Finding Boundless Creativity Within the Boundaries of Authority: A Creational Leadership Model

Using both a religious and secular example, this article seeks to understand the intersection between authority and creativity in leadership. A hermeneutic of semantic theory guided the analysis of the early chapters of Genesis, supporting the use of these two attributes in effective leadership. By allow- ing the world to be very good and yet not perfect, God offers humanity the potential to use authority and creativity in a way that reflects His own character. The prohibition that God establishes enhances rather than hinders humanity’s potential for authority and creativity by framing a context for these at- tributes to grow. Additionally, the contemporary leadership analysis suggests the importance of under- standing how authority, power, creativity, and freedom are associated with both leadership and follow- ership. Here, again, the literature suggests that a boundary marking authority is needed for the fullest expression of creativity to occur. The question naturally arises as to what occurs when there are vary- ing levels of authority and creativity in an organizational context. These varying levels result in the development of a model of leadership that seeks to understand the dimensions of Order and Freedom in four typologies measuring the degree of authority and creativity in organizational contexts and rec- ommends a greater balance between authority and creativity for both leadership and followership.