Is creativity a bad trait for a senior leader?

This question posted at Strategy + Business, organ of mega-consultant Booz & Company. Answer given: Yes.

Summarizing a study published December 2010 in Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, the s+b article concludes thus:

Because of conflicting stereotypes about creativity and leadership, stakeholders prefer the prototype of a leader they see as fostering a stable and secure environment. However, creative people who are also charismatic stand a better chance of advancing.

I'd speculate that anyone charismatic, whether creative or not, stands a better chance of advancing. Dropping the common denominator we're left with the notion that creativity and leadership fitness are not perceived to mix.

A vexing notion for creative types like yours truly. But one my experience confirms. A few years after starting my own agency, I came to realize I needed a partner to run the business while I ran the shop. In my mind's eye this partner was a grown-up, a buttoned-down type, a steady hand who could keep the business from flipping over the guardrail. I was still looking for a partner when the business encountered the hairpin curve of the 2008 economy. Crash, burn, learn.

Of course businesses need creative types, innovators, visionaries – but don't often put them in charge. No coincidence that most religious texts portray their prophets in the range from man out of time to raving loon. There have always been polymaths that synthesize creativity and dependability at the helm. Steve Jobs, Thomas Jefferson, Hannibal Smith. At least one of these men is fictional. And I'd guess that the others, beneath their legend, had unheralded hands guiding the administration of the principal's vision. A benefit, no doubt, of their charisma.