Leadership Matters: Innovation Isn't Optional

Please check back every Monday for more Leadership Matters columns by "Dr. Todd," founder of IMPACT Consulting and Development.

In the Art of War, Sun Tzu observes that, when troops are faced with no possible escape, they do amazing things.

Of course, in his example, the issue was that many of the troops could not swim so, positioned with the river behind them and the enemy in front of them, they would find ways to overcome the enemy. This was called the "death field" (rough translation), which is where many of our companies find themselves today.

After cutting costs as much as possible, reducing headcount to smaller numbers and eliminating marginally successful product lines, some leaders find themselves in the situation where they must move forward because there's no place left for a safe retreat.

I spent the last week conducting leadership seminars in Brazil and Mexico City. Mexico City especially is the capital of dealing with crisis. In the same week as the Swine Flu was announced and near panic took over in the country, a fair sized earthquake added insult to injury as people, following proper earthquake procedure, took shelter in areas where other crowds congregated. That turned out to be the wrong thing to do because of the Swine Flu. I'm convinced that the shut down of Mexico City was as much to allow people to calm down as it was to stop the spread of the disease.

Nonetheless, I was struck by the energy and optimism of the leaders in my IMPACT seminars because they have become experts at navigating crisis over the last few years. They have come to realize that "synergy" is not the same as cost-cutting but requires a willingness to approach business and employees in new ways. This innovative mindset is what will determine whether these countries and companies are able to sustain their areas of growth and become true players in the marketplace. The same is true of American companies; the most challenged being those with long legacies and internal cultures of "we've always done it this way."