DJHP / Leaders Companies often believe innovation comes from the individual — a notion likely stemming from the startup space. A fledgling company starts disrupting the marketplace, and the big guys on the block look to the founder as the source of the disruption. While the brainchild might be the individual’s, it doesn’t end with him or her. The true source of innovation came from a network of people, all working together toward a common goal. And that’s exactly how you should approach your leadership if you hope to encourage innovation within a team. Here are six ways I’ve found to be successful in encouraging innovation: 1. Trust your team. It’s easy to go in and micromanage a project. You came up with it after all. But this does nothing to encourage innovation. Trust the people you brought together enough to let them take the reigns and run with it. In fact, your trust in them allows the team to trust themselves and trust each other. This can then lead to greater transparency, promoting self-expression among the group and a group think-tank that brings out the best in one another. 2. Build in diversity. Some of the most productive and innovative teams are also the most diverse. Pull together people with different backgrounds and capabilities to create cross-specialty teams. The diversity can encourage out-of-the-box thinking to solve problems in more innovative ways. What’s more, the diverse approaches to business can push forward innovation in a more efficient manner. 3. Flatten [...]

DJHP /Leaders Sociologists and marketers tell us that Millennials are a fun-seeking, forward-thinking, and fearless bunch. They’re willing to tackle any project at any hour of the day if they find it interesting. That’s the vibrant upside. But as with most things, that upside comes with a downside. Generally, younger workers almost always seek constant communication and a fast learning curve. When you’re unable to provide it, they won’t stay engaged, making it difficult to not just grow employees but retain them. Leadership is now facing a challenge: to provide learning opportunities in a continuous, fast-paced and engaging way. The key lies in fully embracing this need for continuous feedback and turning it on its head for everyone in your organization. You do this by creating a company that places a high value on communication, but you do this through the company’s vision and culture — a culture where communication is educational. Here are 6 ways you do it: 1. Start off employees on the right foot. Hiring talent whose values closely align to those of your own is only half the equation. The onboarding process is just as important to their growth — and shouldn’t be confused with training. Onboarding mainly focuses on what the new hire feels, sees, and hears in relation to your organization. Be upfront about the company culture, explaining your expectations and the necessity of adopting the growth mindset. Make sure you, your team, and your company engage with the individual. Follow up with him [...]

DJHP /Careers As a Millennial, I’m quite familiar with all of the characteristics that make up a “Millennial.” There are hundreds and hundreds of articles that categorize, compartmentalize, and classify Millennials. Although I do not agree with every single thing that’s printed about us, one topic that consistently comes up is the need for feedback, and it really rings true. Specifically speaking, I’ve had a number of jobs where the level of feedback ranged from zero to 100 — 100 being that everything I did was nitpicked and critiqued. Although I crave feedback and thrive in environments where feedback is fairly consistent (and constructive, I should add), I’m here to tell you that you can’t always get what you want and to offer some suggestions or techniques that may help the situation. Here are a few suggestions that I’ve found useful: Ask for the feedback. The first place to start is to just ask for it. This is my biggest mistake. I’ve been in positions where I wanted feedback and was frustrated for not getting it. The problem wasn’t that my superiors didn’t have any; it was that they didn’t know I was open to it. Consider asking for a bi-monthly 10-minute meeting to discuss progress, answer any questions, and catch up. Seek feedback elsewhere. It may be difficult to get specific feedback about your position from others outside of the environment, but having a friend, mentor, or even just someone to talk things out can very helpful. Use these [...]