Leading at Light Speed is a new leadership book by Eric Douglas detailing the 10 Quantum Leaps to build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization.
Let’s talk about spark. By spark, I mean inspiring people to innovate and create. Spark, like trust, feeds an essential need. ~We respond positively to those who inspire our creativity, and conversely, we respond negatively to those who do not inspire us. Creative spark is crucial is you seek to succeed in a world where change is constantly accelerating. But spark without trust can be damaging to the organization, leading to useless or even destructive innovations. Leaders must know how to inspire trust while also sparking new and innovative products, processes, and practices. Southwest Airlines, FedEx, and Google are three examples of highly successful companies that have built high-performing organizations based on trust and spark.
Spark occurs when you tap into people’s creative impulses. It requires providing the freedom for people to explore new ideas without fear. Innovation occurs when there is a big vision communicated to the team, and the team is focused on achieving that vision. It exists when there are clear performance measures to recognize what matters, and when performances are evaluated fairly and consistently.
In light speed organizations, trust and spark feed off of one another. One causes the other. By creating trust, you enable people to be open to change. By energizing spark, you unleash the innovation that makes an organization vibrate with new ideas and purpose.
When you combine the benefits of trust and spark, amazing things can happen. You attract and retain the most talented employees. You constantly innovate. You surprise and delight your customers. You out-perform your peers. When trust and spark work together, it doesn’t ensure calm quiet. Because people feel free, they feel free to engage in asking questions and airing conflicting opinions. The culture shifts to one in which people focus on the performance of the organization as a whole. When you’re operating at light speed, everyone is invested in the organization and “runs it like they own it.”
Take this free work survey to see if your organization practices the 10 Quantum Leaps of high-performing organizations.