#7 Innovation by Design Series (2/6): Leadership and Innovation --Innovation Starts at the Top

Exploring the leadership behaviors and organizational structures that make innovation real.

Inspiring leadership is involved and engages a diverse team

Great Innovation Requires Great Leadership

You’ve got the vision. You’ve made the case. But now comes the hard part: leading innovation forward.

Without strong, visible leadership from the top, innovation efforts often fizzle out—underfunded, under-prioritized, and ultimately undone by the gravitational pull of the status quo.

In this post, we’ll explore how leadership unlocks innovation, the importance of cross-functional teams, and how to allocate resources for a balanced innovation portfolio. These are the building blocks that bring your vision to life.

4. Visible Senior Management Involvement

Innovation requires sponsorship and protection from the C-Suite to thrive.

5. Creatively Resourced, Multi-Functional Teams

Cross-functional collaboration and a blend of expertise are crucial to success.

6. Resources Aligned & Allocated by Portfolio Goals

A portfolio approach ensures that incremental and breakthrough innovations are funded appropriately.

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4. Visible Senior Management Involvement

Breakthrough Innovation cannot be delegated.

While incremental innovation can be led by business unit heads, breakthrough innovation belongs in the C-Suite. Why? Because breakthrough ideas often require:

• Cross-functional coordination

• Long-term investment

• Bold decisions outside the comfort zone

And most importantly, only the CEO can say “Yes” without asking for permission.

When the top team isn’t visibly engaged, innovation drifts. But when leadership plays an active role—sponsoring, championing, and protecting bold ideas—teams are energized, empowered, and emboldened.

📌 Ask Yourself:

Does your leadership team visibly champion innovation—or just talk about it in board meetings?

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5. Creatively Resourced, Multi-Functional Teams

Breakthroughs don’t come from departments working in silos. They come from collaborative, cross-functional teams that bring together:

• Business management

• R&D and market insights

• Marketing, design, supply chain, and beyond

The best teams also have:

• Champions: People with authority and influence who can make decisions and advocate across silos.

• Relevant expertise: Deep knowledge in critical areas, not just one discipline.

• Naïve diversity: People who don’t know “how things are supposed to be done” often spark the most disruptive ideas.

📌 Ask Yourself:

Are your innovation teams built for creativity—or constrained by old structures?

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6. Resources Aligned & Allocated by Portfolio Goals

Treat innovation like a portfolio of investments.

You don’t fund all ideas the same way, and you shouldn’t evaluate them with the same criteria.

Breakthrough projects shouldn’t have to compete against incremental ones for the same pool of resources. Instead:

• Allocate resources within portfolio segments (incremental vs. breakthrough).

• Align teams and decision-making structures accordingly.

• Recognize that the skills and speed needed for each type are different.

This protects long-term bets from being sacrificed in the name of short-term gains.

📌 Ask Yourself:

Is your resource allocation process structured to have the time to develop and to protect breakthrough ideas—or crush them?

Score Yourself

Let’s keep building your Innovation Scorecard. Rate each factor on a scale of 1 (weak) to 5 (strong):

Critical Success Factor	Rating 1-5
Visible Senior Management Involvement
Creatively Resourced, Multi-Functional Teams
Resources Aligned & Allocated by Portfolio Goals

Is there anything about these factors you would like to discuss or learn more about? Reach out below.