When IBM recently polled 1,500 CEOs across 60 countries, they rated creativity as the most important leadership competency.Eighty percent of the CEOs said the business environment is growing so complex that it literally demands new ways of thinking. Less than 50 percent said they believed their organizations were equipped to deal effectively with this rising complexity. Fortunately, even if our work environments are not as accommodating as they could be, we as individuals have the power to train our own creativity, the same way we would any muscle.

Meet Robert, a managing director at a leading investment bank. Robert is financially successful, has three thriving children,, and is greatly admired professionally. He devotes a significant amount of his personal time to mentoring and recruiting new talent. and he is a loving father. He coaches his children’s’ little league teams and takes them out for breakfast every Saturday morning. He’s also a dutiful son, spending the rest of his free time caring for his ailing father. All around, Robert is a remarkable human being.