Innovation wins the day, an innovative leader creates an atmosphere, a culture that breeds ideas and all benefit from it.

1. Innovative Leadership
Anthony B. Gatto

2. Introduction
• Growth is the lifeblood of any organization; innovation is both a vaccine
against market slowdowns and an elixir that rejuvenates growth (Rigby,
Gruver, and Allen, 2009).
• Innovation is a necessary ingredient for sustained success-it protects your
tangible and intangible assets against the erosion of the market.
Innovation is an integral part of business, and as such is has to be
managed (Davila, Epstein, & Shelton, 2006).
• An innovative leader is part entrepreneur and transformational, they have
the vision and know for the vision to become reality it takes a village.
• Innovation wins; combing servant leadership with a diversity and inclusion
(D&I) strategy creates a collaborative working environment, a team that
together creates paradigm shifts.

3. Innovation Model
• Innovation starts with
an idea, the more ideas
the greater chance of
success.
• Innovation is a process
and as such must be
measured and
monitored.
• The innovative leader
makes innovation part
of the culture.

4. Traits of Innovative Leader
• Communicator
• Ethics
• Politician
• Adaptability
• Initiative
• Problem Solving
• Calculated Risk-Taker
• Organized

5. Communication
• Charles (1999) • Grossman (2011)
– Companies with 100,000+
employees in U.S. and U.K.
• Estimated total cost of
employee misunderstanding
$37 billion ($62.4 million on
average)
• $26,041 cost per worker due
to communication barriers
• Companies with highly
effective communicators had
47% higher total returns over
least effective communicators

6. Ethics
• Goals for Ethical Business Communication (Guffey, 2008)
– Abiding by the law
– Telling the truth
– Labeling opinions
– Being objective
– Communicating clearly
– Using inclusive language
– Giving credit

7. • Seven steps to integrate ethics in the workplace (Mack, 2013)
– Publish general behavioral guidelines
– Train staff
– Listen to other viewpoints
– Defend the weak
– Confront questionable behavior
– Report unethical behavior
– Treat all with respect and honesty
Creating an Ethical Culture

8. Politician
• Tact/Bearing/Unselfishness
• Outside
– Manage by working the room
• Inside
– Manage by walking around
• The world and every organization is political,
learn to navigate through it.

9. Political Navigator Roles (Gilley, 2006)
Back Wheel
Professional
Expertise
Front Wheel
Political Skills
Assertive
Communicator
Relationship
Builder
Negotiator Partnership Builder
Organizational
Expert

10. Political Engagement Process
• Gilley (2006)
– Surveying the landscape
– Communicating a sense of urgency
– Creating political partnerships
– Developing political solutions
– Selecting and implementing political solutions
– Monitoring political solutions
– Anticipating counterattacks and maneuvers
– Evaluating political solutions and engagements

11. Political Influencing Tactics
• Falbe and Yukl (1990)
– Inspirational appeals
– Consultation
– Personal appeals
– Exchange
– Integration
– Rational persuasion
– Collation
– Pressure
– Legitimizing

12. Adaptability
• Maturity/Awareness/Endurance
– Self awareness strengthens the leader
– Awareness aids one in understanding issues that
involve ethics and values
– Awareness is not a giver of solace - it is just the
opposite (Greenleaf, 1977)
– Adaptability is a disturber and an awakener

13. Initiative
• Dependability
• The innovative leader is
a self-motivator,
challenges oneself to be
better

14. Problem Solver
• Knowledge/Intelligence
• Situational leadership
(Blanchard, 1985)

15. Calculate Risk Taker
• Decisiveness
• An entrepreneur is a
calculated risk taker,
anyone that just blindly
takes risk is a gambler.
• Take calculated risks.
That is quite different
from being rash.
– George S. Patton

16. Organized
• Judgment
• Senge (1990)
– Becoming organized
starts with oneself then
moves onto teaching
others until it becomes
part of the culture

17. Servant Leadership
• Robert Greenleaf
– Determined that servant leadership
substantially contributed to the
development of trust among followers
(1977).
– First theorized about servant leadership by
suggesting that the leader should place the
needs of the follower before their own
needs by helping the follower to mature
and develop as human beings (1977).
– One of the principal objectives of servant
leadership is to advance and subsequently
achieve organizational goals and objectives,
according to Greenleaf (1977).

18. Build the Foundation
• According to Blanchard & Hodges
(2003), one of the quickest ways
you can tell the difference
between a servant leader and a
self serving leader is how they
handle feedback, because of the
biggest fears that a self serving
leader have is to lose their
position.
• Bass (2000) asserted that servant
leadership would become quite
significant in organizations due to
its focus on follower and the
efforts of the leader to promote
the independence, knowledge, and
development of the individual.

19. Good to Great Leadership
• Collins (2001) in his book Good to Great described the pinnacle of leadership as
being a Level 5 leader; these individuals can come from all backgrounds however
they are experts in navigating their political environment and creating value for all
stakeholders.
• Level 5 Leader is an extension of the Servant Leader.
– Have the companies’ interests above their own
– Humble
– Leadership cannot have its own agenda, get the right people on the bus and
go
– Stockdale Paradox – leaders confront brutal truth
and doesn’t keep up in face of them
• Organizations that take leadership development seriously outperform the
competition (Kets de Vries and Korotov, p. 9, 2010).

