Innovative leader - homework

You can find so many types of leaders out there.  I want to tell you something about innovative leader. Words innovation and leadership are closely related.

Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal.

Innovation is about making new tools, products or processes bringing something new which allows people to accomplish something they were not able to accomplish before. Leaders are innovators.  We have to ask 3 questions. Who? Innovator. What? An innovation. How? Process of innovating.

Begin with question who is innovative leader.  He is creative visioner who have big ideas and can motivate people around him to turn those ideas into reality. He recognizes a great idea and creates the path that leads to that ideas becoming reality. When he has formed vision he needs to be able to share it with empolyees and business partners. Innovative leader needs a powerful imagination and excellent communication skills, confidence in his team and their ability to work together to achieve that dream.

His team needs to be able to see the visions in themselves and be willing to invest their own time and resources into making it happen. The most important things are enthusiasm, motivation and inspiration. However, innovative leader needs to recognize when his project is not working and be able to kill it even when it is hard for him.

Great examples for innovative leaders are Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple) and Thomas Alva Edison (electric lighting). I want to point out  about Steve Jobs. Mainly about his famous speech in front of new graduates of Stanford University. Steve says that his life changed  basically three things. One of them was leaving university , being fired from Apple and cancer which changed his view of life itself.

He never graduated from collage. But he took calligraphy course. He used that skills in designing first Mackintosh. He believed that you can not connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. You have to trust in something.

Apple as a corporation has gone in 10 years from 2 people working in garage to 2 billion dollar company with over 4000 employees. The irony is that he got fired from the comany he founded. He was rejected but he started over. Only way to do great work is to love what you do. Your time is limited so dont waste it in living someone elses life. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

His well known quote : If today was the last day of my life what I want to do what I am about to do today. Remebering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

So stay hungry, stay foolish.