Headspring Executive Development’s Post

Author Geoff Hudson-Searle was interviewed by Diane Nowell in this article by Headspring Executive Development, a joint venture of Financial Times, discussing #leadership and #innovation in #companyculture. Geoff stated ‘‘Taking a more holistic approach means considering the impact that every change is going to have on the entire organisation, and not just specific functions or departments. Each employee will understand, and be focused on, how their work contributes to the company’s broader objectives.” #trust is one of the most vital forms of capital a #leader has today. Amid economic turbulence and global uncertainty, #people are increasingly turning to their employers and #businessleaders as a source of truth, rather than their institutions and government officials. Trust, which can be defined as a belief in #abilities, #integrity, and #character of another person, is often thought of as something that personal #relationships are built on. A high trust organization is one in which employees feel safe to take #risks, express themselves freely, and #innovate. Trust is the operating system of successful societies. Its erosion in the face of unprecedented levels of corporate power and a perceived surge of intended and unintended corporate wrongdoings gave rise to a new ecosystem of trust champions, brokers, platforms and architects. Market leaders need to tap into this ecosystem to make sure they don’t jeopardise their competitive edge by losing their public’s faith; smaller actors may enjoy greater societal trust but face the mammoth challenge of converting their trust advantage into a competitive advantage. #authorinterview #author #authorcommunity #authorsoflinkedin #csuite #executivedirectors #culturetransformation #strategytoexecution #nonexecutivedirectors #commmunications #trustbasedleadership #strategicpartners #boardofdirectors #strategytoexecution #businessstrategy #businessgrowth #people #values #leadership #businesstransformation #management #growth #change #insights #ceos #globalbusiness #intelligence #purposedrivenleadership #trustbasedleadership #leadership #designthinkingprocess #technology https://lnkd.in/edyZW5Vi

Author Geoff Hudson-Searle was interviewed by Diane Nowell in this article by Headspring Executive Development, a joint venture of Financial Times, discussing #leadership and #innovation in #companyculture. Geoff stated ‘‘Taking a more holistic approach means considering the impact that every change is going to have on the entire organisation, and not just specific functions or departments. Each employee will understand, and be focused on, how their work contributes to the company’s broader objectives.” #trust is one of the most vital forms of capital a #leader has today. Amid economic turbulence and global uncertainty, #people are increasingly turning to their employers and #businessleaders as a source of truth, rather than their institutions and government officials. Trust, which can be defined as a belief in the #abilities, #integrity, and #character of another person, is often thought of as something that personal #relationships are built on. A high trust organization is one in which employees feel safe to take #risks, express themselves freely, and innovate. #authorinterview #author #authorcommunity #authorsoflinkedin #csuite #executivedirectors  #culturetransformation #strategytoexecution #nonexecutivedirectors #commmunications #trustbasedleadership  #strategicpartners  #boardofdirectors   #strategytoexecution #businessstrategy #businessgrowth #people #values #leadership #businesstransformation #management #growth #change #insights  #ceos #globalbusiness  #intelligence #purposedrivenleadership #trustbasedleadership #leadership #designthinkingprocess #technology https://lnkd.in/edyZW5Vi

📊 How is your company fostering innovation? Share your strategies below! 💬 🌟 Fostering a culture of innovation is no longer optional—it’s essential for survival and growth in today’s fast-paced business world. According to a study by McKinsey, companies with a culture of innovation are 2.3 times more likely to be high performers in their industry. 🚀 As the driving force behind the organization, the CEO must lead by example, creating an environment where creativity thrives and innovation becomes second nature. But how can CEOs effectively foster this culture? 🤔 🔍 Discover 10 strategies to cultivate a thriving innovation culture in our article, "The CEO’s Role in Fostering a Culture of Innovation." From establishing a clear vision to embracing digital transformation, these insights are crucial for any leader looking to ensure their organization remains competitive and future-ready. Read the full article now: https://lnkd.in/gGUZtQf4 #innovationleadership #ceochallenges #strategicplanning #businessgrowth #digitaltransformation #innovationculture #leadershipdevelopment #futureofwork #demarconsultinggroup #growthmindset #leadershipculture

