Next course starts 10 April 2025

Fees

Regular Fee: £1200

Location

Location: Battersea campus
2 days in person
Day 1: 10 April 2025 (10am – 5pm BST)
Day 2: 11 April 2025 (10am – 5pm BST)

Watch the course introduction video

Creative Leadership is not only a strategy, it's a transformational process, in which individuals tap into their inner creativity, connecting with others towards realising collective vision and goals for projects.

The term ‘creative leadership’ has gained traction over the last decade, often associated with a style of leadership that encourages creativity in devising new business strategies and models, in organisational development and change management, in building environments and teams that use creative processes to innovate products and services. In the creative industries, ‘creative leadership’ is synonymous with visionary thinking and pioneering approaches.

The Creative Leadership model underpinning this Masterclass is framed around three core values - Empathy, Clarity and Creativity, stemming from over 30 years of work and industry engagement by the RCA’s Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design (HHCD) - a global leader in inclusive design. The HHCD’s model of Creative Leadership evolves the worldview, values, methods and processes that are inherent in inclusive design – to improve life for individuals, organisations, and society at large. Working alongside companies such as Northumbrian Water Group, this course allows participants to "develop their creativity and learn about inclusive design and innovation in a supportive and challenging environment using real business issues as stimulus." - Jennie Collingwood, Head of Marketing and External Communications, Northumbrian Water.

Empathy is a must have quality for the 21st century leader. It is a core principle of inclusive design, ensuring that solutions to challenges actively seek to incorporate the needs of diverse groups and unheard voices. Led by Dr Chris McGinley, the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design’s Age & Diversity Lead, a Reader in Inclusive Design and expert in Design and Empathy, this section of the course will explore practical applications of empathy through case studies and tools developed at the Centre over 30 years.

Clarity, is the link that aligns vision, direction, and communication. It builds on the well established Design Thinking double-diamond innovation process, to capitalise on the designer’s ability to discern and extract value for multiple stakeholders in complex situations, oftentimes with conflicting agendas and priorities. Led by Dr Ninela Ivanova, Innovation Fellow leading HHCD’s business impact, this element of the course will offer tools and processes to arrive at a shared understanding of purpose and vision for impact.

Everyone has untapped creativity and leadership potential. Over the years we have worked with technology, utility, and civil service amongst others, to bring creative and design-led approaches to leadership across a variety of functions - from design management and creative direction, through HR and talent development, to inclusive innovation and organisational transformation. This course will offer real-world case studies of Creative Leadership in action, and presents a welcoming and safe space to explore creative approaches to delegates’ own leadership style and projects.

The RCA’s Creative Leadership Masterclass will take you through these three leadership values, showing you how to engage and up-skill. It is for people at various stages of their leadership development who are seeking more empathic, people-centred and creative approaches.

About the course

Course structure

Day 1

Creative Leadership: a new model for 21st-century leadership

Theory and definitions
Research, values, applications

The values of Creative Leadership (part 1)

Empathy
Case studies
Group workshop activities
Introduction to CL tools
Guest Speaker talk

Day 2

The values of Creative Leadership (part 2)

Disclaimer: The information given is accurate at the time of publication, however, the RCA reserves the right to amend the described course as circumstances dictate.

Personal and organisational benefits

The benefits to you and your organisation include:

the opportunity to develop and apply the core RCA Creative Leadership attributes and processes
strategies to cultivate your individual leadership profile using empathy, clarity and creativity
access to world-class expertise at the Royal College of Art’s new flagship Research & Innovation facility
interaction and networking with peers from different industries and job functions
a RCA certificate of attendance.

What will you learn?

You will learn to:

practice Creative Leadership on an individual and collective level
apply the attributes, tools and frameworks of Creative Leadership in your personal and professional development
recognise and address the need for Empathy, Clarity and Creativity in your interactions with colleagues, clients and partners
understand the value of these leadership attributes in ideation, research and project delivery.

How will you learn?

Learning takes place over 2 days in person, participants get taught as a group and work in smaller teams.

