Leading Innovation Leadership

Foundations of Leading Innovation
Tina Johns
Capella University

Introduction The paper analyzes two leadership practices in their support of innovation in organizations, examines the discovery skills for their promotion of innovation in organizations and reviews the writer’s own strengths and weaknesses with discovery skills and how they affect their ability in an organization. Leadership is an important and essential component for an organizations innovation. In order to have the organization thrive the leaders must be able to develop goals, visions, and innovation. The leaders must engage with the employees of the organization and create a sense of belonging in order to have them commit to the organizational innovation.
(Dyer, et al., 2011, pp.38 – 40)
My results: 39 – moderate to high on discovery. My strengths in using discovery skills are in the areas of associating, questioning, and observing. My knowledge base in my organization and profession have developed and extensive foundation for the ability to recall on previous experiences. Associating past experiences in order to solve problems and produce new innovative processes is an ability that has been beneficial and continues to assist me in my work. Observation is an essential component in my daily routine. I observe other employees, the processes which are utilized, and abilities of the organization in order to develop new policies, processes, and training. Performing routine evaluations and listening to the employees also assist in this process. Questioning is one of the most important discovery skills that I possess. I continuously look for alternative means to complete projects, develop more efficient and effective methods in order to complete tasks, and ways to decrease overtime in the workplace. I am the one that will ask the questions “what if” and “why
They must maintain a skill set not only to see the future for the organization but also for the personnel and how to keep them committed to innovation for the organization. Leaders must identify that the organization is a living organism and they must continue to work daily to ensure that it thrives in order to achieve their goals.

References
Dyer, J., Gergensen, H., & Christensen, C. (2011). The Innovator 's DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Review Press.
Hyatt, Katherine. (2011). The Influence of Vision on Perceived Organizational Support. Kravis Leadership Institute, Leadership Review, Vol. 11, 157-170.
Legrand, C., & Weiss, D. (2011, July 1). How leaders can close the innovation gap. Retrieved from http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/how-leaders-can-close-the-innovation-gap/
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
Pallister, S. (2009, December 21). The innovator 's DNA. Retrieved from http://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship-innovation/the-innovators-dna-1264
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