February 21, 2014

Establishing a Culture of Innovation, with Jonathan Vehar

On the 3rd episode of “The Innovation Engine” podcast, we welcome Jonathan Vehar as our first outside guest to discuss how business leaders can foster a culture of innovation in their organizations. Jonathan is a Senior Faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership who has worked with companies including GE, Pfizer, Disney, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft, and Volvo, among others, to help create more innovative work forces and work places. He is also co-author of the Center for Creative Leadership’s 2012 white paper, Becoming a Leader Who Fosters Innovation, along with David Magellan Horth.

In this episode of the podcast, we discuss some of the different ways that leaders can help drive innovation. Among the topics we cover:

  • Jonathan kicks off the podcast with his thoughts on why corporate leaders must take on the mantle of fostering innovation in an organization. He emphasizes how rapid advancements in technology are empowering companies to gain quick competitive advantages in order to fuel both bottom-line and top-line revenue growth
  • He discusses 4 key areas that leaders must pay attention to if they want to kick-start a culture of innovation: People, Process, Outcomes, and Context
  • Jonathan explains the concept of ‘Boundary Spanning Leadership’ that can help provide answers to these questions: How do you work across organizational silos? How do you work across various departments, hierarchy levels, demographics (age-based, race, religion, education, etc.)? How do you communicate across geographies? How do you communicate effectively between various stakeholders like customers, vendors, regulators, and the local community?

Interested in hearing more. Listen to the full episode below. You’ll get key takeaways that any organizational leader can use to begin unlocking innovation in their company.

About The Innovation Engine

Since 2014, 3Pillar has published The Innovation Engine, a podcast that sees a wide range of innovation experts come on to discuss topics that include technology, leadership, and company culture. You can download and subscribe to The Innovation Engine on Apple Podcasts. You can also tune in via the podcast’s home on Spotify to listen online, via Android or iOS, or on any device supporting a mobile browser.