Discussion Assignment Part 1: Business Writer

Becoming a Leader of Innovation

Review your post from the first discussion in Unit 1(see below), and evaluate your initial understanding of innovation compared with what you know today. For this discussion, describe how your knowledge of innovation has changed. Explain how your perception of your own role in leading innovation has changed. Going forward, what one thing will you do differently to be a leader of innovation? (Require +250 words)

Post from first discussion

For one to know his or her strengths and weaknesses in matters of innovation in an entity it is

imperative for him/her to comprehend what innovation entails. In my opinion, innovation is an

update to an existing idea that improves its productivity, outcome and efficiency drastically.

Therefore, innovation involves changing problems and turning them into challenges as

opportunities. In that sense you are therefore not required produce a new thing to be innovative.

Innovation is all about coming up with solutions to specific problem. It becomes even harder to

define innovation because it is easier to make changes to existing matter.

Many questions are asked when it comes to leadership and innovation skills in an

organization. Logically as an innovator and a learner one is usually curios and exited to discover

new stuffs and demonstrate characteristics of a person that are exhibited when learning. It’s not a

role of a leader to be neither creative nor innovative in an organization but the works manage,

coach, to guide, organize and structure the whole working process. And to ensure that discipline

and processes are followed throughout the process of innovation, and also ensure that correct

results and the system produces the expected results to substance the success of an organization.

(Gumusluoglu, 2015).

For innovators to be able to support innovation in an entity they should be passionate and

constantly pursue boundless opportunities and should only rest when they have attained the

inevitable. Organizations leaders and employees should always work together to ensure that

stable and lasting innovations are maintained and natured for the good of both the organisation as

well as the employees to foster development and creativity.

Organizations leaders need, above all, to know that the organizations their head are not

engines but run like machines but fairly human beings with all their assets and liabilities and

therefore they should be incorporated in their every plan. Creativity and innovation in an

organization is enhanced or destroyed by the human setting of the organization which can be

either hostile or friendly. Therefore, Effective innovation needs the right leadership, and not just

noble management. Soken & Barnes (2014)

According to Glauser’s (2016) article, “Are You an Innovator or Executor? Take the

Quiz to Find Out”, most importantly every organization manager requires execution as well as

innovation skills to run an organization smoothly. having the two strong qualities skills then one

is able to comfortably runs an organization but one have one of the skill and lucking the other

then he or she will require a supportive character to help you run the organization and also

maintain creativity and innovation. Therefore, the quiz was to help and see if one is an innovator

or executor, or may be both.

After taking the Glaser’s executor and innovator assessment, because I usually set goals

and try as much as I can to achieve them, I consider myself as an executor. Usually I like to

affect things and also to produce them as well as putting them into effect. Putting structures that

will enable me to run things have become my passion and a very crucial motivation that

characterise my personality. I have prioritize execution of business in everyday of my

professional life to be my main guiding principle that enables me to be able to run the

department I head as well as the organization to run smoothly. For being an executor as well as

an innovator is an added advantage. The same as executing and accomplishing my personal goal

which is a positive to me and the organization, I would like to have desire for whatever that may

be thrown on my way. Passion oils innovative fire, nonetheless it is not adequate to basically

love what I do; I need to have the passion, hunger and the desire to be able to translate it to

others around me.

Leadership Practices That Support Innovation in an Organization

Well-known leadership practices upkeep innovation in companies or entities by

making an innovation values in organizations. They unite employees with a typical reason and

guide them to help them discover new innovative methods of serving clients. They always

influence their understanding on how important they are to the organization and their inputs are

essential and so they should innovate and also give their contributions. They bolster diversity

because diversity is a crucial element in any organization for creativity and innovation

There are no best rehearse answers to help and nurture innovation Thus the initial

understanding of how organisation leader’s skills and values nature culture in an organization,

there is need to first starts by knowing what qualities of management are desirable and also what

are some of practices that can contribute. Therefore, for an organization to form leadership

power, they need to recognize what the values of leadership that is desirable and are respected in

an organization and for what position. Creativity and Innovation as well as having leadership

qualities go hand in hand in building, enhancing, organizing and controlling. Leslie, (2009).

The two leadership practices that support innovation in an organization are:

1. Purpose – you should always take your time to explain your inspiring values as well

as persuasive purpose, both collectively as well as individually. A clear agenda to motivate and

drive to always try and go beyond what is set as the standard (going extra mile) and to endure up

to when something extraordinary has been produced. Determination creates value and help to

create energy that multiply life and strengthen innovation. Is purpose driving performance, or has

performance become your purpose?

2. Being Authentic –the way the leader of an organization present himself is an

important aspect towards enhancing creativity and innovation. Thus innovation probable of

teams in an organization will be relative to organization’s leader innovation personification.

