From innovation to success

Doing something original or new can set you apart from others; win you praise and a feeling of success achieved.

I use the word feeling because this might be the only thing that you will experience if you’re not prepared for the trial phase which your original idea goes through in order to become successful.

This is doesn’t mean I don’t want people to be successful. This is what happens naturally when success is what you seek from innovation.

When your idea/innovation is appreciated for the first time its success among a small audience—the first people who understood the innovation and praised you for it—might give you a false perception that you’re ready to present it to the Large Audience. Be careful, this is the first major risk.
If you were complimented in a small environment such as a small business, or even inside a department, you’ll have to consider some adaptations before taking it further to a larger setting.

And when making changes you run a second major risk—of losing the initial originality and eureka moment which led you to your first success.

If you have an original or innovative idea you should be ready for criticism when presenting it—be it at the company, college or your community. And the larger the audience the harsher and more diverse the criticisms will be.

To be successful when implementing an original/innovative idea, consider the following process:

1) Learn and maintain the essence of your idea. When considering further changes the essence should not vanish and lose its proposed innovation;
2) Make tons of mistakes—as long as they’re new mistakes. This is part of the creative and improvement process.
3) Consider the largest and most diverse number of opinions when testing the application of your idea, in a way mirroring the existing variety among the population targeted by your conception;
4) Resilience should be a major consideration. Introducing new ways of doing things always makes other people feel uncomfortable and anxious. You should always be ready to face them.

Even after following all different sorts of guidance and surrounding yourself by the best experts you’ll fail. Not always, but many times. Daring and innovating has a price. Ask yourself—before you set out—if you’re really willing to pay for it.

And if you are, you might achieve great success. There are countless examples of innovative professionals who have been through tough times even before reaping the rewards of their boldness and innovation. Even the famous Eike Batista has failed a few times (an off-road car manufacturing plant, a cosmetic company, an express shipping business...) before becoming a reference in the business world.

If you have an idea that you think is promising, go ahead! Apply it! Be it in your area, the company you work for, or even in your own business—have you considered opening your own business? No matter how old you are or what you’ve done in the past. Paraphrasing the late Chico Xavier* , although no one can go back and make a new beginning, anyone can start now and create a new ending.

*Chico Xavier (April 2, 1910 - June 30, 2002) was a popular medium in Brazil's Spiritism movement who wrote 412 books, ostensibly using a process known as "psychography.” His work helped to establish Kardecist Spiritism as one of the religions professed in Brazil (see more)

Learning how to be led is as important as knowing how to lead

Leadership is almost an overused term in the world of Human Resources. There are leadership development programs, future leader trainings, innate leadership discussions, etc.

But leadership concepts taught in academia are not always easy to apply in a globalized world and increasingly frequent matrix structures. The more senior the role you occupy in a company the more people you need to report to directly or indirectly. In plain English, as your leadership role increases so does the number of “bosses” you accumulate.

There are regional reports, practice reports, business unit reports, product-based reports, and many more.

In such contexts sometimes we lead and sometimes we are led. But we’re not led by only one boss but many leaders simultaneously. And in order to navigate through this new professional scenario one must know how to be led.

Knowing how to be led has nothing to do with being submissive or obeying orders. It’s about knowing how to meet guidelines and perform as an important link in the chain, not allowing it to break because you believe in the ideal designed by leadership.

This has nothing to do with submission, but loyalty. Knowing how to be led is about learning from your leader’s right decisions. But more importantly, it’s about showing solidarity and support when witnessing your leader’s mistakes (and this will invariably happen because leaders are human too). This is also a lesson for those being led.

Strong leadership is indeed a key factor in building high performance teams. However, it’s important to also highlight that good leaders prefer to work with professionals who can be their “right arm” and strong pillars to support their leadership vision.

In the new economy and business scenario we currently live in it’s essential for a professional to know how to become one of the pillars that support these diverse visions, which are simply parts of a comprehensive business plan.

Does this sound complicate? Actually, it really is! But knowing how to be led in this new context will determine a professional’s success in the new economy.

GOOD LUCK!!