Think You’re Just Following? These Seven Signs Say Otherwise

So you’ve been dishing out buzzwords in recent proposals, thinking you are standing out above your competitors. Reality check, your competitors are trying to distinguish themselves from you with those exact same ideas… being a forward-thinking company, that takes employee well-being to heart, focused on digital transformation while using best practices and big data to ensure business is scalable... And the client evaluating these proposals is hearing buzzword after buzzword, blah blah blah. 

Covered in this article

Show Me the Money
Why Innovation is Different

What Makes Leaders Stand Out When it Comes to Innovation?
Leading by Example

From Platforms to Practice
Where to Next? 
FAQs

Show Me the Money

As John C. Maxwell said, “Results are the only form of credibility”. And that is exactly what clients want to see, results. Ultimately, client confidence is built not on intention, but on consistent, demonstrable results. The pitch deck can be pretty, filled with words you think the client wants to hear. But what is more important - action or aesthetics, strategy or slogans, outcomes or optics? Are you leading change, or narrating it? Selling a vision means building something others can believe in, contribute to, and measure. Selling a voiceover? That’s simply telling a story with fancy words but no tangible outcomes. The difference lies in the execution.

Why Innovation is Different 

Innovation is different. It is not just a buzzword. It embodies action and outcome. It uses the power of creative thinking and problem-solving. Real innovation changes the market or shifts consumer behaviour. It has a real-world impact.

According to Gallup there are four guiding principles necessary for innovation:

• Strategy: Leaders provide roadmaps for innovation, communicating their vision for innovation through actions which help motivate employees. This leads to quick thinking, smart ideas, refining and scaling them to produce products and services which clients and consumers actually need. Simply investing does not necessarily imply excellent innovation either. A study in 2018 found that R&D expenditures across the top 20 most innovative global firms, in some instances, were as little as 3.6% of their revenue. Others spent more than 25% of their revenue on research, innovation and development. 
• People empowerment: Yes, it sounds like a buzzword, but not recognising the contributions employees can make to innovation will lead to disengagement. Leaders are those who inspire employees to try, fail and learn from their mistakes, then get up and try again. Top-performing organisations ensure that their performance management processes are aligned to encourage innovation in the workplace. And the leaders? They themselves keep learning and growing. 
• Processes: Leaders ensure that their processes and systems are there to accelerate innovation. Through simplification (removing unnecessary steps and complexity), digitisation (making information digital), and automation (using technology to perform tasks or make decisions with little or no human intervention), teams can uncover where and how to focus their innovation efforts. 
• Structure: Leaders make time and space for innovation. Team members get together to innovate. Brainstorming ideas on a flip chart or glass wall is still useful to capture spur-of-the-moment ideas. But ideas don't generate value until they are actioned.  Leaders foster inclusive environments - where every voice and idea can be valued and heard. This facilitates knowledge sharing, fresh ideas and creative approaches. 

What Makes Leaders Stand Out When it Comes to Innovation?

According to an article by UC Berkeley, effective innovation leaders display four key qualities, in addition to their own personal characteristics and leadership approach: 

• Authenticity: By being authentic, these leaders work collaboratively, keeping teams informed and involved. This helps them contribute their ideas and share knowledge. 
• Servant Leadership: Working for the greater good can create a more welcoming atmosphere of teamwork and cooperation. The collective knowledge in these situations can boost creativity and innovative thinking. 
• Growth Mindset: For these leaders, failures are not final. Each setback is viewed as an opportunity to learn and grow. They extend this very same culture to their teams. 
• Innovation Mindset: They do not believe in “it has always been done this way”. Instead, these leaders challenge the status quo, take calculated risks and are open to novel ideas - whether it relates to a specific part of a project or even overhauling an entire business process.

Innovative leaders are also clear about what they want to achieve and how to get there. They communicate this effectively to the rest of their team and maintain a deep understanding of client and customer needs. They show empathy, understanding the problems of others and look for solutions. At the same time, they are bold and decisive. They don't sit back and watch, they take action.

