Idea Agent

Book description

There is perhaps no leadership challenge more daunting than managing creativity—and more urgent than delivering breakthrough innovation. How do you harness some of the most passionate, intelligent people in your organization without stifling them? How do you simultaneously unleash their energy and channel it into something tangible? Lina Echeverría offers seven proven principles through which new ideas come to fruition, from unleashing passion and drive, and embracing productive conflict, to emphasizing excellence and structure while living values that liberate creativity. As team catalyst, the leader delivers results while nurturing intuition and growing talent. These principles apply well beyond traditional creative domains, propelling innovation across entire organizations. Drawing on the author’s considerable experience assembling and nurturing cutting-edge teams at Corning Inc., Idea Agent shows readers how to juxtapose creative freedom with management rigor and lead dedicated professionals as they generate and execute one great innovation after another.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Foreword
  7. Prologue—Leadership for Fast-Paced Innovation
  8. My Personal Journey—Conflict in Art and Science
  9. Passion 1—Into the Ring of Fire
    1. KNOW AND UNDERSTAND CREATIVES
    2. BE COMFORTABLE AROUND CONFLICT AND ADDRESS IT DEFTLY
    3. FIND YOUR COURAGE
    4. SUPPORT CREATIVES TO STAND ON THEIR OWN
    5. DEFINE ROLES CLEARLY AND INHIBIT CONFLICT
  10. My Personal Journey—Finding My Wings
  11. Passion 2—Let the Best Take Flight
    1. NOT ALL THE PASSIONATE ARE CREATED EQUAL
    2. BUILD FROM RELATIONSHIPS AND HIRE WITH HEART
    3. EMBRACE AND FINE-TUNE EVERY PLAYER IN THE ORCHESTRA
    4. PLAYERS AS COACHES
    5. MAKE ROOM FOR INTUITION
    6. SUPPORT CREATIVES TO BRING IN ALL THEIR TALENTS
    7. LET THEM FOLLOW THEIR HEARTS
    8. THE GOLDEN RULE: GET TO KNOW THEM, GET TO KNOW THEM, GET TO KNOW THEM
    9. FULFILL THEIR EXPANSION OR RISK LOSING THEM
  12. My Personal Journey—Standing Up for Values
  13. Passion 3—Live Values That Liberate Creativity
    1. RESPECT
    2. FREEDOM
    3. FLEXIBILITY
    4. FUN AND PLAY
    5. INTERDEPENDENCE
    6. TRANSPARENCY
    7. INTEGRITY
    8. PASSION
    9. TRUST
    10. RIGOR
    11. RESULTS
  14. My Personal Journey—Demand for Excellence in the Tropical Rain Forest
  15. Passion 4—Demand Excellence and Enrich Lives
    1. EXPECTATIONS OF A LEADER
    2. COMMITMENTS FROM A LEADER
  16. My Personal Journey—Culture in the South Pacific
  17. Passion 5—Create a Culture
    1. ESTABLISHING THE ORAL TRADITION
    2. SIGNIFICANCE IN RECOGNITION
    3. THE VALUE OF TIME
    4. A CULTURE NEEDS A LEADER: TO YOUR OWN SELF BE TRUE
  18. My Personal Journey—An Urgency for Structure
  19. Passion 6—Structure a Clear Organization
    1. STRUCTURE? WHY?
    2. WHO HAS THE SKILLS TO DO WHAT AND WITH WHOM?
    3. ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMICS AS DRIVERS OF STRUCTURE
  20. My Personal Journey—On My Way to France
  21. Passion 7—Provide Authentic Leadership
    1. EMPOWERMENT
    2. INTEGRITY
    3. COURAGE
    4. EMPATHY
    5. FUN AND PLAY
    6. SELF-AWARENESS
    7. SELF-ACCEPTANCE
  22. Epilogue—Let Life Continue
  23. Acknowledgments
  24. Index
  25. About the Author

Product information

  • Title: Idea Agent
  • Author(s): Lina M. Echeverria
  • Release date: November 2012
  • Publisher(s): AMACOM
  • ISBN: 9780814432181