10% innovators, 90% renovators. Which are you?

So why the 10 percent? This comes from a study done by Ghoshal and Bruch that was featured in their book titled “A Bias for Action.” They did a 10-year study at several major corporations and noted that there were only 10 percent of leaders who knew how to lead from a place of purpose.

Purposeful leaders pick their areas of focus carefully. They are strong in their will and have solid boundaries and time management skills. They are very self-aware and, probably most important, they know how to reduce their own stress and refuel themselves. The other types of leaders don’t know how to manufacture the energy or the focus. Both are really important. In fact, they are critical to innovation.

In addition to these skills, I have noticed that the best innovation leaders have another Zen master skill that many do not distinguish or talk about.

They are not laboring over the moods and desires of their boss or other high-ranking individuals. Don’t get me wrong; they are not ignoring them or in any way disrespectful; however, they are confident enough in themselves and in their value that they do not spend a lot of time (or their team’s time) in pre-meetings, preparing for meetings, or in fire drills emanating from offhanded remarks or inquiries. They are also willing to have very direct and authentic conversations with superiors, which helps further focus and prioritize what’s most important.

They do labor over some issues, though…the ones that impact their customers. That’s what I call “kissing the right _$$”!

If you have been tasked to bring innovation into your company, yet you are spending your days in meetings about current business and your evenings cleaning up email, take heart. These skills of purposeful innovation leadership can be learned. Awareness is the first step. Desire to change is the second. The rest just gets easier and, frankly, is pretty fun.