Leadership and Marketing Update from H. LEINER & CO.
Do you feel that your organization is set up in a way that welcomes sustained innovation? Most people would say no, but they also know that innovation is essential to making a positive impact on the community.
How do you get from point A to point B?
This is where leadership comes in. Not only the top leaders in your organization, but managers at every level must be focused on a specific goal: empowering their employees to be creative thinkers.
In order to do this, leaders must:
- Define the inspiring vision of the organization
- Clarify the specific goals to focus on, and then allow employees to innovate within those boundaries
- Model innovative, creative behavior for others to emulate
The most significant way for leaders to make a difference in the organization is by setting clear guidelines of which methods are fixed and can’t be changed, and which procedures can be questioned and thought-through again. The clearer the leaders define which practices can be second-guessed and which ones are set in stone, the easier it will be for employees to understand the leeway they have to innovate and use their creative energies.
Constant, open communication between management and their employees about why they will innovate in one aspect but will not change another component will also help empower the lower-level staff. It will clarify the goals of your organization and refine their thought processes to be in line with the organization as a whole.
(Stanford Social Innovation Review)
