Today’s most famous leaders are innovative, creative, and think outside the box.

We look at someone like Steve Jobs, for example, the most creative leader of all time. Jobs thought of a unique and crazy idea that had never been thought of before, and even though some may have said his idea was absolutely insane, he went ahead with it anyway.  During this day and age, leaders need to be more innovative than ever.

So how do you become a creative leader? How do you know if your crazy idea is more than just a crazy idea?

The answer is… you don’t. Being a great creative leader means following your heart and doing what makes sense to you. If you believe something will be successful, then work at it until it is. The road to success will never be perfect, you will fail and you will succeed, but that’s just a part of life.

Jim Carrey one of the most eccentric actors of all time recently told a story about his father, and this story can teach all of us a very valuable lesson. Carrey talked about his father and how he always wanted to be a comedian but settled for a “safe” job as an accountant. Carrey’s father didn’t love his accounting job, but it was a stable job that put food on the table so he stuck with it. When Carrey was twelve, his father was let go from his “safe” job, and the whole family had to do everything they could to survive. At the end of Carrey’s speech he says, “I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”

In order to be a creative leader, you don’t have to be the best; you just have to be willing to go first. You have to be willing to take a chance on your idea and your vision. Once you believe in your idea and your vision, the next step is to get others to believe in it as well. These people are your followers, and they will do wonders for you. Your followers are the ones that are going to make your crazy idea a reality.

Steve Jobs said, “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something.” In order to be a creative leader, you must see your vision and be passionate about it. Many people will tell you that it won’t work, but all you need is a few people and yourself to believe it will.