The Creative Leader - Arsene Wenger
CREATIVE LEADERSHIP: IN WENGER WE TRUST
What makes a creative leader? Creativity, as an intangible quality, is difficult to describe in fundamental terms. Likewise, leadership is another virtue that cannot be easily qualified as the impacts of true leadership are far-ranging and difficult to measure. Couple these two qualities together and what you get is an exceptionally abstract concept that becomes even more challenging to qualify. However, in Leadership Without Easy Answers, Dr Ronald Heifetz of Harvard University manages to provide an in-depth analysis and description of creative leadership. Heifetz ultimately describes leadership as an activity that mobilises people and guides them towards adaptive change. What I hope to achieve is to describe creative leadership through a model example - a person who, in his everyday conduct, exemplifies the essence of creative leadership.
Arsène Wenger, OBE (Order of the British Empire), was born on 22 October 1949. He is best known as - and currently is - the manager of Arsenal Football Club, which plays in the Barclays English Premier League. What is most impressive about Wenger is that in the modern environment of football, where managers are regularly chopped and changed, he has managed to stay at the helm of Arsenal since 1996. Compared to most other clubs, Wenger has maintained in the top managerial position for 17 years; which is testament not only to the longevity of his leadership, but also to Arsenal's loyalty to its staff. I propose that Wenger possesses strong leadership qualities - many of which correlate to Heifetz's description of leadership - which earned him the respect and admiration of many peers and fans, reasons the moniker 'Le Professeur' was coined.
Heifetz defines leadership "as an activity - the activity of a citizen from any walk of life mobilising people to do something". This model of leadership would evidently apply to Wenger, whom in his occupation as the manager of a football club,
What makes a creative leader? Creativity, as an intangible quality, is difficult to describe in fundamental terms. Likewise, leadership is another virtue that cannot be easily qualified as the impacts of true leadership are far-ranging and difficult to measure. Couple these two qualities together and what you get is an exceptionally abstract concept that becomes even more challenging to qualify. However, in Leadership Without Easy Answers, Dr Ronald Heifetz of Harvard University manages to provide an in-depth analysis and description of creative leadership. Heifetz ultimately describes leadership as an activity that mobilises people and guides them towards adaptive change. What I hope to achieve is to describe creative leadership through a model example - a person who, in his everyday conduct, exemplifies the essence of creative leadership.
Arsène Wenger, OBE (Order of the British Empire), was born on 22 October 1949. He is best known as - and currently is - the manager of Arsenal Football Club, which plays in the Barclays English Premier League. What is most impressive about Wenger is that in the modern environment of football, where managers are regularly chopped and changed, he has managed to stay at the helm of Arsenal since 1996. Compared to most other clubs, Wenger has maintained in the top managerial position for 17 years; which is testament not only to the longevity of his leadership, but also to Arsenal's loyalty to its staff. I propose that Wenger possesses strong leadership qualities - many of which correlate to Heifetz's description of leadership - which earned him the respect and admiration of many peers and fans, reasons the moniker 'Le Professeur' was coined.
Heifetz defines leadership "as an activity - the activity of a citizen from any walk of life mobilising people to do something". This model of leadership would evidently apply to Wenger, whom in his occupation as the manager of a football club,