Therefore one should ensure that his/her behaviors are not inadvertently limiting innovation in an

organization. You should ask yourself, “How can I uplift even more innovation around here?”

and be the collaborative innovator that would you wish to see in your own entity (Lee, 2014).

Both innovation and having leadership practices in an organization are important in

building a healthy organization. Bark doll (2006) assumed that all leaders attempt to change the

culture of the organization to fit their preferences. Thus, with leadership practices they can

predict the successfulness of a company when they possess a strong leader that have a visionary

to make the organization performs better. Whatever the leadership style or the situation or the

targeted goal, an organization, and a leader should always act ethically in building strategies

because ethics always comes first, and if an organization loses ethics this may lead off losing the

trust of followers.

Exemplar Leader of Innovation

To be a leader of innovation, one has to have extraordinary knowledge and expertise

in my opinion. These leaders are highly skilled at thinking and being able to fostering new

thinking and collaboration that produces new business opportunities. Leaders must learn how to

create an organizational climate where others apply innovative thinking to solve problems and

develop new products and services. It is about growing a culture of innovation, not just hiring a

few creative outliers. How can you help others to think differently and work in new ways to face

challenges? What can be done to innovate when all resources are stressed and constrained? How

can you stay alive and stay ahead of the competition (Lee, 2014).

Exemplar leaders use a variety of skills and practices to create and support

innovations in organizations. They will always be on the purpose. Exemplar leaders if they are

clear in their minds they will dare to do experimentations and take risks. On a constant basis

these leaders take time out for themselves and try to establish sanctity in any given situation of

chaos. They are always authentic in the sense that they do not let their inhibitions to limit

innovations. An example of a leader who was successful at shaping innovative culture is Reed

Hastings the CEO for Netflix. In 2013 Netflix progressed exceptionally well under the leadership

of CEO Reed Hastings, who co-founded the company as a mail order movie rental business in

1998. Over the years, Netflix has, of course, evolved into an on-demand internet streaming

company. By 2005, Netflix had 4.5 million subscribers and counting, beating out any online

efforts made by Blockbuster.

In 2013 Netflix advanced outstandingly well under the authority of CEO Reed Hastings,

who helped to establish the organization as a mail arranges motion picture rental business in

1998. Throughout the years, Netflix has, obviously, advanced into an on-request web gushing

organization. By 2005, Netflix had 4.5 million supporters and forgetting about, beating any

online endeavours made by Blockbuster.

In 2013 the firm observed its stock triple, and in September that year it checked an

astounding 40.4 million supporters. Some industry specialists have noticed that individuals are

failing link since they can get their most loved shows on Netflix and somewhere else on the web.

"Hastings could be the successor to [Steve] Jobs as the model in Silicon Valley for how to

develop," said Paul Carroll of counseling organization The Devil's Advocate Group. Today,

Hastings' total assets are $1.54 billion as indicated by Forbes, a large portion of which is attached

to Netflix stock (business-management.net). Netflix landed nine Emmy grants in 2016.

Essentially, while Hastings set the vision for the organization's worldwide extension, bring down

positioning officials lead the pack on choosing which markets to enter when. "I take pride in

settling on a couple of choices as could be expected under the circumstances,'' Hastings said.”

When you get to genuine scale, the majority of my activity is simply vision.''

Conclusion

Organization must put resources into their innovators to guarantee they build up their

own particular creative intuition abilities and have the capacity to build up their employees’ and

groups' creative speculation abilities. Organizations likewise need to outline their way of life and

convincing practices to make development conceivable. Also, organizations require a very much

created, organization needs innovation intended to guarantee an engaged way to deal with

categorized development. An organization wide development design empowers neighborhood

groups to center their innovative awareness exercises and adjust their advancements to the

association's general necessities for advancement.

References

Barkdoll, G. L. (2006). Individual Personality and organizational culture or "let's change this

place so I feel more comfortable. Public Administration & Management: Interactive Journal.

Retrieved from: http://www.pamij.com/barkdoll.html.

Gumusluoglu, L., & Ilsev, A. (2015). Transformational leadership, creativity, and

organizational innovation. Journal of business research, 62(4), 461-473.

Glauser, M. (2016). Are you an innovator or executor? That this quiz to find out. Retrieved from

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/276754

Lee, J. (2014), Effects of leadership and leader-member exchange on innovativeness. Journal of

Managerial Psychology, 23, (6), 670 – 6873

Leslie, J. B. (2009). The leadership gap: What you need, and don't have, when it comes to

leadership talent. Retrieved from http://www.ccl.org/leadership/pdf/research/leadershipGap.pdf

Barkdoll, G. L. (2006). Individual Personality and organizational culture or "let's change this

place so I feel more comfortable. Public Administration & Management: Interactive Journal.

Retrieved from: http://www.pamij.com/barkdoll.html.http://www.business-management-

degree.net/30-innovative-business-leaders-2013/

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