For CEOs, creativity is now the most important leadership quality for success in business,     1     even integrity and global thinking, according to a new study by IBM.

The study is the largest known sample of one-on-one CEO interviews. Over 1,500     2     heads and public sector leaders across 60 nations and 33 industries were polled. They were asked what drives them in managing their companies in today’s world.

A manager at IBM Global Business Services expressed surprise at this key finding, saying that it is very interesting that coming off the worst economic conditions they’d ever seen, CEOs didn’t return to traditional management     3    , existing best practices, rigor or operations. In fact, they did just the opposite.

About 60 percent of CEOs polled cited creativity as the most important leadership quality, compared with 52 percent for     4     and 35 percent for global thinking. Creative leaders are also more prepared to break with the traditions of the industry, enterprise and revenue models, and they are 81 percent more likely to rate innovation as a “crucial capability. ”

Other key findings showed a large gap between views of North American CEOs and those from other     5    . For example, in North America, 65 percent of CEOs think integrity is a top quality for tomorrow’s leaders, whereas only 29–48 percent of CEOs in other territories view it as such. While company leaders in North America will bring more integrity to the job, they also expect far more regulation than foreign heads.