Innovation Leaders: How Senior Executives Stimulate, Steer and Sustain Innovation

PREFACE MAPPING THE INNOVATION LEADERSHIP TERRITORY

This book is built around one main idea: The belief that innovation requires a specific form of leadership, distinct from other mainstream types of leadership. This conviction, rooted in years of empirical research with companies at different stages of their innovation learning curve, is expanded and supported in three ways:

First, by characterizing ‘innovation leaders,’ those senior executives who relentlessly stimulate, steer and sustain innovation in their companies. We will propose a number of common behavioral traits or attitudes of these leaders, depending on whether they focus on the front end or back end of innovation. We will also highlight what they actually do to promote the innovation ...