LEARN TO LEAD - Civil Air Patrol

momentum generated from empowered people can set afully committed organization on the course of ongoingimprovement. Empowerment needs to become a part ofthe culture and should begin as soon as the employeefeels comfortable making decisions.Since its people are a company’s biggest asset, it is importantthat employee ideas are rewarded by implementingthose ideas to improve work processes and outcomes.After all, they do the work every day, so who better to askabout doing it a better way?By validating forward-thinking ideas, the organizationwill provide inspiration to the rest of the workforce tocontinuously look for ways to cut costs, save time, andproduce more. If the employees do not think their ideasare welcome, then they will never disclose them. The cultureshould celebrate and embrace smart business ideasno matter from whom they come in the organization.MOVING NEW THINKING THROUGHOUTTHE ORGANIZATIONQuality employees who can provide an organization withinnovation will require options for individual developmentto impact the cultural change toward innovation. Itis to the company’s advantage to use its younger employees’needs for skill development and job changing to propelinnovation throughout the culture.An employee moving from one department to anotherwill be able to transfer new ways of thinking from oneplace and use them in the new role. The steady move ofemployees from one sector to the next will take innovationto a whole new level and decrease the time it takes toinstill innovation throughout the entire organization. Ifthe less experienced— and in most cases younger— employeeswithin the organization feel stagnant or stifled fortoo long, they will be less likely to remain engaged.An excellent solution to appease this appetite for knowledgeis to ensure that leadership is dedicated to assistingfollowers with learning new job roles and thinking in newand innovative ways about their current positions. Whenchanging departments and titles, the employees will driveinnovation forward and improve work processes with adeeper understanding of the bigger organizational picture.THE SUPERVISOR’S ROLEIN DRIVING INNOVATIONYounger workers in organizations are not influenced bytitles but instead by the leader’s capabilities and willingnessto share knowledge. Ideal leaders will set an exampleof versatility and provide a safe environment wheretrust and candor are highly valued. Successful assimilationof innovation into the organizational culture requiresleadership to foster and develop innovation among theirfollowers.The actions and behaviors of midlevel managers are directlyrelated to the creativity that an organization willproduce. With in-depth leadership training, proper accountability,and daily communication about leadership’sresponsibilities to foster creativity and trust, mid-levelmanagers can rise to the standards necessary to inspireinnovation and grow the next generation of innovativeleaders.Leadership must understand the importance of trulyknowing their followers and what motivates them if theywant to inspire them to contribute creative ideas. When asupervisor focuses an employee in areas that are naturallymotivating for him, the employee has the potential to farexceed average performance.Each person is motivated by different things, and it is thedirect supervisor’s job to get to know employees wellenough to align their interests with overall job goals. Amotivated employee will find that she is constantly pushingherself to improve the work process and outcomesgenerated. A supervisor who asks questions and targetsspecific jobs that match the employee’s innate motivationswill engender a staff that searches for new ways ofthinking about what they do best.Management can propel the organization in new and innovativeways and inspire a workforce to meet the company’svision of innovation by validating innovativebehavior each day in ways that appeal to employees. Oneof a leader’s responsibilities must include knowing whatfollowers deem to be a reward or a punishment. If a particularemployee finds leaving work early to be a reward,then leadership could leverage that fact to congratulatethe employee for a job well done.Job satisfaction plays a major role in stimulating new andproductive ideas. Employees must be given the opportunityto do what they find to be satisfying in their jobs toharness the creativity necessary to establish an innovativethought process.In the diversity of the modern work environment, manynew and exciting ideas can be generated and are a directreflection of the culture of the organization. Choosing theright person for the right job will create a comfort levelthat encourages invention. If workers predominately occupyjobs that are satisfying for them, the organizationwill see much success in the output and quality of ideas.127