Effective leaders must balance a hunger for new ideas with the mindfulness required to manage the day-to-day steps that will move the company or organization forward.
Ted Spooner, CEO of RespondWell in Grand Rapids, Mich.: While I've founded and developed a company from startup to IPO, the compulsive early adopter in me has always been continuously distracted by the next new thing. But as I have found out the hard way, as company's stages change, its leadership must change too. The trick is to keep the hunger for innovation that got you there in the first place while maturing into the role of an "operator" too. If you can be conscious of when to put on your "operator" hat as opposed to your "innovator" hat and vice versa, the company will keep its heart and you may even get to keep your job!