Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/54894
FOCUS ON INNOVATION Innovative by Rich Lyons T wenty-first century companies are in great need of inno- vative leaders. They need men and women who know how to put new ideas to work effectively and respon- sibly in every corner of their organizations. They need people who will define what's next in our markets and societies. But that doesn't mean that all business schools must develop the same types of leaders. Different businesses will need differ- ent kinds of talent. To devel- op a wide-ranging workforce, business schools must first understand how all aspects of their programs—their curri- cula, their faculty, their loca- tional advantages, their cul- tures—work together. Only with that understanding can they forge fresh approaches to developing innovative leadership. Unfortunately, while virtually every business school teaches leadership in one way or another, I believe that there isn't much differentiation among schools in the kinds of leaders they produce. At least, these differentiations are seldom explicitly stated. In fact, we have tended to blur these distinctions in our programs by failing to specify one set of leadership styles and capabilities over another. Business schools must examine their cultures, outline their goals, and forge individual paths to developing the diverse community of innovative leaders that today's businesses demand. Paths to Leadership 32 BizEd JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011