The Innovative Leader

Model bold thinking and a collaborative mindset to inspire your team to pursue innovation.

Popular culture often links innovation with creative geniuses who rely on sudden inspiration for groundbreaking ideas. However, as with other aspects of business, most successful innovation results from collective effort and requires thoughtful planning. Leaders needn’t come up with every novel idea. Rather, leaders must nurture an environment where all employees feel energized and empowered to innovate continuously.

Innovative leaders help their organizations “CREATE” by demonstrating these behaviors:

• “Connected” — Leadership must personally understand customer needs. Consider spending an afternoon chatting with customers about why they’ve had — or have not had — a top-notch experience with your company or its products. Ask your direct reports to do the same — taking a turn performing customer support duties, for instance — and shift to open-ended questions when conducting formal market research.

• “Role model” — Demonstrate the innovative behaviors you wish to nurture within...