leadership 

 
The information for this theme was drawn from the questions in the interview schedule that 

related to what makes a good creative leader, what sorts of qualities one would expect to see in a 

creative leader, and the possibility of being a creative leader in the participants’ respective work 

environments, as well as what creative leadership is and the development of creative leadership 

skills. In the interviews, all participants expressed that creative leadership is a positive form of 



37  

leadership within organisations. Most participants attributed creative leadership being present to 

the individual characteristics of a person however they also felt that it was mediated by the 

environment. 

 

 

Sub-theme 1.1: Defining creative leadership 

 
In the sample, creative leadership was spoken about in relation to what a creative leader 

can personally do for the people they are leading and the way in which they do it was seen as 

extremely important. Creative leadership was also spoken about as upholding a sense of 

authenticity and being oneself within an environment as well as creating spaces for employees to 

be able to be authentic at work. The domain of creative leadership was also spoken of as one 

which moves away from a managerial, hierarchical structure and towards an environment that 

fosters leadership within different individuals in the organization. Creative leadership was seen 

as moving away from convention and norms and thinking ‘out of the box’, as well as engaging 

with employees on different levels i.e. professional and personal. Participant six used an analogy 

to give insight into what a good creative leader looks like and mentioned that a good creative 

leader should be comfortable with ambiguity in order to deal with changes, 

“…we are flying the plane as we are building it and that is a good measure of what a 

creative leader could and should look like, there is a great sense of ambiguity that a good 

leader needs to be comfortable with…” (Participant 6). 

According to Participant 4, creative leadership is when a leader helps remove obstacles for 

whoever reports to them, removes bureaucratic barriers within the organization, and helps 

employees feel as if their contributions are seen as important to the organization; this form of 

leadership closely considers “novel” approaches to implementing innovative solutions to 

processes. Participant 3 also highlighted that engaging employees is important: 

“…the ability to understand what makes umm your work environment more conducive in 

order to engage, to get more engaged employees to also improve productivity, that for me 

is the cornerstone of what I believe creative leadership should be focusing on.” 

(Participant 3). 



38  

This perspective fits well with the idea of creative leadership as encouraging others to be 

creative and developing supportive environments and spaces for contribution (Gong et al., 2009; 

Mainemelis et al., 2015; Martins & Terblanche, 2003). This aspect of creative leadership was 

highlighted by multiple participants. 

Participant 10 spoke about creative leadership being about removing traditional hierarchical 

functions within work environments and moving away from rigid management structures and 

rigid roles of employees as well as making employees feel as if they are a part of a creative, 

inventor situation, premised on the conceptualisation of original thought. Participant 6 spoke 

about creative leadership in terms of the leader specifically; creative leadership was seen as a 

leader who creates an environment where creativity is encouraged. Participant 9 spoke about 

creative leaders as controllers in terms of what they can pro