What steps can we take to move beyond the surface and create meaningful, impactful innovation? In our ongoing exploration of innovation readiness, we've identified a critical challenge many organisations face: getting stuck at the Surface-Level Activity. But what does this really mean? This can be defined as the superficial efforts that look busy but lack strategic depth. Teams are moving, but there's no alignment with business goals. This is the most basic and least effective approach to innovation, where companies engage in activities that seem innovative on the surface but don't contribute meaningfully to growth or competitive advantage. The consequences? A lot of motion without progress. Think of frequent brainstorming sessions that generate ideas but lack follow-through, or the adoption of trendy innovation tools without a clear strategy for their use. But why do organisations get trapped here? We suggests that the root cause goes deeper than just processes or strategies. It's fundamentally about social awareness within the organisation. Companies stuck in surface-level innovation are often operating at the most basic level of organisational consciousness. They're "downloading" - reconfirming old opinions and judgments rather than opening up to new perspectives. They are trapped in established routines that stifle true innovation. This lack of social awareness manifests in several ways: 1. A reliance on centralised control and hierarchy, rather than fostering innovation across all levels. 2. An inability to truly listen to new ideas, instead falling back on pre-existing beliefs about what innovation should look like. 3. A failure to connect innovation efforts with broader business goals, resulting in misaligned activities. To move beyond surface-level innovation, organisations need to suspend judgment, redirect attention to new possibilities, and ultimately "let go" of old paradigms to allow transformative innovation to emerge. In practice, this could look like: 😎 Creating space for diverse voices and perspectives in innovation processes. 😎 Developing a culture of curiosity and openness to challenge existing norms. 😎 Aligning innovation efforts with clear business objectives, ensuring strategic depth. 😎 Implementing systems to turn ideas into actionable projects with measurable impacts. The journey from surface-level to strategic innovation is not just about changing what we do, but how we think and interact as an organisation. As leaders, we must ask ourselves: How can we foster both social awareness and innovation readiness in our organisations? What challenges have you faced, and what strategies have worked for you? 💡💬 #InnovationReadiness #SocialAwareness #OrganisationalDevelopment #Leadership #StrategicInnovation #BusinessGrowth

Have you ever been asked, "How do you innovate?" According to a 2022 Harvard Business School Online article, innovation can be anything from upgrading an existing service to creating an industry-breaking product. 🚧 But what's the most significant barrier to innovation? Fear. McKinsey & Company found that fear often or always hinders innovation efforts in 85% of organizations. So, how can we overcome this? Here are five tips: 1️⃣ Encourage transparency: Let information flow freely to build trust and engagement. 2️⃣ Don't micromanage: Give your team the autonomy to explore solutions without constant interruptions. 3️⃣ Provide guardrails: Have protocols to focus teams on specific business outcomes. 4️⃣ Support creativity: Think outside the box when putting teams together. 5️⃣ Embrace failure: See mistakes as learning opportunities, not failures. As Steve Jobs once said, "Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." Do you agree? 🍏 https://lnkd.in/dscJSsaU #Innovation #Leadership #BusinessGrowth

How do you and your Board stay current with innovations and technology? Over the past month I have facilitated 4 Board planning sessions for companies and NFPs and what I see is a strong need to avoid too much group think and homogenous membership - what is needed, as the report suggests, is an innovation mindset through cognitive diversity. The greatest drivers for a culture that enables innovation are vision and leadership, as they promote innovative behaviours, this has to be driven by management AND seeded by the Board. Ensuring the Board has directors who bring an innovation mindset and experience as well as a balanced risk appetite and future focus of trends and the industry will go a long way in supporting the organisation to THRIVE in these VUCA times. Some questions you might consider as a Board: 🤓 How do we incorporate innovation in our strategy? 🤩 Does our culture encourage innovation and making mistakes as part of improvement? 🤗 Do we have the skills we need to incorporate AI into our work? 🥰 How will our HR processes need to be adjusted for these changes in work practices? What do you and your Board do to stay current and keep innovating? #boards #director #leadership #innovation #aicd Australian Institute of Company Directors #universityofsydneybusinessschool

Establishing a genuine culture of innovation is tough and there are various reasons why. Very often companies do not understand this special culture – its foundation and the mechanisms that allow it to grow. Moreover, it takes time to develop it and it can be influenced by so many factors that are not easy to control. As a result, business leaders attempt to establish the innovation culture through isolated innovation programs which can only bring minor, ephemeral improvements.  https://lnkd.in/eXmjEJeC #innovation

