PLAN | Innovation Leadership
Proper leadership is necessary to ignite innovation within an organization and empower and release a spirit of innovation within its personnel. Innovation initiatives without an identifiable leader do not succeed. Studies show that without a “face” to ignite innovation, people do not become fully engaged with it. Someone at the top of the entity needs to be the champion of innovation.
Leadership of innovation does make a difference, potentially a big difference in the generation of viable new products and new ideas. Studies have found organizations had unsatisfactory results when they lacked an identifiable innovation leader.
While innovation leadership must start at the top of company, it must be replicated and fully evidenced in both its entire leadership team and management to empower its personnel.
The goal of innovation leadership is to develop a sense of community in which people want to contribute their skill sets, unique experiences and expertise, thereby creating innovation that can make a difference in their customers’ lives. Proper innovation leadership produces creativity in the workplace which has an energizing effect on personnel that in turn sustains an innovation program.
Therefore, leaders must become role models to their personnel to inspire them and elevate their interest in pursuing the organization’s objectives in innovation. They need to challenge their staff to take ownership for their effort and its outcome, thereby causing their personnel to align their daily activities with the company’s overall vision and innovation goals.
Effective leadership is a main ingredient in creating an environment where innovation thrives. The need for innovation has resulted in a new interest on the role of leadership in shaping the nature and success of creative efforts. Studies show that an innovative climate is positively correlated to the presence of proper innovation leadership.
Effective innovation leadership identifies needed changes, creates an inspirational vision to guide the organization forward, and steers it through various challenges that may arise. In doing so it provides the motivation, high morale, and standard of performance required to achieve the vision. By its pursuit of a shared vision, the collective character of the organization is established – resulting in a commitment to and an atmosphere of innovation.
What we do – We work with leadership and management to identify their missing pieces of effective innovation leadership and then develop and implement a game plan to successfully promote and lead innovation.
