23-05-2025
How Perfectionist Leaders Stifle Creativity
When do perfectionistic leaders undermine creativity?
By Anna Carmella Ocampo, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at Esade.
A leader's perfectionistic demands can be a double-edged sword, either enhancing or diminishing their employees' performance. Take the case of Steve Jobs, who was commonly described as a tireless perfectionist. Some viewed his pursuit of perfection, marked by his unrealistically high standards, intolerance for mistakes, and insistence on working with only the best people, as the driving force behind Apple's success.
Many condemned his rigid perfectionistic demands, as they often came with angry outbursts when others fell short of his expectations. These tendencies fueled misunderstandings and personal tirades, which heightened existing strategic disagreements with others that ultimately contributed to his dismissal.
In his second stint as CEO, Jobs was still described as a relentless perfectionist who never compromised his work standards. This time, however, his perfectionism was accompanied by less anger and fewer temper tantrums. Andy Herzfeld, the lead designer of the original Macintosh operating system, believed that Jobs' perfectionism now inspired 'astounding effort and creativity from his people.'
Perfectionism has become increasingly common in highly industrialized countries and is sometimes endorsed by modern organizations. The hypercompetitive economic landscape has driven leaders to adopt rigid performance evaluations, defining success primarily by the absence of mistakes or by outcompeting their colleagues. Hence, perfectionistic leaders have become notorious for refusing to make concessions even when presented with reasonably acceptable alternative solutions to a given problem.
While the survival of organizations rests on employees' ability to innovate, perfectionistic leaders fail to acknowledge that creative output is an iterative process. They narrowly view mistakes as costly and unnecessary, preventing their employees from taking risks and thinking outside the box.
When do perfectionistic leaders undermine creativity? To address this question, I collaborated with colleagues from universities in Canada, Australia, and China to conduct three research studies, published in 2025. The first study involved 229 working adults from the United States who recalled their experiences working with a perfectionistic leader who also frequently expressed anger. The second study was a controlled laboratory experiment conducted with 119 students from the Philippines, where they were instructed by perfectionistic leaders to generate creative ideas to revive a once-famous local band. Finally, in the third study, we surveyed 61 teams, comprising 61 actual leaders and 296 employees, working in a high-technology company in China.
Collectively, we found consistent evidence that perfectionistic leaders who frequently express intense anger toward their employees hinder efforts that propel creativity. Perfectionistic expectations, expressed alongside anger, impede employees' sense of psychological safety in the workplace, where they fear ridicule and disrespect for exploring untested solutions to address problems.
Although leaders' insistence on achieving perfection may be well-intentioned, the challenge lies in conveying their high standards in a constructive, yet possibly compassionate, manner. Scholars are still uncovering important questions about the antecedents and consequences of leader perfectionism. Our findings, along with research from related fields, provide guidance on how to reduce the downsides of perfectionism while harnessing its potential benefits.
The pursuit of perfection is a contentious process. Too often, leaders may fall into the trap of placing perfectionistic demands on their employees. When their work is considered inadequate, a perfectionistic leader's anger can threaten psychological safety in the workplace. This discourages employees from exploring different and unconventional ideas that are crucial to creativity. Our findings serve as a cautionary note for leaders, emphasizing that perfectionism and anger can compromise employees' efforts and performance.
