6 Characteristics of an Innovative Leader

“At a pitch to the leaders of the merchandising department at a Fortune 500 company, I closed my presentation by asking the leader of the team, “What are you trying to solve for?” She didn’t know how to answer that. Neither did the other leaders on her team, because only those who’ve lived their personal brands openly and genuinely and understand their value propositions have taken the steps to break free from their leadership identity crises.

These leadership identity crises are real, severe and have created dysfunction both within the teams those leaders lead and how consumers are identifying with the company and/or its brands and services. They’ve not only minimized trust but also diminished their companies’ performance and influence, reduced productivity and set people back in their careers.

These people lost their distinction and their sense of self in the process of having the business define them as individuals. As a result, too many leaders have been acting inauthentically, managing by the templates of old, and cannot evolve to be the leaders their company needs, because those templates stripped them of their identities and left them uncertain about who they are and how to face change.”

Read the full post here.