Innovation Killer #9: Making Impossible Demands

This blog post is about earning the respect of your colleagues and subordinates. The clueless leader may assume that the best way to get his people to respect him is to be “tough” and “push them hard.” He thinks bosses who are “soft” are not respected. It reality,...

Innovation Killer #8: Hanky-Panky

There is an old adage that says, “You should never get your honey where you get your money.” Your work is not Match.com. Keep your love life outside the building. This is especially true if the person you’re interested in is your subordinate. To this I say one thing:...

Innovation Killer #7: Laziness

Instead of pitching in themselves, lazy leaders dump the responsibility for innovation onto their subordinates. This can lead to low morale from overworked and under-appreciated employees. Before long, the entire organization’s productivity plummets, innovation dries...

Innovation Killer #6: Dishonesty

This sounds obvious, but honesty requires all of the components of integrity. If honesty isn’t part of your individual DNA, you will fail. There are many ways a leader can be dishonest. Some are small and some are big, but all are bad. A few could land you in prison....

Innovation Killer #5: Inconsistency

In their pursuit of innovation, your employees and stakeholders want clarity and consistency of values, procedures, and evaluations. They trust you to set the course and stick to it. Being flexible does not mean you change direction like a leaf in the wind. If you’re...