Innovative leaders are a very important part of a work culture that supports innovation. Having someone who has proven themselves, not only as a visionary, critical, and innovative thinker, but also as someone who is able to inspire and motivate those around them is the ideal candidate to be an innovative leader.

Many of us know someone who has carried the weight of their team, or who has had superiors steal their ideas and take them as their own. That does not inspire teams to be more creative, in fact it does the opposite. It is important, number one, that a team trusts their leader, not only with their ideas, but also with the leader’s ability to run the team and help promote the generation of ideas.

Nothing stifles a creative person more than having their ideas consistently shut down. Innovative leaders need to recognize good ideas and help turn them into great ideas. Innovative leaders need to have their team’s back.