Leading by Example

Innovation leadership comes in various shapes and sizes - it can show up in individuals (with or without big titles!), in companies, in visionary teams, in industries and in institutions that turn ideas into action. Here are a few examples: 

Pioneers who Changed the Game

Some leaders changed the whole game with their innovative approaches:

• Henry Ford: Founder of Ford Motor Company - Invented the assembly line while making cars more affordable and empowering workers with higher wages 
• Thomas Edison: Inventor/Founder of General Electric - Held more than 1000 patents, including the lightbulb and phonograph; built one of the first industrial R&D labs, enabling ongoing scalable invention
• Nikola Tesla: Electrical Engineer & Visionary Inventor - Pushed the boundaries of wireless communication, AC electricity, and automation.

• Steve Jobs: Co-founder of Apple - Known for taking bold risks, like iPhone, iPod, App Store, he focused his innovation on product excellence and user experience

Top Companies Recognised for Innovation during 2024 - 2025

Companies displaying innovative leadership were also noticeable: 

• Apple: Consumer Tech Sector - Stays ahead by consistently setting standards for industry design and user experience, including innovations in spatial computing (Vision Pro)
• Amazon: E-commerce/Cloud Computing - leading the pack with same-day delivery, AWS cloud dominance and frictionless payments 
• OpenAI: Artificial Intelligence Sector - Leading development of GPT models, agentic AI, and API access
• Adobe: Creative Software & GenAI - Providing us with Firefly AI for design while utilising ethical principles in creative workflows.

Institutions that Set the Pace

Various institutions across the world continue to drive innovation: 

• MIT Media Lab: Multidisciplinary Research & Development with notable contributions in robotics, bioengineering and AI ethics research
• Stanford University: AI & Entrepreneurship through AI alignment and human-computer interaction, amongst others
• Imperial College London: Biomedical/Climate Tech through smart healthcare systems and clean energy storage - using science to better understand the universe, and improve the lives of more people in it.
• Wits University: University Industry and International Engagement - ranked first for innovation performance, in terms of industry-linked research income, co-authorship with global partners, patent citations and international student and staff mobility. 

From Platforms to Practice

As a HubSpot partner, we’ve seen firsthand how platforms like HubSpot evolve beyond CRM into catalysts for smarter, AI-driven growth. With tools like ChatSpot.ai and embedded automation, it’s not just about tech - it is also about the people-centred design: helping teams scale faster, engage more meaningfully, and lead with empathy in an AI-powered world.

If innovation is the dividing line, then purpose is the compass steering your direction, and technology the accelerator to become a leader. Innovation is embedded in company culture when your strategies, systems, processes, and people reflect a deeper purpose. Leaders are intentional in building trust, aligning technology with values and taking action - creating a clear distinction from those who merely follow.

Do you recognise these seven signs in yourself, your team or your organisation? 

1. You prove innovation through measurable results
2. You actively introduce experiences, product offerings or business models that change markets or customer behaviours
3. You translate your strategy into daily decisions, resource allocation, and delivery of tangible outcomes
4. Your teams feel safe enough to experiment, fail, learn and iterate
5. Your processes accelerate change because they are simplified, digitised and automated - removing friction and increasing speed to market 
6. You provide a structure where teams feel heard, share their knowledge and ideas become action - translating into pilot projects, sprints and production
7. Your leadership mindset actively challenges “it has always been done this way”.

If you do, then congratulations are in order. You have crossed the dividing line - you are leading in innovation, not merely following.

Where to Next? 

In our next article, we’ll explore the emerging business vocabulary shaping the years ahead — from agentic AI to regenerative business, skills-based hiring to quantum advantage. These are not just more buzzwords, but signals to a shift in ways of working - where humans collaborate with AI, purpose and meaning become core talent attractors while mental health and well-being are operational risk priorities. Global, borderless teams become the norm with continuous learning replacing once-off qualifications, teams work in pods, focus on outcomes and embed ethics and privacy in their daily routine. This is where trust will become a primary business currency. 

FAQs