There’s a great book which was written back in 2002 by Steven Sample called The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership. At the time, Sample was the president of University of Southern California, and he shares some great lessons that he has learned as a skilled leader, particularly when dealing with circumstances that call for unique and unorthodox leadership philosophies. One of these has to do with an organization’s need to set itself apart from its competitors by using a strategy of differentiation.
Sample states, “An institution cannot copy its way to excellence; rather, true excellence can only be achieved through original thinking and unconventional approaches.” How very true this is. In today’s highly competitive environment for virtually every type of organization, from churches to manufacturers to cupcake shops, the one that will thrive is going to be the one that comes up with a new way of conducting business and providing services to the public that the competition is not. Gone are the days when a new company could simply duplicate the patterns, processes, and products of an existing successful company and expect to rise to the same level. Today, as Sample extols, and further trumpeted in a quick read book titled Put More Butts in the Seats by Thomas Engel, innovation is key.
As you lead this week, I encourage you to break free from the status quo and intentionally start jumping into the unconventional arena of how you do business and lead your team. Keep the phrase “innovation is key” at the forefront of your thoughts and go after becoming truly excellent, not just a copy of something that has already been created. Innovation is key.
Lead well.