Innovation—in your own life, or as a leader of others—requires an open mind, creativity, capability, resolve, and courage. Many leaders get stuck in the status quo because it’s easier than tapping into these qualities in themselves or others. Beyond that, transformative change upsets our sense of normalcy, which can be uncomfortable. Yet you need not remain complacent. When you might be game to make a change—or when it’s the right thing to do—unleash your imagination and courage. You may never feel “ready,” but sometimes “willing” and “able” are just right for a start.
Self-coaching:
- In what ways is innovation present or absent in your leadership today?
- Considering the five factors (above), which ones do you tend to find more daunting than others?
- Given your interest and capacity for innovation, what would need to be true for you to leave the status quo behind in the immediate future?
______________________ Based on client experiences / lessons learned, our weekly LeaderTips have been offering self-coaching themes and topics of interest to leaders since 2004. They are often published in BusinessWeek Online, sent weekly to our clients, and hundreds of other corporate leaders worldwide. I invite you to forward them to others, who are also welcome to subscribe using the link below. Note that over 100 of these tips appear in my book, Beyond Effective: Practices in Self-aware Leadership. Click here to subscribe to LeaderTips via email.
David Peck
Executive Coach and President
Leadership Unleashed
Twitter: recoveringleadr