Your team wants to know why should they follow you in your command? Don’t tell them, show them by focusing on the essential, not necessarily the most important.
“Why should I follow you? »
When you introduce your vision for making your business more innovative, you may think that your employees will ask you about the costs, the potential audience, the likely success rate, the time it will take to be in the market and they like it . Of course they will and how?
But the first (unasked) question running through their minds will be: “Why should I follow you? in other words “Why should I believe that you are going to lead us where we need to go?” »
Even if they won’t ask you the question directly, you need to address their unspoken fears before anything else. Otherwise, you won’t get their full attention or the best of them.
So how should you answer the questions they ask themselves unspoken or unspoken? Our answer has three parts. We are not going to debate the leadership theory of innovation. We will talk to you about deliberate practices, give you the essential principles to employ. We guarantee that if you put these tips into practice you will become a more effective leader, especially when it comes to innovation.
1) Focus on the essential
Innovative leaders focus on the essential and not the most important. It’s very easy to waste time on the important things like launching new products to satisfy the sales force’s desire to offer something new. As necessary as it may be, doing so will not inspire anyone.
Conversely, creating a culture that celebrates failure “because without risk there is no opportunity to develop the product that will become the best seller” or believing that great ideas can come from anywhere are the best way to transform into success everything your organization does.
Here is another way to translate it: The important is rational, the essentials are emotional. The more important things you add to a list, the less likely you are to have the essential things on it.
2) Not adept at drama
Recessions/transitions/restructuring are by nature temporary. Knowledge is the key to your ability to focus on the desired outcome and the type of organization you want to build.
Here is what you must answer: Are you shaping the future or are you reacting to your perception of it? to answer this question consult your emotional state.
. Are you acting like a victim? (if you complain about everything then the answer is yes.)
• Are you looking for someone or something to blame? (if you are using the recession as an excuse for example then the answer is yes.)
If you answer these or other similar questions with yes then you have earned the right to be part of a drama. This is not good news for a team leader, a senior manager, a brand, a company because you “and the company” are wasting energy and time focusing on the wrong things.
3) Face adversity by finding opportunities
Adversity will not disappear with the crisis. There will always be someone to challenge you (a competitor) in your field of activity. You can bet that in the coming months consumers will be looking for something that you simply can’t produce today. Funding that you knew was available can suddenly become unobtainable.
When things like this happen, conservative managers do what they usually do: They cut marketing budgets. They retreat and seek safe paths. “Hey, I know” instead of doing something that would identify as a challenge why not just expand the line of our best product? »
Want to change the course of history? Don’t be one of those people. Stick to your growth strategy. Always.
Believe in yourself, and if you need inspiration to stay in the game, learn from the best. Warren Buffet made a fortune by making an old adage that says: “Be afraid when others are greedy and be greedy when others are afraid”.
If you apply these three ideas, people will find their own answers when they initially ask questions about your vision.
Why should your people follow you? because you have demonstrated through words and actions that you understand and live these three pillars of innovation leadership in good times and bad.
