Leadership is critical to innovation success. Unless an initiative is seen to have support from the top it is not likely to be taken serious. Comments such as “The executive board are in agreement with the new strategy of interdependence and collaboration but they pay only lip-service to it” indicate that all top management achieves is the “BOHICA-effect”: Bend Over Here It Comes Again! A different scenario is painted by the following comment: “Everyone in the organisation recognises the importance of innovation as there is visible high level support.”

Creating the most appropriate leadership style and ensuring fit between strategic ambition, company culture and leadership style does not happen on its own accord. Training will be required to accelerate the development of a desired leadership style. What kind of leadership style is most appropriate will depend on the type of company culture, and the kind of innovation aspired to.

It is also important to acknowledge the difference between management and leadership. Good managers are not necessarily good leaders and vice versa. As the Oxford Dictionary points out, a manager is “a person responsible for controlling or administering all or part of a company or similar organization” whereas a leader is “the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country” and also “a person followed by others”. It is getting things done versus motivating people to do things. The best definition of leadership I have come across, certainly in the context of innovation, stems from London Business School Professor Rob Goffee who says, “Leadership is about inspiring others to higher levels of performance.”