How can you foster creativity and innovation as a leader in Account Management?

1 Set clear goals and expectations

One of the first steps to foster creativity and innovation is to set clear goals and expectations for your team and your clients. This helps you align your vision, communicate your value proposition, and avoid confusion or conflict. It also gives your team a sense of direction, purpose, and autonomy, which are key drivers of intrinsic motivation and creativity. Make sure your goals are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound), and that you review them regularly and adjust them as needed.

3 Encourage collaboration and diversity

A third step is to encourage collaboration and diversity in your team and your clients. Collaboration helps you leverage different perspectives, skills, and experiences, and generate more ideas and solutions. Diversity helps you embrace different backgrounds, cultures, and values, and foster a more inclusive and innovative environment. Both collaboration and diversity can enhance creativity, learning, and innovation in your team and your clients. Make sure you create opportunities for teamwork, brainstorming, and co-creation, and that you respect and appreciate diversity.

4 Provide resources and support

A fourth step is to provide resources and support to your team and your clients. Resources help you equip your team and your clients with the tools, information, and training they need to be creative and innovative. Support helps you empower your team and your clients with the autonomy, flexibility, and guidance they need to overcome challenges and take risks. Both resources and support can enable creativity, growth, and innovation in your team and your clients. Make sure you allocate enough time, budget, and space for creativity and innovation, and that you offer coaching, mentoring, and assistance.

5 Challenge yourself and others

A fifth step is to challenge yourself and others to be more creative and innovative. Challenge helps you stimulate your curiosity, imagination, and critical thinking, and push yourself and others out of your comfort zone. It also helps you identify opportunities, gaps, and trends, and explore new possibilities and solutions. Challenge can spark creativity, change, and innovation in yourself and others. Make sure you ask questions, seek feedback, experiment, and learn from failures.

6 Reward creativity and innovation

A final step is to reward creativity and innovation in yourself and others. Reward helps you acknowledge the value and impact of creativity and innovation, and incentivize yourself and others to keep generating and implementing them. It also helps you create a positive and supportive culture that celebrates and promotes creativity and innovation. Reward can sustain creativity, satisfaction, and innovation in yourself and others. Make sure you reward both the process and the outcome of creativity and innovation, and that you share best practices and success stories.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?