The Key to Modern Leadership is Innovation
*Featured in March/April 2016 Issue of Business First Magazine.*
As Steve Jobs famously noted, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
Innovation is the profitable implementation of new ideas. It occurs when the growing needs and demands of consumers is met with intense competition.
It may come as no surprise, but the insurance industry isn’t exactly a market leader when it comes to innovation. Rather it is often perceived as static and conventional, with a focus on minimizing risks. As a result, it is one of the last remaining industries to embrace innovation.
For years, the insurance industry didn’t face the pressure from outside entrants that exists today. Therefore in the current ever-changing economy, the ability to innovate rapidly and more profitably than your competitors is now essential for both business growth and success.
The majority of industry sectors will undergo disruption at some stage. When customer expectations shift, businesses are forced to immediately respond and adapt in order to remain in the game.
Innovation is a catalyst for business growth, but as a leader, your team must be managed effectively in order for innovation to thrive or even exist in the workplace.
Ultimately, for your team to embrace an innovation mindset, leaders have the challenge of both creating and maintaining dedication from each individual. Innovation must be embedded within the company culture.
An effective leader recognises the importance of utilising the differences that exist within each member of the team. They know how to connect the dots between those differences in order to achieve the most successful and efficient outcomes. At Find Insurance NI, we try to adopt the mantra Sir Richard Branson has instilled within the backbone of his companies. This mantra is A-B-C-D. (Always Be Connecting the Dots). This creates a company culture that thrives on continual improvement and innovation.
A leader knows that when individuals come together and different ideas and thought processes begin to flow, the result can be a range of ideas and innovations that individuals could not have achieved alone. Embracing innovation is therefore essential to creating a workplace environment that encourages motivation and enthusiasm among the team.
The innovation process begins by identifying the role of each individual within the team. A leader must recognise how they can add value and the tools required in order for them to adapt to positive change. As a leader, you must design the appropriate structure and processes that encourage and manage innovation.
Below are practices that leaders can implement with their teams to promote and encourage an environment of innovation. At Find Insurance NI, we implement these factors to break the traditional, static-controlled barriers that exist, particularly within the insurance industry.
1. It’s all about Trust.
As mentioned, innovation requires encouragement and motivation among staff in order to generate new ideas. However, as a result, each member of the team risks becoming more transparent than ever. Therefore a feeling of trust between you as a leader and your team is imperative.
When you earn this trust and the team can trust you, you will observe and welcome the new relationships and ideas being formed around you which will impact positively on the workplace environment.
2. Communicate and Reward
Without strong communication, teams don’t function effectively. The way in which you communicate to your team sets the scene. If done correctly, this can create an environment that encourages thinking in a variety of creative directions, which is more likely to lead towards new innovations. By also creating adequate measurements and incentives, innovation can be promoted within the team.
3. Work Together as a Team
Innovation flourishes when you have a team with a pulse on the marketplace. Work together and in conjunction in order to discover new ways of thinking and create inspiring outcomes.
4. You are the Catalyst for Change
For teams to acquire the ability to innovate, leaders must constantly challenge each team member to think more critically in order to continually improve and develop. As a leader, you must learn to embrace risk and see the opportunity in everything. Leave your competitors at the starting line and go against the norm. This is your chance to be a leader in the marketplace and not a follower.
It’s also important to not only create products or services that add value to your business, but you must have the patience to foresee and work towards achieving long-term results, not just short-term.
5. Keep It Simple
An excellent example of keeping it simple is Google’s innovation strategy. They adopt a strategy which is straightforward yet effective; eliminate any unnecessary extra steps in the process, and give the consumer the ease and simplicity they desire.
At the end of the day, leaders must possess the ability to alternate between the creative mind and the operational, technical and business mind at different stages of the innovation process. As displayed by Steve Jobs, innovation done right has the power to change everything.
If you facilitate your team to embrace innovation and encourage them to present their own visions and ideas, they become the foundation for business growth and sustainability.
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