How can leaders foster innovation?

Uncertainty is the new normal. Planning for the next quarter is a challenge. Even more difficult is committing to decisions that will play out in one to five years. To maintain a competitive edge in the future, companies need to create a climate for innovation within their organisations.

In the era of rapid digital, economic and political change, a culture that prizes innovation is key. A critical component of successful innovation is how groups are led. Most innovations are created through teams and networks – groups of people working in concert. This means that leaders must act in ways that promote and support organisational innovation.

José Benitez Cong, Plause

José Benitez Cong is a talent management veteran with more than 15 years of experience in recruiting, organisational development, and people management at some of the most recognised companies of our time, Apple and Google.

“Intuition does not scale, we have to continue to innovate as we scale and grow our business,” according to Cong.

Cong spent nearly a decade at Apple, driving the people growth efforts behind the launch of the iPod, iPhone, and iOS acoustics & cameras. In 2011, he joined Nest Labs which was later acquired by Google. Currently, Cong is head of Plause, a startup he co-founded to change the way we understand the engagement with our most valuable resource; our employees. To recruit and retain bright minds can make a major difference in the success of corporations.

In a previous blogpost, Cong wrote:

“With Plause, we’re giving people a platform where they can freely share their personal work stories and engage with one another instead of providing more “feedback”. It provides an ongoing conversation that improves the way employees and managers get and receive actionable, meaningful insights for their careers. We created Plause to make work, work better.”

In the conference session “Leadership: Stimulate to innovate” moderated by Dr. Nashater Solheim we will discuss how large, complex companies can develop and sustain a culture of innovation and what successful leaders do to stimulate an innovative culture.

In this session you can also hear from Dr. Ulrich Spiesshofer of ABB, Professor Christoph Loch from Cambridge Judge Business School, Rune Bjerke from DNB, Magne André Hovden of Equinor, Sigve Brekke of Telenor and Josephine Goube of TechFugees.