Know your values and live by them

by Stefan Lindegaard

I am puzzled that so few people can describe the values that guide their daily actions. Think about it. These are the fundamentals that help you become successful as an innovation leader or intrapreneur as well as in personal life. No doubt some of you have spent time helping your company define its core values, which, if followed, will drive the organization toward success. Doesn’t it make sense to also define the core values that will also impel you to success? I want you to think more about this and start working on developing a better understanding of your values.

We all have values, whether we are consciously aware of them or not. Values are traits, qualities or beliefs that we find valuable. Personal values are...

Can you sell?

by Stefan Lindegaard

As an innovation leader or intrapreneur, you always have something to sell. In the end it is a product or a service, but during the development of a revenue-generator, you have to sell a vision to internal and external stakeholders.

You communicate that vision by: •   Developing a value proposition that can be adapted for various stakeholders, and then •   Capturing the very essence of the value proposition in a short and brief elevator pitch that focuses on the recipients of the message.

In Geoffrey Moore’s classic book, Crossing the Chasm, he provides the term “value proposition” as a way to choose from among what is presented to us for consideration. Options include choosing nothing at all, if there are no choices that improve our current situation.

Here are...