What Makes a Great Leader?

Innovations and agility in organizations are hindered by a lack of proper leadership. Historically, leadership focused on setting direction. Later, the focus shifted to vision. Today, particularly due to the increasing importance of innovation, leadership must move beyond vision to shaping culture and capabilities, fostering co-creation rather than just compliance.

To lead an organization that can innovate at scale and speed, leaders must fulfill three functions: Architect, Bridger, and Catalyst. These roles are essential for building a culture of collective genius and navigating external partnerships.

As an architect, a leader builds the culture and capabilities necessary for collaboration, experimentation, and learning. Innovation is a collaborative process where individuals with diverse expertise collectively contribute to 'collective genius', unleashing and harnessing the talents and passions within the organization.

The 'bridger' role involves looking outside the organization for talent and tools, acknowledging that no single organization possesses all the necessary resources for rapid and scalable innovation. This means bridging internal capabilities with external expertise, often through innovation labs, accelerators, or partnerships, especially with digital transformation.

Being a catalyst means accelerating co-creation across the entire ecosystem. This can be driven by the need for external entities to innovate to support your core goals, or by a broader ambition to enhance the entire ecosystem's capabilities. An example is helping clients improve cybersecurity, which in turn benefits your own security.

The three roles are highly interconnected. The example of Pfizer shows how a leader acts as a bridger by collaborating with vendors to ensure agility and as a catalyst by forming consortia to set new standards and influence regulators, ultimately raising collective capacity for innovation.

Effective leadership for innovation moves beyond formal authority. Leaders must learn to influence by shaping culture, forging genuine connections built on mutual trust and commitment. Formal authority can control, but it doesn't build the commitment necessary for people to take the risks involved in breakthrough innovation. Innovation requires an invitation, not a command.