During safety instructions on an airplane, we are instructed to put mask over our own mouth first, and then on our child's. Why? The reason is simple -- if we are knocked unconscious there will be no one to look after child, putting them at greater risk than risk they face in few moments it takes to put our own mask on. The wisdom of this is readily apparent once we stop and think about it. It's also good advice to take forward into all areas of our lives.

For many years, I put needs of others first. As I evolved personally, I came to understand that it was okay - healthier, even - to put my needs equal to needs of others. In fact, it is how I now define word 'selfish', and use term 'self-centered' for someone determined to live as though world revolves around them.

We are all products of our environment and our backgrounds usually prevent us from viewing situations with unique eyes of our personal experience.

However, leaders who think "out-of-the-proverbial-box" do so by incorporating what I like to see as a, Strategically Wise Synergistic Process of Creation.

These creative thinkers apply their own kinds of action-oriented logic to problems to help them find new wisdom, discover opportunities or see facts in different ways.

In a word, truly creative types act differently, in ways that we'll call "Logical Action-Steps".

Logical Action-Step One: Achieve Understanding not Mere Reasoning

You want to find basic or underlying meanings of problems facing your group.

You could reason-out what is happening, by using your linear thinking skills to negotiate, analyze or plan your response.

For instance, you could notice that it is more chilly, by 15 degrees, this evening than it was yesterday at this same time which is certainly a reasonable observation.

Your could use your reasoning prowess to remember cooling trend of last month's temperatures and conclude that it was windier and skies much clearer [of clouds] for most of last night and today - therefore you would assume that it was those factors which contributed to a colder night tonight than it was last night.

Creative thinkers would aggressively investigate weather by:

- intensely searching for answers,

- through disillusioning or transforming their pre-conceptions,

- looking within, around and beneath conditions,

- recognizing and deeply understanding their core assumptions about weather

Logical Action-Step Two: Seek The Strategist's Viewpoint

If you're like most knowledge-workers, you probably have a fairly extensive network of friends, colleagues, and associates. Your social network has been built over time through your individual experiences, efforts and encounters.

Strategists release latent energies of their social networks through collaborative inquiries into finding new solutions, handling challenges and exploiting opportunities for transformation.

Thus by being strategist you actively look for ways to create, leverage and extend synergy throughout your group.

You would want to set-up an environment or atmosphere of synergism where your team interacts and has processes or policies which encourage interactions in such a way so that total impact of group's efforts adds up to be more than mere sum of their individual contributions.

Logical Action-Step Three: Engage in First-Person Research

Creative leaders make it a point to evaluate progress of their own personal development - such as, stages of growth and legitimacy of each stage, they also assess their behavior and preferences.

Do you regularly or completely write down or record your thoughts, feelings and ideas? How much effort do you devote to keeping a journal, a diary or notes on your inner self?

Are you type of person who looks for and analyzes contradictory desires inside yourself or do you tend to notice a distinction between your desires and intentions?

What do you use to practice consciousness development or strengthening activities? In what ways do you structure your time to engage in meditation, martial arts, crafts or improvisational theater kinds of activities?

Logical Action-Step Four: Empower Their Shifts To Change