🔹 The Role of Leadership in Building a Culture of Innovation
Published over 1 year ago • 4 min read
Leadership Advantage - Issue 2
by Andrea Michalek
Hi Leaders!
We are going to cover 2 topics today, both related to team culture.
The first is how to build a culture of innovation. Not to get that one-hit-wonder of a great product idea, but how to create the long-term environment where ideas thrive.
The second is about learning what drives your team outside of the office.
Now on to the content...
Building a culture of innovation
Innovation doesn't just happen; it must be cultivated.
As a leader, it's your job to create a culture where new ideas can flourish.
Decades of leading tech teams have taught me there is an art to helping teams live up to their potential.
A focused team can accomplish great things.
But often, you need to give a team a bit of breathing room to realize their full potential.
If you are leading a tech team, here are 7 strategies to put into practice today:
🔹 1. Encourage risk-taking
Create a culture where it's safe to take risks and make mistakes.
This can help spark new ideas and approaches.
The trust you put in your team will be returned tenfold.
🔹 2. Create times to work on breakthroughs
Get your tech team together outside of the normal rhythm of releases.
Every quarter, have the team work through tough problems that cannot be addressed under normal circumstances.
Have a senior member or two come prepared to lead the discussion.
🔹 3. Foster transparency
Openly discuss both challenges and opportunities for the company.
Give team members the chance to contribute to the conversations.
As a leader, host "fireside chats" where any question is acceptable to ask.
Creativity comes from understanding.
🔹 4. Make room for unstructured time
Set aside time for unstructured work, whether it is a:• hackathon, • half-day during an offsite, * or percentage of unscheduled time.
Explicitly making room for unstructured work can enable the potential for exceptional results.
Complete the circle and have the participants report back on what they achieved.
🔹 5. Involve the tech team in product decisions
Tech teams have the creativity to build amazing products, but they need to be involved early.
Waiting until the decision of what to build has been set, is too late.
Make sure the tech team has a voice and is involved.
🔹 6. Explore new technology
Create an environment where new ideas and approaches are explored.
Encourage lunch-and-learns where one of your team members demos new tech to the rest of the team.
The focus and appreciation on continued learning will spark conversations about how this new technology might be applied.
Encourage curiosity.
🔹 7. Set the intention that great things will happen
A universal truth about teams is teams want to win.
So, set the bar high for innovation and creativity.
Do not be afraid to set stretch goals for your team.
Celebrate when major advances are achieved.
🔹 Summary
7 ways to build innovation into your tech team culture:
• transparency • learn as a team • set the intention • unstructured time • tech is at the table • encourage risk-taking • expect breakthroughs
Consider: your team outside of the office
Leadership is about people (obviously).
But often, we only observe the person as it relates to their specific job and role inside the company.
Don't forget that your team is balancing/prioritizing in many areas that you do not see.
Any of the 7Fs can influence someone's performance at work:
Ask questions to get to know what is influencing and motivating each person.
I gained insight into this when I took a break from work, and rattled off this quick tweet:
This tweet went a bit viral and was viewed almost 50K times last week.
The most compelling part was how in the comments, how passionate people were about their choices. Remote and hybrid teams vs in-office is a debate that is far from over.
Opinions ranged from:• "never again"• "miss the social aspect of the office"• "priceless benefits of working from home"• "perfect way to have work-life balance"• "I hated working from home"
As leaders, recognizing the strong opinions people have about their work environment is important. The why behind the comments matter.
"never again"
WHY: If I work from an office again, it will be on my own terms. Freedom = being in control of your own time.
"miss the social aspect of the office"
WHY: I miss it but I never understood how it's productive to be there every day for 8-9 hours a day
"priceless benefits of working from home"
WHY: Take kids to school. Pick them up. Available for emergencies. No questions asked.
"I hated working from home"
WHY: I like the clear boundaries that the physical separation between work and home brings.
Take the extra step to first consider that each of your colleagues has motivations in the 7Fs above, and that the very way they choose to structure their work is a topic they are passionate about.
Ask probing questions.
Closing thoughts
As this new year just started, beginning with the people on your team felt right.
I'd love to hear any feedback you have, and if there are particular topics you'd like to see talked about. I am just an email away: andrea@topularstrategy.com.
I'm excited to be rolling out some leadership coaching options in the next few weeks.
In advance of a larger set of offerings, I am pre-selling "laser coaching" as an affordable way to get focused advice on the biggest challenge you are facing. How to get started is below.
I help technology leaders launch products, build teams, and lead with confidence.
If you are looking for leadership coaching I offer 2 easy ways to get started today:
Laser coaching (Pre-sale)I am opening up 5 slots for "laser coaching."This is a new model for me where we enter a 1-year engagement for a flat fee of $995.We focus on specific, targeted goals and challenges faced by leaders. Together we identify areas for improvement and create a plan for solving them, one step at a time. Here's how it works:• We spend 30 minutes deciding on an action plan with 1 main next step.• Each ongoing session will be 15 minutes.• At each session we will work towards your goals and come up with steps and actions to be achieved next.• You can schedule unlimited 15-minute sessions as long as you complete your actions before the next call.Schedule a free call to learn about laser coaching with Andrea here.
1-on-1 executive coachingI also decided to make it easy for new clients to book time with me. Limited spaces are available.• Schedule a free 15 minute introductory call here.
