Are You Leading for Disruption?

It’s exciting to be in a disruptive industry.

As a leader, you can’t hope to achieve disruption simply by unleashing anarchy. That kind of chaos isn’t good for anyone. At the same time, you can’t hope to be disruptive while following all the existing rules. If you wait for the rules to lead you, you will never gain an edge.

Leading for disruption requires a special balance of creativity and systems to be successful.

Now is an exciting time. We are experiencing very disruptive business models today, such as businesses creating the Sharing Economy. As the Sharing Economy expands, we see shared rides from Lyft, shared rooms from Airbnb, and they are perfectly legal in some countries, ambiguous in others and entirely illegal in some areas. So how do we move forward? Shall we just blindly follow the strict regulations in some old-style counties, or shall we not care about regulations and be disruptive?

The answer is in the balance of the disruptive leader: we have to follow the rules, but also challenge them.

We need to be straightforward with the government and challenge the system every step of the way. There are no perfect answers to this new challenge. But we can’t be prudent and nice all the time and follow 100% of what governments are asking us to do. At the same time, we shouldn’t violate laws quickly. We need to fight against old rules as a company and through business organizations that represent us.

In addition to challenging the rules, a leader of a disruptive company must provide its employees with a strong ethical system. Business guidelines may sound a bit old fashioned, but they are very important systems for any company - most especially one that seeks to be disruptive. When a system of ethical guidelines is in place, it allows a company to move forward into uncharted territory while still maintaining a strong ethical position.

Leaders of disruptive companies want to provide valuable and productive services to society. I’m fortunate to be leading Rakuten, a company that has been disruptive since 1997. And now I’m on the Board of Directors at Lyft, one of the Sharing Economy’s most disruptive companies. Both of these disruptive companies are benefiting society while challenging the existing rules and following a strong ethical system. Maintaining these themes in my management practices is how I lead disruption.