Requires “ Leadership “ that is good at leading because they –
- Are excellent at listening, collaborating, strategic thinking, and motivating people
- Invest heavily in what will have value – opportunities, projects, AI careers, etc.
- Provide important perks that enable people to spend more time with family and/or pursue their interests, encourage personal and professional development, etc.
- Have strong look-ahead, vision, and digital competencies
And Realize –
- Change doesn’t start with a memo from the CEO, it starts with asking people what is needed, suggestions to improve outcomes, etc. – and accommodating accordingly
- The need for a “ People First Culture “ begins with designing policies and benefits with team members (not just for them).
- Leaders need to be approachable and easy to talk to.
- To be the best, you need to lead for all. And to do that, you need to listen to all.
- Listening is meaningful when it leads to action and desired outcomes.
- The importance of encouraging collaboration and team initiatives as well as shared rewards.
- Pairing “ Humans “ with “ AI Agents “ is a huge opportunity.
- The need for – curiosity, digital competency, being good at asking questions, learning fast, high communication and collaboration skills, results, etc.
- Technology is an amplifier of human talent, (not a replacement for it).
- An AI / always on digital coach can help – people set goals, fast track learning, develop strategic thinking and new professional competencies, prepare for performance conversations, plan career moves, etc.
- Teaming with AI encourages people to – experiment with generative tools in their day-to-day work, explore opportunities, have a safe environment to assess change, etc.
- The importance of people being – highly competent in critical thinking, being curious, having a need to achieve, wanting to realize their potential / seeing what’s possible, etc.
And Recognize –
- The longer established organizations take to get good at “ Innovating for Impact ” (that meaningful creates new opportunities and value) – the more time they’re giving the Silicon Valley crowd to take them out.
- The ability to look at situations from different perspectives and developing new competencies is essential to be good at “ Innovating for Impact ” on an ongoing basis – which is essential for long term value creation, corporate and personnel growth, and strategic evolution of the organization.
- “ Innovating for Impact ” requires being equally good at H1, H2, and H3 Innovation
– Like hitting singles, doubles, and home runs in baseball
– With people not averse to change and not tied to the traditional notions of risk
– Learning by doing (whether you succeed or fail) is now frequently better than not trying or maintaining the status quo
– Being good at Disruptive Innovation (like Sluggers in baseball) in business is needed to win
…. since no team won the World Series without a few Sluggers in the lineup - To be successful –
– “ Innovating for Impact ” is an imperative (not an option)
– Avoid blind spots and NIA (Nativity, Ignorance, Arrogance) - You can measure how good an organization is at “ Innovating for Impact “ by their -increasing valuation, rate of growth, digital orientation of the C-Suite, appeal in attracting and motivating top talent, improving business outcomes, ability to periodically redefine themselves and their industry, competency in increasing relevance and expanding revenue streams, etc.
- Getting good at “ Innovating for Impact “ requires you be – open to new notions of value, have insight on where the $ are going to be, be flexible on how to create new capabilities, be good at learning fast, view failure as a learning experience, is digitally oriented, is confident in their own and the abilities of others, humble, etc. And because all these elements are needed is why innovating for impact is hard.
July 7/2026 CAIL Innovation Insights info@cail.com www.cail.com 905-940-9000