Disruptive Leadership, And the Cult of Personality
The media fawns over celebrity tech CEOs such as Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, and regularly reminds us that they are (or should be) role models of innovation. Glossy magazines love reporting on their provocative antics, and business professors celebrate them as world changers. A year after Steve Jobs died, Walter Isaacson's biography of him was still a best seller, and his life story had become a holy scripture for innovators, which prompted a cover article in Wired magazine to ask, "Do you really want to be like Steve Jobs?"
This brings up a very important point: When organizations get praised for their disruptive thinking, it's often assumed that charismatic CEOs are interested in innovation and can motivate everyone else in the rank and file. That may be true in some cases, but it's definitely not the rule. And the idea that you have to be a risk-taker to even think of an unusual idea or that you have to be an extrovert to inspire people to step outside their comfort zones is flat-out wrong.
The problem with the "cult-of-personality" approach to innovation is that, despite their charisma, too many leaders make no practical attempt to teach disruptive thinking as a leadership capability. And how could they? It's simply impossible to rely on skills you develop in the natural course of managing a business and leveraging its existing asset base, unless disrupting the business and ignoring the existing asset base is a requirement of the job. An obsessive focus on the C-suite no longer makes sense in a world dominated by flat organization structures where a small increase in disruptive thinking across every function and role in the organization could be more valuable than having a few innovative (and loud) people at the top.
Passive narratives of domain-specific leaders of innovation being provocative––no matter how subtle or acute––are not the same as active confidence and capabilities that work across functions and industries. Talking about innovation and actually leading it are very different things. And simply describing the need for disruptive thinking and leadership doesn't do much to help achieve it.
Disruptive leadership doesn't make sense in any reasonable, rational moment of management, but it's a skill that no reasonable, rational manager can afford to be without. It is not something you can outsource to an "innovation consulting" firm or delegate to R&D. Every leader in your organization––starting with you––needs to understand that it is part of their job description, that they need to do it regardless of any internal or external pressures, and that it's a core competence they need to develop regardless of their personal leadership style.
Consumer goods companies looking to find out more can attend the 2016 Consumer Goods Business & Technology Leadership Conference, in Orlando, Fla., where Luke Williams, Professor, NYU Stern School of Business, Founder & Executive Director, NYU Innovation Lab, will take the stage on Tuesday Oct. 18th as the keynote speaker for the session Disrupting the Status Quo.
CGT’s flagship event has evolved with a new format that includes deep dive educational sessions through CGT University, peer-to-peer meetings, the new CGT Top 100 Registry event, and premier thought-leader speakers, while maintaining CGT’s reputation as the community leader in the industry. Click here to learn more about the 2016 Consumer Goods Business & Technology Leadership Conference, the ‘go-to’ source for the industry to network and gain insights in order to plan strategies for the coming 12 months.
This brings up a very important point: When organizations get praised for their disruptive thinking, it's often assumed that charismatic CEOs are interested in innovation and can motivate everyone else in the rank and file. That may be true in some cases, but it's definitely not the rule. And the idea that you have to be a risk-taker to even think of an unusual idea or that you have to be an extrovert to inspire people to step outside their comfort zones is flat-out wrong.
The problem with the "cult-of-personality" approach to innovation is that, despite their charisma, too many leaders make no practical attempt to teach disruptive thinking as a leadership capability. And how could they? It's simply impossible to rely on skills you develop in the natural course of managing a business and leveraging its existing asset base, unless disrupting the business and ignoring the existing asset base is a requirement of the job. An obsessive focus on the C-suite no longer makes sense in a world dominated by flat organization structures where a small increase in disruptive thinking across every function and role in the organization could be more valuable than having a few innovative (and loud) people at the top.
Passive narratives of domain-specific leaders of innovation being provocative––no matter how subtle or acute––are not the same as active confidence and capabilities that work across functions and industries. Talking about innovation and actually leading it are very different things. And simply describing the need for disruptive thinking and leadership doesn't do much to help achieve it.
Disruptive leadership doesn't make sense in any reasonable, rational moment of management, but it's a skill that no reasonable, rational manager can afford to be without. It is not something you can outsource to an "innovation consulting" firm or delegate to R&D. Every leader in your organization––starting with you––needs to understand that it is part of their job description, that they need to do it regardless of any internal or external pressures, and that it's a core competence they need to develop regardless of their personal leadership style.
Consumer goods companies looking to find out more can attend the 2016 Consumer Goods Business & Technology Leadership Conference, in Orlando, Fla., where Luke Williams, Professor, NYU Stern School of Business, Founder & Executive Director, NYU Innovation Lab, will take the stage on Tuesday Oct. 18th as the keynote speaker for the session Disrupting the Status Quo.
CGT’s flagship event has evolved with a new format that includes deep dive educational sessions through CGT University, peer-to-peer meetings, the new CGT Top 100 Registry event, and premier thought-leader speakers, while maintaining CGT’s reputation as the community leader in the industry. Click here to learn more about the 2016 Consumer Goods Business & Technology Leadership Conference, the ‘go-to’ source for the industry to network and gain insights in order to plan strategies for the coming 12 months.