In the last post, we learned why leadership crises arise and the consequences of them. If you’d like to read the last blog, see (http://bit.ly/2n8dkU1).
So, how do we truly break free from these identity crises, re-establish our leadership identities and redefine our corporate cultures for the future?
We use the six characteristics of the innovation mentality:
- See opportunity in everything.
- Anticipate the unexpected.
- Unleash your passionate pursuits.
- Live with an entrepreneurial spirit.
- Work with a generous purpose.
- Lead to leave a legacy.
Embracing these characteristics enables the new ideas and ideals that leaders haven’t been courageous and vulnerable enough to own. That’s how you’ll see the bigger opportunities, reawaken your entrepreneurial spirit and build a strong business system where collaboration and diversity of thought are embraced as opportunities to build a strong legacy.
Simply put, we as leaders must turn the spotlight of accountability on ourselves to strive for excellence — to help guide the evolution of our organizations’ futures and that of our clients and customers. We must be passionate in our pursuits to explore endless possibilities, anticipate the unexpected so change is welcomed, embrace an entrepreneurial spirit to make things better, create stronger alignment and build momentum.
What we need is a new mindset, one that takes us from melting pot to mosaic, substitutional to evolutionary thinking, knowledge to wisdom, business to individual and survival to reinvention. Your ability to see, sow, grow and share as a leader using the innovation mentality creates an environment that allows others to see, sow, grow and share, and develop their personal brands and their own leadership identities.
This is where the six characteristics come in. They enable you to reinvent or course-correct any situation you encounter in 21st-century workplaces and marketplaces. As a result, great leaders get the most out of every situation they’re faced with by seeing the opportunities they present. They anticipate the unexpected by managing crisis and change before circumstances force their hand. Their passionate pursuits of excellence open new doors of endless possibilities that they aim to share with others. And those are just the first three characteristics.
As one of my mentors told me, the minute you stop touching the business is the minute you stop understanding the business. That’s also the moment leaders stop adding value and their effectiveness begins to wane along with their reputations. The six characteristics of the innovation mentality tests your ability to authentically lead and own your leadership identity and the deep responsibility associated with it. Because that’s what the six characteristics of the innovation mentality solve for: leadership that continuously and consistently touches the people it serves in the workplace and marketplace and builds trust, and relationships that add value to all our careers, experiences and lives it influences.
This excerpt was from the book The Innovation Mentality written by Glenn Llopis. Glenn is a former C-suite corporate executive and entrepreneur of several successful companies, including his firm, Glenn Llopis Group. Most of his writings focus on the following: strengthening leadership distinction, elevating corporate cultures and building teams in a wisdom-based economy, business evolution in the 21st century, maximizing organizational and people potential and enabling growth through the cultural demographic shift.
If you want to improve your leadership skills, you may also want to look into working with a coach who can help you develop the qualities you seek, as well as reading helpful resources such as this book. I have worked with coaches in the past, and it has made a huge difference in my business. Don’t know how to find a good coach? Ask your friends and business acquaintances who they have used, or reach out to me and I can give a few recommendations.
