Leadership and Innovation

“If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative.”
–Woody Allen

Can you readily step out of your comfort zone? Are you willing to try new things despite the possibility of failing?  Most of us struggle with both of these, which unfortunately impact our ability to be innovative.

Thomas Alva Edison is considered one of the most famous innovators of all time. It is alleged that Edison’s friend and former employee Henry Ford, requested that Edison’s final breath be captured in a sealed test tube. Wouldn’t it be great if we could capture, and then share, the breath of the greatest problem solvers, those that were creative, those with practical and life changing solutions? Read more about Edison.

Change for many is unsettling; it may make us feel threatened, fearful, and uncomfortable, but what if we viewed change as an opportunity? As leaders we need to search for opportunities, we need to experiment, and we need to take risks. Leadership and innovation go hand in hand. To be a great leader means having the courage to look beyond the status quo, facilitate growth and improvement, and yes, sometimes experience dismal results.

To be innovative, we must learn, observe, and keep our skills current. We need to have a strong sense of self, while understanding our organization, and our customer base. We will be most successful if we have the knowledge to anticipate the needs of others, which will hopefully promote innovative ideas.

We can’t work in a vacuum. We need to have a vision and be passionate about what we do, and we need to enlist others to share that vision and achieve success. Our staff, peers, customers, and partners can all be engaged for fresh and creative ideas and solutions. Without innovation and growth, the value we provide will be diminished, and we’ll become stagnant, obsolete, and be replaced.

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
-Steve Jobs

So ask yourself and answer honestly: Are you an innovator or a follower?

Leadership, Stress, and Tips For De-stressing

Chronic workplace stress and burnout are being referred to as an epidemic.

We’re a fast-paced society, job security is pretty much non-existent, we’re told to do more with less, we work harder, and resist taking time off since there’s so much to do. Chances are, you or a member of your team are experiencing stress related issues or job burn-out.

The Link Between Lower Stress & Leadership

Did you know that our work and leadership styles have a correlation with stress levels? Type A personalities (those that are ambitious, organized, take on more and more work, want to be understood, are proactive and competitive, and live to meet deadlines) are at a higher risk for feeling stressed? We work hard and we have high expectations, but frequently feel there is an out of balance condition between the effort we put forth, and the recognition we are given.

From another perspective, individuals that score high in leadership dimensions have lower stress levels. Why? Leadership was linked with high work effort and high work rewards. (Remember how we always say to track progress against your goals, celebrate your successes, and recognize accomplishments?  There’s a reason for that!)

Another link is that high leadership scores were associated with high job control. When you’re in control or feel that you’re in control, you experience less stress. Make sense? Since leadership increases job control, giving employees a stronger say in work decisions helps reduce their job stress. Why not give it try?

5 R’s of Destressing

Richard Blonna, Ed.D, author of Stress Less, Live More, provides the following tips for de-stressing:

  1. Reorganize
    “Reorganize your health” and “develop hearty habits” – a healthy lifestyle provides energy and builds coping resilience.
  2. Rethink
    Be aware of your mental and emotional baggage; you can prevent a potential stressor from becoming an actual stressor. Manage self-doubt and negative thoughts; take control!
  3. Reduce
    Are you involved in too many things? Use a journal to track your activities and your feelings about them, and verify they mesh with your goals and values.
  4. Relax
    Strive for a calm mind. Deep breathing or systematic muscle relaxation, for about 20 minutes a day helps tremendously. Other ideas include listening to music, reading, exercising, spending time with family/friends, and napping.
  5. Release
    Reduce muscle tension and use pent up energy. You need to decide the level of physical activity you need (mild, moderate and vigorous), and select activities you enjoy.

There is no band-aid or one single approach for managing all stressors; what we can do, however, is to understand when stress is setting in. We need to proactively identify which techniques work best for us in specific situations, and remember that true leaders link high work effort with high work rewards!

Don’t Just Survive, Thrive!

Are you in a new role? Have you gone from being an individual contributor to having staff responsibilities? Does your job include influencing others without having direct reporting responsibilities?

If any of these apply to you, the Leadership Journey is the perfect fit. The Journey will provide you with the skills and “know how” to develop and hone strong leadership skills.

The Journey will teach you key behaviors for developing practical strategies to:

  • Improve communication and relationships
  • Make better decisions
  • Advance your planning and task management skills
  • Enhance listening skills
  • Better manage conflicts and address difficult situations
  • Increase employee engagement
  • Build self confidence

Our next 12 session programs are kicking off soon!

June 19 – Leadership Journey I
Virtually facilitated (attend from any location)
Session 1 of 12

June 20 – Leadership Journey I
Phoenix based
Session 1 of 12

To learn more or to enroll, click here.

Learn to thrive, not just survive!