20. Diversity & Inclusion
• Canas and Sondak (2014) cite many benefits of a diverse organization,
they are only realized if CEO and executive team believe in its benefits and
what a diverse organization is capable of.
• The company needs to create what Canas and Sondak (2014) call an
environment for success. What senior management needs to do is believe
in the benefits of diversity and implement a plan to achieve it.
• Canas and Sondak (2014) Integrated approach to diversity management:
1. Authentic leadership.
2. Clear communication
3. Inclusive recruitment
4. Long-term retention strategies
5. Incorporation of diversity
6. Diversity management metrics
7. Expansive external relationships

21. More Diverse, More Innovation
• Rowe and Gardenswartz
(1994) adapted from Loden
and Rosener (1991)
– Ideas can come from
anywhere, more diverse
an organization the
more ideas are
generated
– We are much more
diverse than what we
see
– A leader will use D&I
strategy as a foundation
for creating an
innovative culture

22. Growing the Business Through Innovation
• “Diversity fosters creativity. We need to
generate the best ideas from our people
in all levels of the company and
incorporate them into our business
practices.”
– Frédéric Rozé, chief executive officer, L’Oréal
USA
• “We are in 75 countries and we want to
hire the best talent in each locale.
Diverse teams and companies make
better decisions.”
– Eileen Taylor , global head of diversity,
Deutsche Bank

23. Diversity Scorecard
• Edward Hubbard (2004) developed a diversity model to capture what he
calls “Diversity Return on Investment” (DROI).
• Seven steps that an organization can use to evaluate DROI:
1. Develop initial analysis and planning
2. Collect and analyze data
3. Isolate diversity’s contribution
4. Convert the contribution to money
5. Calculate the costs and benefits
6. Report data
7. Track and access progress
• “If we couldn’t measure the impact of our diversity and inclusion efforts
and programs, it would be a hard sell among company executives.”
– Huey Wilson , vice president of human resources, worldwide operations, and diversity
board member at Mattel

24. Creating a Culture of Innovation

25. Using a Culture of Innovation to Transform the Organization
• Burns (1980) Leadership
– Transform the
organization, change the
culture
• Servant Leadership
(Greenleaf) develops
the organization
• A innovative company is
a collaborative
company… it is a
winning company.

26. Winning Formula

27. Conclusion
• Organic growth comes from innovation.
• People (followers) will only change is you (leader) by example change.
• Anything you track gets better, plan and implement key performance
indicators (KPIs) which show how the new organization is trending
towards becoming an innovative company and creating a new paradigm.
• Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the
lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a
more just and caring world.
• Diversity increases the opportunity for new ideas.
• Senior management must believe in Servant Leadership and a D&I
strategy and put into practice both and create a culture of innovation.
• In business innovation wins the day, by having the right leader along with
creation of a culture of innovation will provide a path of sustained success
for all stakeholders, now and in the future.

28. References
• Bass, B. M. (2000). The future of leadership in learning organizations. Journal of Leadership Studies, 7, 18-40.
• Blanchard, K. (1985). One minute manager: Increasing effectiveness through situational leadership. New York, NY: William
Morrow and Company, Inc.
• Blanchard, K., & Hodges, P. (2003). The servant leader. Transforming your heart, head, hands and habits. Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson Inc.
• Canas, K.A., & Sondak, H. (2011). Opportunities and challenges of workplace diversity (3rd
ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
• Charles, C. M. (1999). Synergetic classroom: Joyful teaching and gentle discipline. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education
Inc.
• Collins, J. (2001). Good to great. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
• Davila, T., Epstein, M.J., & Shelton, R.D. (2006). Making innovation work: How to manage it, measure it and profit from it.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publisher.
• Fable, C. M. & Yukl, G. M. (1990). Influence tactics and objectives in upward, downward, and lateral influence attempts.
Journal of applied Psychology, 75 (3): 133-148.

29. References
• Forbes. (2011). Fostering innovation through a diverse workforce. Forbes Insights, July: 1-19.
• Gilley, J. W. (2006). The manager as politician. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
• Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
• Grossman, D. (2011). The cost of poor communications. Retrieved from http://www.holmesreport.com/opinion-
info/10645/The-Cost-Of-Poor-Communications.aspx
• Guffey, M. E. (2008). Business communication. Process & product (6th
ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
• Hubbard, E.E. (2004). The Diversity scorecard: Evaluating them impact of diversity on organizational performance.
Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth.
• Kets de Vries, M. F. R., and Korotov, K. (2010). Developing leaders and leadership development. INSEAD Working Papers
Collection. 2010, Issue 77, p1-23.
• Loden, M., & Rosener, J. (1991). Workforce America: Managing employee diversity as a vital resource. New York, NY:
Business One Irwin.

30. References
• Mack, S. (2013). How to incorporate ethics at work. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/incorporate-ethics-
work-26131.html
• Rigby, D., Gruver, K., and Allen, J. (2009). Innovation in turbulent times. Harvard Business Review, June.
• Rowe, A., & Gardenswartz, L. (1994). Diverse teams at work. Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management.
• Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline. New York, NY: Doubleday.