leadership Archives - Innovation to Profits

February 5, 2016 By Susan Gunelius Leave a Comment

5 Leadership Secrets to Successful Business Innovation

innovation

Innovation is such a popular buzz word these days that it has already lost some of its value. Today, every business is prioritizing innovation and trying to be on the cutting edge. Countless startups launch every day claiming they’re the next big thing—disruptive innovators who will change the world.

Unfortunately, most of these businesses aren’t truly innovative. Furthermore, the bigger a company gets, the less innovative it tends to become. That’s because even the most innovative minds can’t thrive in a corporate environment that’s weighed down in a quagmire of bureaucracy, decision by committee, and information paralysis.

Ultimately, business innovation depends on a company’s leadership—from the executive level all the way down to the smallest department and team levels.

Think about the business leaders you’ve worked with or read about. How many of them truly foster an environment that promotes innovation? The corporate rhetoric and PR script might hype the company’s focus on innovation (and believe me, I’ve written enough of them for big companies to know), but the reality is often very different.

As a business leader, it’s up to you to develop and continually nurture innovation. Here are five secrets to doing it successfully: [Read more…]

January 25, 2016 By Susan Gunelius Leave a Comment

Only 1 in 3 Executives Say Company Culture and Business Strategy Align

innovation idea light bulbs 675x300 A study by talent consulting services provider Korn Ferry revealed that while 100% of executives from more than 500 global businesses believe company culture is important or extremely important to organizational performance, only 32% believe that the organization’s company culture and business strategy are in alignment.

The problem isn’t recognizing the importance of developing a company culture that supports the business strategy, fosters innovation, protects intellectual property, and drives profitable results. The problems come with the next steps.

According to the study, 76% of executives claim that their organizations’ leaders have identified and communicated an organizational culture, but only 35% say that the majority of their employees are able to articulate the organization’s culture to a great extent. Futhermore, only 22% of executives believe that employee behavior generally aligns with what leaders say is the culture.

Compare those statistics to the number or executives who believe their companies use culture as a key lever for driving organizational transformation—63%, and the gap between company culture and business strategy becomes abundantly clear. [Read more…]