The hand of innovation in a company’s long-term success

In business, being innovative is a survival skill. Companies that have made it a century after its founding know the importance of adapting to the times and new technology. 

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With increasing globalization, competition is also increasing. To be ahead or even level with competition, a company must have innovative plans that would later on translate to innovative products and services. These products and services must prove relevant and useful, easy to replicate, and less expensive in production. Providing something authentic encourages productivity and efficiency. The drive toward having a significant contribution to society should fuel innovation.

Social media is a form of technological innovation that companies have dived into since its advent. This plays a major role in the communication between businesses and consumers, and is a great avenue for companies to know what their consumers are looking for. With the ever increasing expectations of customers, companies must be ready to come up with products that are new, useful, and creative, to keep their customers wanting for more. They won’t accept mediocre and obsolete products and services. 

Diversity also has its hand in a company’s growth. As leaders come from different walks of life, they lead with different perspectives, which is great for a business to continue to thrive. Having a diverse leadership provides more channels for innovation, as their outlooks aren’t the same, yet they lead with one vision in mind. 

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Emile Haddad is a Seattle, Washington-based business coach who has sensitivity to differing values within the workplace that has enabled him to develop business management models that promote top-notch professionalism and excellence. For more insights, visit this blog.

Injecting creativity into the company's DNA

Fostering a culture of creativity is not just a requirement for advertising agencies or art-related ventures. Any company can benefit from having a creative and innovative team, no matter what industry it's in, because these characteristics extend beyond having artistic skill into having the ability to come up with unique and inventive solutions to problems.

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To motivate more creative thought, leaders should be open to their team about the company's goals and how each member contributes to achieving these objectives. When employees see the bigger picture and are made aware of how they fit into the puzzle, they can be emboldened to actively think of ways to help the company reach its objectives instead of just waiting for orders. Meeting up with the team regularly and being open to suggestions and really executing good ones encourages members to become innovative.

That said, giving the opportunity to be creative may mean that team members need time to explore the solutions they want to propose. If an employee wants to work on a project or look into a means of streamlining processes that may benefit the company, leaders should consider allowing them some time to fine-tune these, especially if these can prove advantageous to the business in the long run. These may not always succeed, and in those cases it can serve as a learning experience for everyone but if it does succeed, everyone can reap rewards.

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Finally, essential to making creativity a part of the company's DNA is to create a workspace that inspires employees. Instead of keeping employees in claustrophobia-inducing cubicles, consider a beautiful, well-lit open space that encourages creativity and collaboration. Some companies have well-stocked pantries, freedom walls, and even lounges to reinvigorate team members when they feel like they're burning out. After all, when employees are happy to go to work, their creative juices get running, and they can do great things.

Emile Haddad of Seattle is business coach who believes that creativity, leadership, and accountability are essential to a company's success. Visit this blog for more insights on entrepreneurial success.

The advantages of being a curious leader

Companies are constantly driven to improve and innovate in their search for unique angles of engagement and brand reputation. This, in turn, has the potential to increase their customer bases and, consequently, profits.

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This, however, is not easy for most companies. The difficulty here lies in their focus: Most companies rely on the logical side of an idea in order to attempt at innovation. This approach has the unfortunate tendency of reducing their team to a bunch of emotionless, entirely logic-driven robots which blindly follow stimuli based on predefined conditions. The truth is that human beings are not like this; they are emotionally-driven beings who make decisions according to their whims.

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This emotional aspect is the key to innovation. This is also why a lot of newer companies are more likely to come up with innovative ideas. Young people generally have a more curious and excited view toward life. This curiosity is the perfect mix of logic and emotion, one that can naturally drive people to come up with new, progressive ideas and activations.

However, most corporate environments are not conducive to the curiosity that drives innovation. Older entrepreneurs, in particular, tend to exhibit less curiosity due to the numbing effects that years of workplace experience can give.

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The key to fighting these numbing effects is to keep one’s emotional intelligence constantly developing. As a company grows, leaders in particular have to find ways to keep abreast of their employees’ and colleagues’ experiences in order to keep the innovative spirit alive, which can benefit the company in the long run.

Emile Haddad is a Seattle-based business coach who is the head of Catalyst Business Consulting, which specializes in keeping leaders on their innovative toes. Visit this LinkedIn page for more about his work.

A perfect example: Innovation in the IT sector

Business coaches agree that if there is one industry that continues to generate fresh ideas and foster new thinking, it is information technology (IT). In fact, IT companies are among the most innovative in the world, and not surprising, a good number of them are also included in the list of best companies to work for.

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Innovation is a key factor why IT companies are among the most successful businesses today. Even in its infancy, the IT sector showed potential in delivering trailblazing products and ideas. And it continues to do so today, that even the United Nations acknowledged how significant the developments from the IT sector were. Its current impact on manufacturing and industry of all types, and on individual lifestyles is indisputable. Indeed, the significance and impact of information technology is believed to be no less substantial as the invention of electricity.

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The IT sector is the perfect example of how valuable innovation is in an organization. The relentless drive to innovate has made the field highly successful. And this constant dose of innovation can be attributed to leaders who take a proactive role in being curious and being inquisitive so that they can mine the imagination of those they work with. These are the leaders who are comfortable in pushing the edge, asking tough why questions, and exploring unfamiliar territories. These are what experts call transactional leaders.

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Business mentor Emile Haddad of Seattle, Washington, believes that a transactional leader drives a culture of innovation in the workplace. Follow this Facebook page to read how an ordinary leader can be a transactional leader.