A New Leadership Innovation Model

There is nothing more difficult to take inhand, more perilous to conduct, or moreuncertain in its success, than to take the leadin the introduction of a new order of things.—Niccolo Machiavelli

About 50 years ago, President John F. Kennedy presentedthe nation with a historic challenge: to land a man on themoon and return him safely to earth. That challenge was metwithin a decade. This bold challenge, coupled by the pressuresof the cold war, ushered the United States into an area ofunprecedented technological innovation to master the complexitiesof a manned moon landing and confirmed America's status as theworld's industrial leader.

Everyone today comes in contact with the vast array of technologiesand products spawned by innovations in the space program. Thesespace inventions have helped to make our lives easier, safer, andmore comfortable. Examples include research that led to thedevelopment of sunglasses that block damaging blue and ultravioletlight (Space technology spinoffs ultraviolet sunglasses) to imagingtechnologies that are the basis for all cell phone cameras andsophisticated medical HD (high definition) imaging devices (Spacetechnology spinoffs cellphone camera)

Today's leaders need to challenge themselves to open new vistas ofknowledge, spark innovation, and fuel economic growth. Althoughthe concept of leadership has been around for many centuries,in the 1930s, more significant studies began to attempt to definewhat allows an authentic leader to stand apart from the rest.Simply stated, a leadership model is literally a theory on howto influence and govern individuals toward the attainment of agoal. Numerous leadership models currently exist and some of themodels that would have been adequate several years ago are nolonger appropriate for these changing times. Looking at the globalstage, there are signs of geopolitical and geo-economic shifts inthe world order that can have a significant impact on leadership.It takes, vision, communications, collaboration and persuasionto deal with the new realities. Leaders need to be out of the boxthinkers adept at collaboration, vision, strategy, and value creation.In order to compete in the new global economy, we need a newleadership model that was exemplified by President Kennedy thatwill help us prepare with the prerequisite skills needed to succeed.

Business Drivers

Business drivers are the resources, processes or conditions thatare vital for the continued success and growth of a business andthe achievement of business goals. Business drivers are also basedon the type of products or services offered by the organization. Akey business driver is something that has a major impact on theperformance of your specific business. At a high level, the generallyrecognized key business drivers are the financials (e.g., cash flow &liquidity, profit), assets (e.g., equipment, facilities, inventory, andpatents), growth, and people. Each driver is totally dependent onall of the other drivers.

Other business drivers can be either internal (e.g., strategies, goals)or external (e.g., regulations, weather factors, economic conditions)to a business. An example of a strategic business driver might bedealing with cyber threats on the organization. As the numberof attacks and intrusions on organizations networks has grownexponentially, so has the cost of cyber-security and support staff.

A quandary is to create systems that are safe as well as usableespecially with the many Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) mobiledevices and applications that being brought onto the network. Thecyber-security approach selected must be balanced between easeof installation and the ability to meet business and societal needsof the user community.

There will always be outside business drivers that a companycannot influence, but through good leadership, it will be preparedto handle them. A company must identify its business drivers andattempt to maximize the response to any that it can control. Therules of business have changed and demands leadership at the speedof thought and the capacity to establish decisive and inventiveteams.

As American scientist, inventor, printer, philosopher, statesman,and businessman, Benjamin Franklin once stated, "Drive thybusiness or it will drive thee".

Every day, a business is exposed to risks and challenges that aleader must deal with. Constant change is a reality in today'sbusiness environment, and innovation and growth are two waysto handle it. Failure to adequately and timely respond to businessdrivers can put a company at a disadvantage. As organizationsincrease in size and scope, identifying business drivers becomesmore difficult. Leaders have to look at these key drivers and needto know about generating cash as well as how to leverage it wiselyto spur growth.

Although American industrialist Thomas J. Watson Sr. was notthe founder of the Industrial Business Machines Corporation(IBM), he was the inspirational driving force that catapulted thecompany from a nondescript manufacturer of business equipmentand furnishings to the world's dominant computer company. Uponbecoming CEO of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording (CTR)Company, Watson's first act was to change the company name toIBM. He was known for his motivational and organization skillsand posted the now famous slogan "Think" in company offices.While pursuing an aggressive research and development program,in 1937, Watson made the risky decision for the building of theMark I – an Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, whichgave the company the grounding and reputation as a leader in thisnew industry. According to Watson, "To be successful, you have tohave your heart in your business, and your business in your heart."

Technology innovation is another key business driver and is oneof the trends shaping the business world of tomorrow. Expect newbusiness models to emerge based upon technology advances andthe respective changes that will need to be made to organizationalstructures. Businesses that fail to keep pace with these changes willlose their competitive edge. The use of IT is leading the way withtechnology-led innovation. The four forces within InformationTechnology that are...