Manage Self, Lead Others: Emotional Intelligence and Leadership for Managers

Leslie Grandy, author of ''Creative Velocity'', helps leaders unlock creativity when the clock is ticking, the budget is tight, and half the team says they are “not creative.” In this episode, you’ll hear how to build creative velocity with AI as a thinking partner, and how to stop innovation getting trapped in silos, expert bias, and status-quo habits. If your organisation wants fresh ideas that actually land with customers and employees, this conversation will give you practical frameworks you can use immediately.   ⁠Experience our episodes in a whole new way. Watch every video version on our YouTube⁠ channel. Subscribe now to be first to catch our next release. https://www.youtube.com/@manageselfleadotherspodcast?sub_confirmation=1   SOUNDBITES [2:14] What to do when team members say “I’m not creative” . . . and how leaders canwiden the team’s impact range. [2:44] Why creative leadership stalls in risk-averse cultures, and how silos block innovation from operations, finance, and legal. [3:50] Why embedding innovation across the whole organisation matters more in an AI-driven world . . . not just within product or marketing. [4:07] How to treat AI as a “team member” for pattern recognition, cross-industry insights, and resilient planning. [5:05] Defining “creative velocity” as fast idea generation plus human judgement to ensure meaning, value, and purpose. [6:02] How to apply critical thinking to ideas ... avoiding high-effort, low-impact pet projects and prioritising what matters. [6:47] Why resonance is the real test of innovation . . . and why AI struggles to judge lived experience and emotional relevance. [7:23] Using AI to find blind spots: unintended consequences, ripple effects, and contingency planning for emergent behaviors. [8:32] Rebuilding creative confidence (creative self-efficacy) and why creativity is a practiced skill. [9:36] How “figuring things out” becomes creativity in action . . . using imagination language to unlock inventive thinking. [11:21] A practical framework: the MacGyver mindset and the “generic parts technique” for improvisation under constraints. [12:54] Embracing constraints to spark innovation: alternative uses, resource reapplication, leverage, and not rebuilding what already exists. [14:36] Why “time, money, resources” is everyone’s constraint . . . and how to see these constraints as fuel, not a dead end. [15:40] Expert bias as a corporate Achilles heel: how long tenure can squash new voices during transformation. [17:47] Narrow thinking and cognitive fixedness: getting stuck in status quo functionality when the market needs reinvention. [18:28] The risk of becoming a reactor instead of a market leader . . . and why small turns are too slow when rules have changed. [19:41] How to work with Leslie Grandy: keynotes, corporate workshops, and an online course focused on creative frameworks and AI. [21:24] Maven course options: a free class on premortems and the Stoic “premeditation of evil” process to reduce risk, plus a paid course on breakthrough ideas with creative frameworks and AI.   LESLIE GRANDY https://maven.com/ https://www.lesliegrandy.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-grandy/     ABOUT PODCAST HOST, NINA SUNDAY Nina Sunday’s latest book, ‘’Manage Self, Lead Others: Constructive Conversations, True Self-Leadership, and Culture You Can’t Fake’’ now on Amazon - paperback or kindle. Amazon USA ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://a.co/d/3WaplI9⁠⁠⁠⁠ Amazon Australia ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.asia/d/0KwghaM⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can read any Kindle eBook on your PC, laptop or phone; you don’t need a Kindle device.  === To learn more about face-to-face training programs with Nina Sunday or one of her experienced Facilitators from Brainpower Training Pty Ltd in Australia Pacific, visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.brainpowertraining.com.au/signature-programs⁠ === Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices