In an era defined by rapid technological change, cultural diversity, and global uncertainty, leadership and creativity have become two of the most essential capacities for future global leaders. This course seeks to cultivate students’ abilities to lead and create, recognizing that leadership provides the conditions for creativity to flourish, while creativity gives leadership its transformative power.

The course offers foundational perspectives on leadership, creativity, and innovation, drawing on contemporary theories of influence, power, and creative processes. We also examine the psychological mechanisms that underpin leadership and creativity, with particular attention to topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), emotions, collective dynamics within teams and organizations. These analytical foundations provide students with a common conceptual language for understanding how leading with creativity operates in practice.

The course also situates leadership and creativity within Chinese culture, history, and philosophy, highlighting how Chinese intellectual traditions offer distinctive insights. These perspectives are subsequently placed in dialogue with influential leadership theories and practices from other cultural contexts, including Western approaches as well as perspectives from diverse global regions.

By the end of the course, students will have developed a nuanced and integrative framework for leading with creativity, one that is informed by Chinese intellectual traditions, enriched by comparative analysis, and grounded in modern scientific evidence.