Connecting Innovation and Leadership in Business

At a recent Wharton roundtable discussion on leadership and innovation, Wharton management professor Michael Useem, event moderator, initiated discussion by posing a general question: How are leadership and innovation linked? "How exactly do we put those two together? How do we lead in a way that generates innovation?" he asked, describing the synergy as "a kind of high-octane fuel we ought to get as much of as we can."

He then asked the panelists -- who had come to campus to participate in Wharton's 125th anniversary celebration -- to describe a single factor that they feel is most critical to innovation in their industry. C. Robert Henrikson, chairman and CEO of global insurer MetLife, focused on marketing. "In our industry, the winners will be determined because of marketing. By that I mean true marketing, not sales support, which is what the insurance industry is about in the United States." Executives beyond the sales team, such as lawyers and financial officers, need to meet with customers regularly. All parts of the organization must have a sense of the customers' business to anticipate their needs and reach out with innovative ideas, he said.

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