Leadership and Innovation

In today’s business world, innovating is the by word. Thus leaders in any industry, market, services or elsewhere need to focus on innovative solutions in order to grow and have an edge over competitors. Thus innovation in leadership is an absolute must.

Why Innovation?

Problems in businesses and organizations are gradually becoming more and more complex. These can no longer be solved just by strategizing. With issues never experienced before rising each day, the only solution that can resolve a problem is an innovative approach. The strategies that worked earlier are ineffective now. Only leaders with acumen for innovative approach can lead the organization to greater heights.

In What Way can a Leader Apply Innovation?

There are two ways in which a leader can make use of innovative thinking and techniques.

1. Innovative Leadership:

This involves having new thinking as well as actions in the way you lead and manage your responsibilities in your organization. Novelty in approach, looking into problems with a different perspective and resolving difficult problems are abilities which an innovative leader must possess.

2. Inspiring and Encouraging Innovation:

This involves building an environment where everyone can be innovative.  It is about creating a culture where each person thinks different and is not hesitant in voicing his or her opinion.

What are the Skills that an Innovative Leader must Posses?

Observation Power:

Such a leader must have excellent power to observe minute details clearly. You must possess the capability to look deep and beyond what is immediately obvious. You must not be in a hurry but ponder and deliberate to try out a new approach by discovering obscured patterns carefully.

Giving Importance to Personal Experiences:

In thinking new and different, a leader’s personal experiences are of immense value. So are such experiences of others in the team. From the vast variety of your experiences, hobbies, interests and passions you can draw out new methods of problem solving and reaching your goal. A leader who inspires this approach in others, as well as his own self is truly walking the path of innovation.

Personalizing Customer Relationship:

Customers are of immense value in any business. An innovative leader is one who knows his customer really well. It is important to know what really matters to your customer and to dig deep to find out what you do not know about them. This will help you work out solutions hitherto never heard of.

Work and Play:

Innovating requires the leadership to be a little non-traditional. An approach that is somewhat informal, friendly and some fun can go a long way in stirring up an innovative thought process in all the members of the team. Thus work and play hand in hand can do wonders for innovation.

Non- Judgmental Approach:

Every team member must have the freedom to voice his opinion without any fear of being ticked off. Only if the leader has this kind of an open and non-judgmental approach will innovation be possible at all. The leader must encourage each one to contribute. Questioning and thinking must be encouraged without too much time constraint.

All-Inclusive Approach:

Innovative leadership does not allow discarding of ideas. It is all inclusive. Success lies in the ability to hold two absolutely different ideas in the mind together, ponder, synthesize, integrate and work out maybe quite a different solution but a solution that works.

Strong Imagination:

To be able to imagine is a strong help in the leadership of innovation. To work out a completely new answer to any situation, you must be able to go through in your mind a number of imaginary solutions. Several ‘what ifs’ are necessary for an innovative way of thinking.

Persuasiveness and Good Presentation:

Such leaders require good presentation skills in order to put forward a completely novel idea in such a manner that it is looked upon favorably and accepted for implementation. To be an innovative leader you also need to possess a great degree of persuasiveness to be able to infuse vigor in your team as well as in those who are the decision makers in the organization towards something which has not been done before.

Innovative leadership can pave the way to stupendous strides in the development of the company you are working for especially when ambiguity and instability rule and there is no clear direction visible. Innovation in leaders and inspiring the same in others is the demand of the times and absolutely essential for achieving personal success in your life as well.

Pic courtesy: www.pixabay.com