Innovation & Company Culture

The topic of culture arises in nearly every conversation I am having with both clients and candidates. That said – culture comes from the top, as they say, and so does innovation.

For a lot of leaders I talk to in my role as Executive Recruiter, innovation is a critical characteristic for their companies. And without a strong leader in the CEO position championing the need for innovation, it simply won’t happen.

This is obvious when you think about startups, where the founder holds the vision and motivates the team. But as companies grow and the hierarchy expands, it can be easy to lose track of how important that company leader is to the innovation of specific teams and projects.

“For some reason…we see a diminished role for the CEO in a large, established enterprise, when in fact culture is still a manifestation of what the most senior person values and pays attention to, and what she or he spends most of their time on.” That’s Herminia Ibarra, professor of organizational behavior at London Business School.

Ibarra’s point of view, and mine, is that for a company culture to support innovation, the CEO needs to support it.