Innovation is seen by some as an abstract concept best left in the hands of scientists, inventors, artists and creative minded individuals with big brains. However, successful businesses or organizations that wants to survive in the long-term must embrace innovation as a very real and very important part of its cultural framework, nurturing an atmosphere of constant change. It's one thing for someone to possess the right set of technical skills needed, but its another for the personality to fit into the innovative plan of the organization. Harvard Business Review recently asked over 100,000 respondents to tell them about their problem-solving perceptions and capabilities in a large-scale study on innovation. Based on the answers they received, researchers found that an individual’s preferences group falls into one of this four innovation types, or styles. 1. Those who are good at finding new problems to solve, called "Generators". 2. Those who excel at thoroughly defining problems at a glance, called "Conceptualizers". 3. People who are good at evaluating ideas and selecting the best solutions, called "Optimizers". 4. Finally, those who excel at implementing solutions to suit expectations, called "Implementers". Businesses or organizations with long-term sustainability plan is expected to adopt a team with the right combination of the above innovative mindset without giving high preference to any, while ensuring that team lead keep an open-minded leadership style. Innovation is people-oriented driven based on value-added principles. #innovation #value-added #principles #businesses #sustainability #innovative #cultura #people-oriented #teambuilding #teamcoaching #inspiration #open-minded #leadershipinsights #generators #Conceptualizers #Optimizers #Implementers #perceptions #ideasworthsharing #leadershipmatters #culturaltransformation #peopleandculture #peoplematter #organizationalculture #organizationalgrowth #long-term #embrace

While #seniorexecutives cite #innovation as an important driver of growth, few of them explicitly lead and manage it. Evolving market #dynamics and #technological advances are affecting companies’ short-term performance and long-term prospects. They are forcing companies to innovate to identify #highvalue inventions or market opportunities and to launch #newproducts, #services, #features, and #experiences that capitalize on them. Leaders put exceptional effort into innovating in the core. By doing so, they create substantially more growth and value than their rivals or the cross-industry average. These companies improve near-term performance and lay the foundation for future success. According to a research paper by McKinsey & Company, about one-third say that they manage innovation on an ad hoc basis when necessary. Another third manage innovation as part of the senior-leadership team's agenda. How can something be a top priority if it isn't an integrated part of a company's core processes and of the leadership's strategic agenda and—above all—behavior? In a separate survey of 600 #global #business #executives, managers, and professionals, the respondents pointed to #leadership as the best predictor of #innovation #performance. Those who described their own organization as more innovative than other companies in its industry rated its leadership capabilities as "strong" or "very strong." Conversely, those who believed that the ability of their own organization to innovate was below average rated its #leadership #capabilities as significantly lower and, in some cases, as poor. As with any top-down initiative, the way #leaders behave sends strong signals to #employees. Innovation is inherently associated with change and takes attention and resources away from efforts to achieve short-term #performance #goals. More than initiatives for any other #purpose, innovation may therefore require leaders to encourage employees in order to win over their hearts and minds. Indeed, senior executives believe that paying lip service to innovation but doing nothing about it is the most common way they inhibit it. The failure of executives to #modelinnovation encouraging #behavior, such as #risktaking and #openness to #newideas, places second. Rewarding nothing but #shortterm performance and maintaining a fear of failure also make it to the top of the respondents' list of inhibitors. Companies must focus on three critical actions; strategy, create and scale and accelerate. #csuiteleaders #executivedirectors #culturetransformation #trust #strategytoexecution #nonexecutivedirectors #ceos #businessgrowth #commmunications #trustbasedleadership #designthinking #vision #designthinkingprocess #riskgovernance #riskmanagement #ptroductinnovation #opportunities #boardofdirectors #growthcapital #businesssmodelinnovation https://lnkd.in/e_ezepyf

Have you ever been asked, "How do you innovate?" According to a 2022 Harvard Business School Online article, innovation can be anything from upgrading an existing service to creating an industry-breaking product. 🚧 But what's the most significant barrier to innovation? Fear. McKinsey & Company found that fear often or always hinders innovation efforts in 85% of organizations. So, how can we overcome this? Here are five tips: 1️⃣ Encourage transparency: Let information flow freely to build trust and engagement. 2️⃣ Don't micromanage: Give your team the autonomy to explore solutions without constant interruptions. 3️⃣ Provide guardrails: Have protocols to focus teams on specific business outcomes. 4️⃣ Support creativity: Think outside the box when putting teams together. 5️⃣ Embrace failure: See mistakes as learning opportunities, not failures. As Steve Jobs once said, "Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." Do you agree? 🍏 https://lnkd.in/gsj59d37 #Innovation #Leadership #BusinessGrowth