Welcome to the Courage of a Leader podcast.

This is where you hear real life stories of top leaders achieving

extraordinary results, and you get practical advice and

techniques you can immediately apply for your own success. This

is where you will get inspired and take bold, courageous

action. I'm so glad you can join us. I'm your host. Amy Riley,

now are you ready to step into the full power of your

leadership and achieve the results you care about most.

Let's ignite the courage of a leader.

Welcome to the Courage of a Leader podcast. I'm your host.

Amy Riley, leadership development consultant,

executive coach, keynote speaker and author of the courage of a

leader, how to inspire, engage and get extraordinary results.

Today we're diving into how courageous leaders integrate

technology and innovation, not just to keep up, yet to lead

intentionally and boldly in this era of rapid change. By the end

of this episode, you'll have a framework for courageous

innovation, stories of real leaders who've done this well,

and two special offers to help you apply these ideas within

your team or organization. Courage has always been central

to great leadership, and in today's world where technology

evolves faster than most organizations can, Courage looks

different. In my book, the courage of a leader, I share

four distinct types of courage. Every leader needs, the courage

to be authentically you, the courage to say what needs to be

said, the courage to trust the legacy and the courage to be

bold and create the extraordinary. When it comes to

innovation and technology, that fourth pillar, the courage to be

bold and create the extraordinary becomes your

compass. I've worked with leaders across many industries,

from manufacturing to pharma, who tell me, the technology is

not the most challenging part. It's getting people comfortable

with change. That's hard. That's where courage comes in.

Courageous leaders don't just implement technology, they use

it to create extraordinary results, a practical immediate

question to ask yourself, Where do I need to be bolder so my

team can move forward with more confidence?

I'll say that again. Where do I need to be bolder so my team can

move forward with more confidence. It's a great one to

ask yourself regularly in chapter 11 of the courage of a

leader, be a visionary, even if you don't think you are. I

remind us that every leader has the capacity to cast vision. A

visionary leader doesn't Chase Tech Trends. They connect

innovation to purpose. One of my clients, a regional bank

president, learned this the hard way. Their first digital

transformation failed because they started with the tool, not

the full truth, they implemented a new mobile platform without

first deeply understanding what customers actually needed. When

they stepped back and reconnected to their purpose,

which was helping people feel financially confident,

everything changed to give their customers clarity around

spending patterns, upcoming obligations and long term

implications of those, they implemented smart

categorizations, visuals of spending trends, forecasted

balances and upcoming cash flow alerts their customers wanted to

feel like they were making informed decisions and seeing

momentum, so the app included relevant insights, goal

trackers, habit streaks, milestone celebrations and more.

They rebuilt their digital strategy around that purpose and

customer engagement tripled. Courageous leaders always start

with, why not? What a practical immediate action to take before

approving or launching any technology, pause and ask, what?

Meaningful difference will this make for people? What meaningful

difference will this make for people in the courage of a

leader chapter nine, build the ultimate corporate culture. I

explain that culture is built when we engage both the head and

the heart at a high level, what you're going to achieve engages

the head and why you're doing it engages the heart. This is

especially true during times of technological change.

I once worked with a global food company preparing to automate

part of its production line before introducing the robotics

plan, the COO stood before hundreds of employees and said,

Here's what this means for all of us, greater safety, fewer

repetitive injuries, more time for creative problem solving and

more products produced here in this plant, that one message

shifted the energy in the room. Fear turned into curiosity. Then

they were more ready to hear from the robotics vendor, when

leaders connect innovation to human benefit, Courage grows to

build a culture that embraces innovation. One, communicate the

purpose clearly. People don't rally around a process. They

rally around a purpose. Two, empower experimentation. One

retail company I worked with created innovation Fridays,

where anyone can test an idea. One small experiment, a chat box

to answer HR questions, saved hundreds of hours and boosted

morale. Three model learning and curiosity. A VP I coach sends a

monthly here's what I learned about technology this month.

Note, they've become a favorite across the organization, and

others are chiming in. Here's what I learned, right? Oh, I

didn't know that one either number four, celebrate courage,

not perfection. Recognize risk takers and learners. Courage is

contagious when leaders celebrate it. In chapter 15, go

for extraordinary. I talk about setting bold people centered

goals. Being bold doesn't mean chasing every tech trend.

It means putting out goals that are so audacious that they

require your people to think and act differently and perhaps

leverage technology in more ways. One nonprofit I worked

with set a goal to eliminate administrative drudgery so staff

could spend 80% of their time with clients that bold, human

centered aspiration led to process automation digital

forms, and importantly, it re energized people. When

innovation goals focus on human outcomes, not just the technical

outputs, the results are exponential. Here's a practical

framework, inspired by the courage of a leader, four

pillars for bringing courage into your innovation work,

clarity. Be clear on the why? What's the vision behind this

technology? What's the purpose? How will it benefit you? Your

teams, your customers, communication. Say what needs to

be said. Transparency builds trust and speeds innovation. Say

what you know, say what you don't know. Say how you know

each individual can contribute the value they provide.

Connection, engage your people early, ask questions. Make

innovation a shared adventure. Connect and allow for co

creation. Incorporate their ideas, learn and evolve

together. And finally, commitment, stay bold when

things get messy, extraordinary outcomes require persistence.

Stay committed, even when it becomes uncomfortable. Keep the

4c front and center for yourself and for those around you. Okay,

a few quick takeaways to anchor the learning. Innovation

succeeds when it's driven by purpose, not tools. People

follow clarity and courage, especially in times of change.

Cultures that explore, experiment and learn outpace

those that protect and hesitate.

Bold, human centered goals, unlock extraordinary outcomes.

The Four C's, clarity, communication, connection and

commitment make innovation sustainable. Here's my challenge

to you, when the next wave of change comes, pause before

reacting and ask, What would courageous leadership look like

right now? Would it mean saying what others hesitate to say,

trusting your people more than your plan setting a bolder

vision you already have the courage of a leader, the

opportunity is to live it more intentionally, and because

courage grows through learning and reflection, I have two

special offers for you today. Offer one free chapter. Get a

complimentary copy of chapter 11. Be a visionary, even when

you don't think you are. Email Rachel at courage of a

leader.com, that is R, A, C, H, E, L, L, E at courage of a

leader.com and put visionary chapter in the subject line, and

she'll get a copy out to you. Offer two a complimentary

leadership conversation. If your organization is facing

technological change, I'd love to support you again. Email

Rachel at courage of a leader.com. That's R, A, C, H,

E, L, L, E. At courage of a leader.com. With courage

conversation in the subject line to schedule a 30 minute call

with me. I'm offering these because we need courageous

leaders right now. Be the courageous leader your team

customers and stakeholders deserve. Find your way to

implement what I've shared today. Take advantage of these

two special offers I'm sharing exclusively with podcast

listeners. Technology will continue to evolve. The tools

will change, the platforms will change, yet courageous

leadership that's timeless. So lead with clarity, speak the

truth and courageously go for extraordinary until next time.

Be bold. Be authentic, be courageous.

hank you for listening to the Courage of a Leader podcast. If

you'd like to further explore this episode's topic, please

reach out to me through the courage of a leader website, at

www dot courage of a leader.com I'd love to hear from you,

please take the time to leave a review on iTunes that helps us

expand our reach and get more people fully stepping into their

leadership potential. Until next time, be bold and be brave,

because you've got the courage of a leader. You