Innovation for Difficult Economic Times
One of my CEO leadership coaching clients has an innovative mindset. In this tough economic environment, his senior leadership team needed to be more innovative for the company to grow. Company leaders needed to transform the culture of the company to help all employees embrace change and spend more time innovating. The place to start is to listen to customers and their needs.
The CEO is knows that great things can happen when employees tap into their creativity. He is transparent about the challenges the company faces and inspiring his people to thrive in the economic recovery.
The Abundance Paradox
Abundance is actually the root cause of many corporate struggles with innovation. Too much time or money often leads companies to continue following fatally flawed strategies. Their leaders create overly complicated solutions that overshoot customer needs.
In contrast, constraints often enable innovation in the retail industry. Over the last century, there have been numerous significant business-model innovations:
• Wal-Mart’s discount model
• Costco’s warehouse club model
• Inditex’s Zara fast fashion model
• Amazon.com’s collect-cash-before-you-contact-suppliers model
One explanation for the retail industry’s inventive business models is scarcity. The constrained retail environment leads them to funnel creativity to where it can best be applied.
Entrepreneurs are another example of flourishing innovators. They have no choice; if they fail to rapidly adapt, they run out of money. Bad times force discipline, which allows companies to impose sharper restrictions that inspire creativity.
There’s never been a better time for innovators to face tighter purse strings. A lot has changed since the last global recession in 2001. Innovation can happen more quickly and cheaply. Tools like prediction markets, collaboration software, design tools, virtual focus groups and markets of low-cost specialists can dramatically expedite the innovation process.
Facebook was launched in a dorm room and became a community with millions of members in less than five years. Entrepreneurs and corporate innovators have never had more affordable ways to move an idea forward.
Are you working in a company or law firm where leadership is focused on becoming more innovative and pursuing new growth opportunities? Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leaders become more creative? Leaders need to help employees embrace innovation.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I lead in hard times by being more innovative?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who want to help their organizations become more innovative.
Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you create an organization that engages its people in innovation by intensely listening to customers. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.
I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to mbrusman@workingresources.com.
