When asked “what does innovation mean to me?” Initially the understanding of the term innovation meant to address a challenge or task by being creative, thinking outside of the box and being resourceful in order to overcome the challenge or complete the task. However, Gregerson (2012), describes innovation as “a new idea that creates value vs. creativity, which can bring a whole series of new ideas, which may not create much value for anyone”. One set of outcomes that was measured to justify this concept was whether an idea started a new business, whether it created a new product or service and whether it created a breakthrough process. Was the idea new and different and did it bring financial success? (Gregerson, 2012). I found this to be …show more content…
connecting the unconnected” (Gregerson, 2012). When applying these same discovery skills to a multi-disciplinary group of about 6,000 professionals, they found that anyone who engages in these
Foundations of Leading Innovation 3 skills regularly could produce the same positive outcomes. The five above mentioned discovery skills are identified as the DNA of innovators.
Leadership Practices and Attributes Leadership plays a very important role in the success or failure of any business, without an adequate leader in place with a specific set of leadership skills and attributes the company is at higher risk for problems and failures. Leslie’s (2009) study on the ten leadership skills and practices that are believed to be a necessity in present and future leaders within an organization, speaks to the need of adequate leadership skills that are crucial for success. Analyzing two of the ten identified leadership practices, Leading people and inspiring commitment will show how they support the leading of innovation and the creation of an innovative organization.
Leading People
Leaders who have good skills in directing and motivating people know how to interact with staff in ways that motivate them. They delegate to employees effectively,
I would define innovation as the ability to apply this creative thinking to an existing product, solution or approach that improves the outcome of a solution to a problem or usefulness of a product. Innovation is the ability to put creative thoughts to use in a way that is beneficial to a person, product, object, problem or situation. .
Alongside the entrepreneur spirit, Innovation is the process of taking new ideas and implementing them into the market. Key word being “new”, an innovation can be sometimes viewed as the application to better solutions that meet new demand-requirements, inarticulated needs or existing market needs. Innovative ideas range from: goods, services, products, processes, services, technologies or ideas that create value for which customers will pay for. For an idea to be an innovation, it must be replicable at an economical cost and must satisfy a specific need. This means is that one must be ready and willing put their new idea to the test. On the other hand, there is recognition that “innovation is also critical to cultural, environmental, social, and artistic progress as well” (Bullinger, 2006). With this stated, high-tech innovation is ultimately the reason why we can be thankful for the many new conveniences of the 21st century. Although we might see the forefront of innovation being very prominent in today’s world, innovation is truly nothing new. From the start of modern man times, innovative ideas have paved the way for civilization to advance and develop into what we are today and at the same time, we have barely begin to chip away at the tip of the iceberg of our true human potential. Some scholars believe that innovation is a
To be an effective leader who can recruit, hire, support their staff, one must have various skills and leadership styles. Having a visionary leadership style
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
Leadership is the elaboration of group inspiration. One person entrusted as leader can implore the aid, and support of supporters in the accomplishment of a common mission. According to Gurdjian, Halbeisen, and Lane “Becoming a more effective leader often requires changing behavior. But although most companies recognize that this also means adjusting underlying mind-sets, too often these organizations are reluctant to address the root causes of why leaders act the way they do” (Gurdjian, Halbeisen, and Lane, 2014) However, today abundant businesses engross importance on the improvement of leaders. Some of the ultimate leaders were formerly followers, such as in instructive businesses. One aspect as leaders many have to contemplate in striving
Effective leaders opt to implement a specific type of leadership style as a result of their personalities and job experiences, and apply it to their organizational structure. However, that particular type of leadership style a leader utilizes may not apply to every job situation (Peak et al., 2010). In order to be an effective leader, an individual must acquire the three basic leadership skills and they are as follows: (1) human relations; (2) conceptual skills; and (3) technical skills (Haberfeld, 2013). Additionally, a skillful leader must also be proficient in motivating, communicating, and problem solving (Hess & Orthmann, 2012).
In addition, leadership itself can be described in various forms and through the highlight of different skill sets, but the one thing that all definitions have in common is that “leadership involves influencing the attitudes, beliefs, behaviours and feelings of other people” Spector’s work (as cited in Curtis, de Vries, & Sheerin, 2011, p.306). When the skill set of a leader is compared to that of a manager, true differences are noted. Some of these key differences are apparent even in the approach utilized to reach the desired goals. While a manager directs, a leader transforms, a manager sustains and a leader improves, a manager controls, a leader motivates, a manager’s focus is on short-term goals and a leader’s is long-term based, managers ask how and when, while
Leaders are most effective when they are able to attain cooperation among all the members and make them feel the purpose of doing their tasks. It is important for them to research on the characteristics of high performance teams so that they also have it as their standards in leading their people. Some of the important activities that a leader should be good at are persuading, communicating, and motivating people (Tracy, n.d.).
Leaders are said to be more visionary; having a greater focus on inspiring and motivating staff.
At the root of every interdisciplinary toolset is the ability to problem solve; without this skill the problems and challenges that we face would remain impossible. Problem solving
The topic of leadership is historically one of the most widely researched when it comes to explorations of organizational behavior. The success of any institution or organization is pegged on the quality of its leadership because it is the determining factor on the pattern and speed at which it achieves its growth goals. Leaders are responsible for steering an organization toward its goal by mobilizing resources (both human and material) and maximizing their efficiency. The key deliverables for many leaders include employee well-being, teamwork, adherence to organizational processes and procedures, innovation, crisis
In corporate America the term used to describe a person in a position of power is “Manager”. A leader can be a manager, but a manager is not necessarily a leader. Leaders motivate, challenge, and influence others to achieve goals. Great leaders have the necessary skills and attributes which allow them to connect with the team and organization. Being a leader is not the same as managing an organization. Leader’s posses the interpersonal skills needed to influence others to achieve a goal willingly. Leading is a major part of a manager’s job. Leaders do not need to be a manager to lead people, but managers must know how to lead as well as manage.
Anyone can manage but not everyone makes a good leader. “Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent” (Clark, 2010, p. 1). As a leader, inspire your employees by being passionate yourself.
Having effective leadership not only inspires employees to reach their highest potential, but furthermore it is a good confidence builder. For instance, I live by certain leadership principles of knowing myself and seeking self-improvement, being proficient at my job, making informed decisions, leading by example, motivating my subordinates and keeping my subordinates current on any potential changes. My responsibility is to provide guidance and mentorship to motivate them to be the best they can be.
Research on management and leadership in organizations over the past century shows there are still no clear definitions or answers about what counts as effective and successful leadership; the field remains varied and argued. Actual studies of leadership began in the early twentieth century. The research and studies on leadership have resulted in defining what characters, traits and attitudes are considered to be significant for leaders to possess. The early studies of leadership theories focused on the person and their behaviors, currently known as leadership trait theories and behavioral theories. It is important for organizational leaders and managers to understand what characteristics, traits and actions of an individual mark a great leader when forming a strong diverse workforce.