Innovation: Build an Argument

The what and why of Innovative Leadership

One of the leadership techniques that draws from various styles with a view of influencing employees is Innovative leadership. It helps in improving employees’ creativity in producing ideas and conceptualizing new products and services. It helps organizational development and support the business vision while employing newer processes and technologies.

Leadership and Innovation

Identifying and recognizing a great idea when one surfaces is the primary skill required of an innovative leader. An innovative leader need not necessarily be creative to conceptualize ideas and make new processes himself—it is the skill of finding talent—recognizing an innovative idea that has been brought up by one of the employees that makes a leader innovative.

To be able to achieve this, an innovative leader has to have a powerful imagination as well as good communication skills. By having trust and confidence with the team and their capabilities in working together for achieving success, innovative leaders lead the business toward success.

Qualities of Innovative Leadership

Innovative leaders normally tend to have the following traits:

• Strong customer focus: they think along the lines of a customer, takes interest on their needs, and provide what is best suited to the customers, thus winning customer satisfaction
• Exquisite Strategic Vision: Innovative leaders have a vivid vision of the future of the business—they are fully aligned with their destination on their minds
• Have Mutual Trust and Loyalty: By trusting and working together with others, innovative leaders create an environment of trust and confidence
• Persuasive in Nature: They make new and innovative ideas to be followed with conviction and enthusiasm rather than forcing their minds on others
• Transparent in Communication: Innovative leaders provide honest feedback, they can be relied on for open and straight forward communication
• Motivate and Inspire people by Working along with them: By moving around with people, innovative leaders inspire them and motivate them

How Innovation Process Works

Innovation process begins with identifying people’s expectation of how they want leadership to be. By recognizing what processes are needed and how best they are to be performed for serving the purpose, innovative leaders achieve business goals. Innovative leaders seek and find the tools needed for adapting to changes in a productive and effective way.

The most seasoned leaders understand that innovation comes from varied sources. The sources may be internal or external. What may not be possible by individuals with their own experience and expertise may be rendered possible when people put in collective efforts by converging their ideas and experiences toward creation of new ideas.