There are basically two kinds of people who thrive in business: business leaders and business innovators. But it certainly is possible to be both if you’re a new entrepreneur who wants the best of both worlds. Every company really needs teams comprised of both leaders and innovators if they’re going to be a sustainable company, but how do you get there? There are a few things you should know about business leaders and innovators.
The Key Qualities Of An Innovator
You might mistakenly think of an innovator as a tech geek coming up with all kinds of advanced new computer algorithms and high-powered robots to run things. You don’t have to be that person to be an innovator. You just need to think outside the box sometimes. Innovators are those who figure out how to meet their target customers needs in ways their competitors have not yet done, and it’s not always just through offering a completely brand new product, it could be as simple as offering to accept cryptocurrency if your customers prefer it.
It could be through cutting out an old buying process and making it shorter and less expensive. Or it could even be coming up with a new marketing message that gets the customer’s attention the way nobody else’s has. Many modern innovators are simply using technology like social media to further expand their toolset.
Key Qualities Of A Leader
There are so many qualities that good business leaders possess it’s hard to summarize them all in short detail, but they look beyond just coming up with groundbreaking products and making sales to really leading a corporate culture that is focused on people. Leaders know how to win people both by being outgoing towards them as well as leading by example. Leaders should take time to gain deeper understanding of their employees. You can look at data on generational trends or get to know your employees directly through interactions and surveys.
Even in a data-driven culture where numbers mean a lot, leaders still focus on the environment and creating a place where employees love to come to work, and where customers know they’re doing business with a company that cares about them.
In summary, many companies can have great innovators working for them and have good products on the market, but ultimately they need values and ethics upheld to stay in business long-term. You can always become a better leader by being a listener and looking for ways to improve on what you do. Use data to see where you can improve, and figure out where you need to be a leader and where to be an innovator. It may even be helpful to read a book by a leader of a very successful company to see what they learned along their journey.
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