By Brian McDermott

and Gerry Sexton

Leading Innovation -- Creating Workplaces Where People Excel So Organizations Thrive

By Brian McDermott & Gerry Sexton

Ken Blanchard (who has written a ton of mega-selling business books, including The One Minute Manager) calls Leading Innovation “brilliant work.”

We’re thrilled that Ken Blanchard and others have picked up on the beliefs that guide our work:

• Every person is uniquely talented and wise and brings good things to the workplace. 

• Getting people engaged in their work in meaningful ways is the essence of great leadership. 

After a lot of reflection, writing, and rewriting, we’ve tried to share our best experience and thinking about how to act on those beliefs. In our own way, we’re just trying to make some small difference in the way the world does business, and we’re hoping the book will help. 

WHAT’S THIS BOOK ABOUT?

One of the most critical challenges in business today is to find new ways to create growth. We believe the untapped talent, creativity and passion of people in an organization are the best resources to make that happen. 

Leading Innovation offers models, tools, exercises and stories that teach leaders how to create an environment where everyone is committed to perpetual innovation and sustainable excellence. We’ve tried to craft an inspiring, action-oriented handbook for leaders and managers in all kinds of organizations who believe people are their organization’s most important assets.  

GREAT REVIEWS!

“Guided by a deep belief that all people are uniquely talented and wise, this brilliant work is a must for anyone who recognizes that innovation is the sine qua non of successful business and indeed of successful living. Full of information and insight, it shouldn't be missed.”

 Ken Blanchard, Co-author of The One-Minute Manager and The Secret: What Great Leaders Know – And Do

“A gem of a text that takes a strikingly different position about how to make innovation happen.”

  Leonard Schlesinger, Vice Chairman and COO, Limited Brands, and Former Harvard Business School Professor  

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT LEADING INNOVATION… 

“The concepts behind Leading Innovation have challenged many YMCA executives to quit thinking like traditional directors and to think more like innovators, inspired to change the way we serve our communities. McDermott’s and Sexton’s knowledge, energy, and dynamic training skills have pushed the YMCA and its leaders to create new ways of making our workplaces and our communities better.”

Tim Staley, District Vice President, YMCA

“It’s common to see the word innovation in mission statements, as if it could be mandated. McDermott and Sexton show that innovation is not the ‘what’ to which organizations should aspire, but the ‘how.’ By linking innovation to real business needs and tapping into the creative forces of an organization’s people, they teach you how to institutionalize a spirit of innovation to grow business and thrive in a very competitive world.”

Molly Moyle, Training Manager Medical Affairs, AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical Company

“A visionary alone cannot execute a vision for innovation; every employee in every company needs to be part of making a vision real. Leading Innovation defines the right approach for leading all stakeholders to become the bedrock of a corporate culture focused on innovation.”

Maggie Hughes, President and Chief Administrative Officer (retired),

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America

 “Brian McDermott and Gerry Sexton have the tools, methods, and experience to help a company drive innovation from the front end upward and create an environment that consistently produces groundbreaking services and products.”

John King, Six Sigma Black Belt, Textron Financial Corporation

“Leading Innovation is a powerful resource to help leaders at all levels turn the belief  ‘People are our most important resource’ into a workplace reality.” 

Eric Harvey, co-author of Walk the Talk and The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus

“Brian and Gerry help people use their creative abilities, release their inhibitions to move through issues, and improve team collaboration with the ideas in Leading Innovation.”

Dianna Fuller, Vice President Sales & Marketing, Audio Visual & Film Group