The course includes:

lectures / building blocks
Individual and group activities
feedback from facilitators
resources, e.g. journal articles, videos and case studies.
Creative Leadership Tools (worksheet templates)
Lunch and refreshments

Who should attend?

This course is highly suited to:

chief design officers
mid-to-senior level management
in-house R&D teams
business developers
sales, marketing and design teams
entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs
anyone from the creative industries
talent consultants
traditional services e.g. finance, accounting, IT, law etc
government and civil service
essential services
public sector and NGOs.

On campus delivery

This course will be delivered face-to-face at our new flagship building in Battersea.

Covid-19

Our planning incorporates the latest Government guidance as well as consideration of how best to ensure a safe and inclusive learning space for participants and staff team.

Our participants health, wellbeing and quality of experience while attending our on-campus courses is paramount to us.

Full details of the Covid safe guidelines in place for the course will be provided to you in advance of your start date with your welcome information.

Disclaimer: Change to online delivery

It may be necessary due to Covid-19 restrictions to change the mode of delivery to live online. We will endeavour to notify all participants in advance of any changes, no later than two weeks before the course start date.

Terms & conditions apply.

“The Creative Leadership course was absolutely fantastic and will provide me with some invaluable skills that I will use for the rest of my career.”
Jessica Horton, Senior Design Lead, CNWL NHS Foundation Trust October 2024 participant
“The RCA’s Creative Leadership course is engaging, inclusive and inspiring. Over two days, the fantastic team created an environment where everyone can be a creative. And by the end, you truly believe that with empathy, clarity and creativity, we can change the world for the better.”
Jillian Kay, Corporate Director, Wellbeing, BCP Council October 2024 participant
“The Creative Leadership course is a must-do course for anyone in leadership or anyone who wants to be able to recognise good leadership. It will challenge your thinking around the importance of empathy, clarity and creativity working together, as well as giving wisdom on maintaining healthy boundaries when it comes to empathy to avoid burnout.”
Kate Russell, BS&T Digital, Senior Creative Lead March 2024 participant
“The Creative Leadership course was a great introduction into the inner thinkings of what it takes to become a creative leader in today's world. As technology changes, people remain human and we must treat each other as such. The course is a gateway to unlocking the necessary traits, of which we all possess, for a creative leader.”
Greg Gilfillan, Global Creative Lead at PwC 2023 participant
“Captivating delivery of powerful values of empathy and clarity, encouraging the injection of love and joy into projects and business. Riding the crest of inclusivity and humanising the world around us, Creative Leadership at the RCA provides an essential toolkit for work/life.”
Rob Finch, Creative Consultant at Liberty 2023 participant
“Creative Leadership is the leadership course for those who don't like leadership courses. No pseudo-science, popular frameworks or metrics here: just a clear focus on real leadership through empathy, clarity and creativity - all learned together through activities and conversations.”
Alex Moseley, Head of Learning and Teaching at Anglia Ruskin University 2022 participant
“This is an excellent course where we become part of a global classroom to understand what are the hallmarks of the leaders we all need - and need to be - to change the world for the better. I absolutely loved it!”
Rachel Auty, Director & Engagement Strategist at Raucous Agency Ltd 2021 participant
“It was amazing to be led by the actual academics shaping and pushing forward this work - to have access to their knowledge and experience in the moment really enhanced the course and made the content feel alive and important but also implementable day to day.”
Sarah Robertson, Director of Communications & Special Projects at Bristol Beacon/Clore Leadership 2021 participant
“If you are looking for a fresh mindset for creative leadership, rather than a fixed set of processes and tools, this is the class for you.”
Ann-Kristin Delfmann, Head of UX and Design at Nomoko 2021 participant

Course Leader

Ninela heads the Inclusive Design for Business Impact area at The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, looking at how the methods, tools and processes of Inclusive Design, Design Thinking and Creative Leadership can directly impact and transform business and industry.

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Course Leader

Chris is an award-winning people-centred designer, researcher and writer with over fifteen years of experience on a broad range of projects in inclusive design, which have been successfully commercialised, exhibited and disseminated internationally.

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