FEATURED POST OF THE WEEK

Our long-form article of the week. You can always view the current and past featured posts on Empower’s blog.

How an innovative culture can help you win

Culture is an important consideration when building a business. Shared values, norms and beliefs shape your company’s “personality,” influencing everything from decision-making, hiring, communication, customer engagement, and more.

Creating a culture that supports your vision, strategy and goals is important for driving the business where it needs to go. For emerging businesses especially, one key area of culture that is important to cultivate: innovation.

I’ll outline what it means to have a culture of innovation and share five reasons it’s a core ingredient to small business and startup growth.

What is a culture of innovation?

A culture that encourages innovation provides the environment for creativity, experimentation, new ideas and measured risk-taking. New ideas are seen as crucial to progress, and mistakes are treated as learning opportunities, not detrimental setbacks.

A business that supports innovation strives to improve, think differently and find unexpected solutions to challenges. Without innovation, you risk celebrating the status quo and could quickly experience stagnation.

Key markers of an innovative culture

If you’re unsure whether your culture embraces innovation, here are common characteristics that can help you answer that question:

• Curiosity: Does your team ask questions, challenge assumptions and dig deeper to understand problems?

• Collaboration: Do people openly communicate and work seamlessly across teams? Are diverse perspectives welcomed?

• An empowered team: Does your team have the autonomy to act on new ideas and make decisions? Does leadership support these actions?

• Continuous learning: Do you provide opportunities for professional development and training, does your team take action to improve and are resources made available to support these efforts?

• Willingness to fail: Do you embody a willingness to fail in exchange for bolder experimentation?

• Agility: Is your team prepared to adapt to change quickly?

• Wins are celebrated: Do you recognize both major and minor milestones? Are innovative efforts acknowledged, even if the outcomes aren’t perfect?

Five reasons to support an innovative culture

Your business, industry and the broader markets constantly evolve. Given these dynamics, consistent innovation is non-negotiable.

Since Empower champions operational excellence, here are five ways a culture of innovation can enhance success.

• Increased resourcefulness: Resouces for emerging businesses are often limited. A culture that fosters creativity can surface new ways to allocate resources and achieve more with less.

• Faster process improvements: When new ideas are encouraged, team members will more regularly assess workflows, processes and bottlenecks, presenting solutions that refine operations and reduce costs.

• Adaptability and resilience: Innovation makes you better equipped to respond to disruption. You’ll be able to pivot with less operational disruption and emerge stronger from challenging periods.

• Enhanced employee engagement and ownership: Team members who feel heard and empowered to contribute ideas often demonstrate greater accountability and alignment, which fosters a commitment to excellence.

• Deliver a better customer experience: Innovative thinking can help streamline the customer journey, reduce friction and delight customers, making you both more efficient and competitive.

So, how much does your culture embrace innovation?

As we approach a new year, I encourage you to reflect on this, review your 2025 objectives and identify how you’re fostering the right environment to accomplish your goals and tackle challenges that may surface.

WEEKLY DOSE OF EMPOWERMENT

The weekly dose of Empowerment is meant to provide one weekly tip that’s both practical and approachable, to help drive incremental improvement to your day-to-day. We’re always open to your contributions as well. If you would like to submit a tip to be shared with the Empower community in a future newsletter, please reach out at [email protected] with the subject line “Weekly Dose of Empowerment Submission.”

Build your networking muscle

Whether you’re a natural networker or not, connecting with others is necessary for every business owner. I’ll admit, it’s not always my strength, but I’ve worked to rebuild my networking chops this year to launch and grow Empower.

Networking goes beyond attending events and swapping business cards (or these days, a QR code). The goal is to build genuine, lasting relationships that contribute to your personal and business growth.

While it can be uncomfortable, effective networking can lead to:

• Expanded reach and awareness.

• New business opportunities.

• Opportunities for knowledge and idea exchange.

• A stronger support system.

• Maybe even new friends.

For business owners, managing everything on your plate is challenging enough, so making time for networking requires intentionality and a plan.

Tips for getting the most out of your networking efforts

Here are actionable ways to build a focused networking strategy that better positions you to get value and lasting relationships from these efforts.

• Set clear goals: Before getting out there, set objectives. Are you trying to meet potential clients, find more like-minded entrepreneurs, identify investors, or something else? Defining your networking “why” will help you narrow scope.

• Do your research: Find networking opportunities that align with your stated goals. You can’t do everything, so focus on those at which you believe your target audience will be in abundance.

• Provide value first and listen actively: Don’t make everything about you. Engage with curiosity, listen and offer help without expecting an immediate return.

• Be authentic: Present yourself sincerely to build trust and more meaningful connections.

• Know your elevator pitch: Craft a brief, compelling narrative about who you are and what you do. Consider integrating what you wish to gain from the specific networking opportunity.

• Follow up and nurture: Once you make a connection, follow up promptly. Stay in touch periodically to strengthen the relationship and stay top-of-mind.

Here’s a final thought: If you’re unsure how to approach someone at a networking event, think differently about conversation starters. As one person told me recently (I’m paraphrasing here): I walk into a room and look down. Then, I walk up to the person with the most interesting shoes and compliment them. It gets the conversation going and we progress from there.

JESSICA’S READ, OR LISTEN, PICK OF THE WEEK

A little something that got my gears turning this week and might pique your interest as well!

From Dan Hock’s Essays: How to be Strategic

TL;DR

I enjoyed this Dan Hockenmaier essay because it challenges the notion that strategic thinking is only about making big, consequential decisions.

He instead highlights how strategic work is more abundant than we might think, and that it truly lies in all the small decisions that ensue after a big initiative or launch because those are the things that shape success.

Doing this well requires a combination of speed and velocity. As Hockenmaier states:

He presents the inputs required to make good strategic decisions, and how developing a process for evaluating smaller decisions will give you the reps necessary to improve and develop the instincts to make those rarer, larger “one-way door” decisions.

It’s a good framework for any entrepreneur trying to improve decision-making and outcomes from strategic choices.

JUST FOR FUN

Really, this section is just for fun. Who knows what will be in store each week?

Sometimes a change of scenery is exactly what you need to tackle what’s ahead. I’m a huge proponent of travel — it’s an opportunity to recharge, learn and gain new perspectives.

I recently unplugged (as much as one can with a toddler) in Provence, France. Here’s one of the views!

LOOKING FOR MORE EMPOWERMENT?

You’ve worked hard to build your business. Let’s work together to make it last. We want to be your partner in the journey to develop the business that lives into your vision.

There are four primary ways Empower can partner with you to support getting your business to the next level. Click the image below to learn more about our core offerings.

If you’re ready to take the step, reach out to discuss how we can support your goals. 

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