Senior executives always question the wisdom of allowing the emerging leaders in innovation leadership development programs to choose their own projects. The seniors ask “Why would we send them off to seek opportunities when we already have a long list that we need to capitalize on?” Here is how I answer:
1. Leaders make decisions. You are [...]

Traditional learning and innovation are not well-suited to one another. The school of life offers a much better innovation curriculum than any university ever could. Reading and lectures are no substitute for conceiving an idea and testing it in the real world. That is, people need to observe, and better yet, participate, in innovation, [...]

The young “high-potentials” I often work with at my financial services clients tend to be a confident bunch. Some of them sell complex products and services to very sophisticated clients who will eat them for lunch if they sense hesitancy or uncertainty. Others constantly make high stakes decisions in rapidly changing markets, dealing with uncertainty [...]