But what does it take to lead innovation? Traditional leadership behaviors were developed largely to produce excellence in the relatively predictable context of operations. An organization can look at its own history, industry case studies, competitor behavior, and benchmarking data to understand existing operations. Leading innovation is markedly different, in large part because those operational guardrails simply don’t exist.
Innovation is unpredictable. Creating something completely new, rather than simply making incremental changes or managing ongoing activities, requires a different approach to leadership. Defining these differences and helping leaders adopt the behaviors, values, attitudes, and techniques that support innovation are essential.
Why It’s Different
When leading operations, there is often a clear goal and a definable path to reach that goal. While that clarity doesn’t always ensure success, it at least makes success more likely. You don’t know if you’ll reach your destination, but usually you’re following a well-trodden path. And as you move down that path, you can see whether you’re on track to achieve a goal.Innovation, on the other hand, happens in a unique context. Many organizations don’t appreciate how different innovation is and what the implications are for leadership behaviors. There are four key attributes that help explain why innovation leadership is different.
Innovation is ambiguous. The entire context of innovation (as well as the outcome) is ambiguous and uncertain. It is impossible for leaders to know if innovators are pursuing the right idea at the right time, giving the entire enterprise of innovation an ambiguity that isn’t present in other ongoing business operations. This means innovation managers require great emotional fortitude, resilience, and energy to persist in their work.
Innovation is high profile. The innovation efforts of most organizations are highly visible. Regardless of who is leading them, the C-suite, board, and others inside (and sometimes outside) are watching closely. For innovation managers and their leaders, high visibility creates enormous pressure to succeed, generating greater anxiety, and taking a greater emotional toll.
Innovation is risky. Because it’s unpredictable, there is a high risk of failure built into innovation. Outcomes are often binary—success or failure. This makes innovation work an emotional roller coaster, as the work advances or stalls. The highs are higher, the lows lower, and these ups and downs are emotionally draining.
Innovation is uncharted territory. There is no path to follow. The role of innovators is to cut a new path, without knowing for sure if it will take them where they want to go, how long it might take, or how much effort will be required to get there.
Persistence and success requires more risk-taking and greater emotional tenacity. Leaders, then, must find ways to guide and support innovation managers through this fraught organizational environment.
Three crucial behaviors that distinguish effective innovation leaders from others: demonstrating trust; keeping the purpose of the initiative front and center; and being an equal partner in the effort.
Trusting Followers
Leaders who demonstrate they trust those who are tasked with innovation efforts communicate to those managers that they believe in their ability to lead the innovation effort.This fuels innovation managers’ confidence in themselves—and because of the uncertainty inherent to innovation, this is key. Confidence increases innovation managers’ willingness to take the necessary—and often big—risks essential to drive new ideas through to fruition. They must have enough confidence in themselves and in the trust their leaders have in them to be able to “swing for the fences.”
Demonstrating trust is not merely a matter of words. Leaders should empower innovation managers, provide them autonomy, a broad framework, and reassurance about their efforts. Micromanaging innovation initiatives, by contrast, is likely to damage confidence and limit risk-taking. Focusing on narrow details, rather than a broad focus on possibilities, can discourage creativity.
In demonstrating trust, it’s helpful for leaders to take a coaching approach. They can draw out answers from those they manage, which demonstrates trust in their capabilities and builds their confidence. This kind of coaching for results is in line with a developmental approach to leadership that is characteristic of many high-performing organizations.
Focusing on Purpose
In addition to fostering a culture of trust, another important function of leaders is to keep innovation project managers and their teams focused on the “why” of the innovation and its value to the organization.Even if they are confident in their abilities, innovators will face their own internal doubts about the project along the way, and may doubt the initiative, especially during the most challenging phases of the project. Leaders can help sustain the positive emotional engagement with the work that’s required to keep innovators moving through the dips and past the setbacks.
Leaders who waver on how innovation fits into the big picture, or who communicate that they’re losing faith in the value of a project, can drain motivation and confidence from their direct reports. That can be the death knell for an innovation project.
Being a Partner
Perhaps the biggest difference between leading innovation and ongoing operations is partnership. This is crucial, in large part because it strengthens the emotional reserves of those working in the innovation trenches.In innovation, no one knows the path forward. In this context, the leader’s job becomes—when appropriate—an act of cocreation, in which leaders view themselves as egalitarian in their relationships and are willing to work directly with managers, when that’s helpful, and share in the risk inherent in innovation. This partnering behavior is not just about leaders adding to the innovation effort. By participating in the work themselves, leaders demonstrate to innovation teams that they support their efforts and are willing to personally invest time, energy, and reputational capital to help. This form of emotional support can energize and help shore up the emotional reserves of those involved in the day-to-day work of innovation.
Leaders who see themselves as innovation partners are much more likely to succeed. Some partnership behaviors include:
- Participating in problem-solving exercises, not as a boss with all the answers, but as another voice in the room who can provide input, ideas, and new perspectives.
- Clearing away obstacles to innovation, which may range from handling minor administrative issues to running interference with higher-ups.
- Sharing risks equally by, for example, taking responsibility for the success or failure of innovation efforts and being willing to push back on inappropriate demands.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, leaders demonstrate through their actions that they are fully bought-in to the work of innovation. Actions speak louder than words, so true partnership is far more powerful than a pep talk or mere encouragement. ▪
This article was adapted from the white paper “3 Crucial Behaviors for Successfully Leading Innovation” with permission from The Center for Creative Leadership. Read the full white paper here.