Your creativity matters

My wife is the artist in our family.

I’m a late bloomer in this regard and have never considered myself an artist. If you’ve seen me draw a picture on a whiteboard, you know why.

It wasn’t until I saw the above name tag that I ever considered myself an ‘artist.’

Each of us is creative. Your creativeness is uniquely yours. Your art, in whatever form it takes, comes from a well of creativity that never ends. Ever.

Your creativity, like water, permeates everything, including your leadership.

About a year ago, I began hand-making pens on a lathe in our garage. Since college, I’ve used a fountain pen every day of my life.

My father used a fountain pen for most of his life too, and I attribute my love for fountain pens to watching him write with his Montblanc. My father had beautiful penmanship, learning the Palmer Method in a rural Delaware grade school.

So why start hand-turning pens at age 58?

To be honest, I needed a creative outlet that wasn’t related to my profession as a Process Consultant. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my work with Clients. Many of you reading this blog are Clients … so yes, I love my work with you … and I needed a creative outlet to express other parts of who I am.

Creativity does that naturally.

I thought handcrafting fountain pens would be a perfect match. And it was.

When you create a pen (like you do creating anything such as an agenda for a team meeting, a strategic plan for your organization, or content for a board retreat) your mind, heart, and body shift into a different space.

Not like shifting from one gear to another, more like shifting from flying a plane to kneading dough.

Everything changes. Your perspective shifts. Your breathing slows. Your mind clears. Your whole being is focused on something you can’t really control and yet somehow influence.

Time stands still.

When handcrafting a pen you have the opportunity to choose the wood (my favorite is Lignum Vitae, translated wood of life, pictured above), the shape the pen will take, and how you want the pen will feel in the hand of the writer.

Humans need creative outlets.

Unfortunately, our world seems to be going the opposite direction. Pushing us harder and harder to keep our focus on cash flow, future value, the bottom line, more of this and more of that. All of it can get overwhelming, taking away from you valuable energy, passion, and insight.

Taking away what is truly important in life.

Creative outlets (like pen making) are restorative, life-giving (rather than life-taking), and inspiring to the soul. Creative outlets help us live balanced lives (link here to learn more.)

When we are not in balance as humans, we become disconnected from ourselves and from others. We become lopsided in our approach to human relationships and the challenges and opportunities we experience in life and in our leadership.

Your balance matters. Your creativity matters.

So, I’m curious. What are your creative outlets and how do you find creativity helpful in your life and leadership? Please post your answer in the response section below.

Let’s learn and grow together.

Mind how you go,

Lon

Lon L. Swartzentruber

Design Group International
Co-CEO & Senior Design Partner

P.S. Please consider joining other leaders on 10 and 11 November 2025 at our Culture Change Leadership Fall Workshop in Grand Rapids, Michigan. During the workshop we’ll explore how to evolve the culture of your organization and give you time and space to work on what’s really important for your organization, business, school, or ministry. Take a moment to visit our workshop below.

CCL Workshop Registration Link 

Along with a notebook and my favorite fountain pen, what’s in my backpack?

Teaming, by Amy Edmondson

Humble Inquiry, 3^rd Edition by Peter and Ed Schein

Rereading The Essentials of Theory U, by C. Otto Scharmer