Page 209 - Grow from Within Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation

194 grow from within

supportive with you one-on-one, but are willing and able to
stand up for the corporate entrepreneurship group when
you’re not there. As corporate entrepreneurship leader, you
won’t be at all of the meetings where decisions are made that
affect your group, so the more people you have at a senior level
who recognize the corporate entrepreneurship group’s value
and are able to make the case, the better off you’ll be. In fact,
corporate entrepreneurial teams should make identifying and
cultivating people who have the potential to be active allies one
of their first objectives.
Moreover, never assume senior-level buy-in. Just because the
CEO or a business unit leader allocates capital and people to a
corporate entrepreneurship program does not mean that he or
she will maintain that support or focus. It is up to the corporate
entrepreneurship team to ensure that the right people in the
company continue to see the value and maintain their support.
Such support has to be earned every day, especially when it is
easy for people to single out your group as a “cost center.” As
corporate entrepreneurship teams become focused on current
projects, they can lose sight of the constant advocacy that must
happen on behalf of their larger efforts. Always remember that
in most cases, a corporate entrepreneurship group is by defini-
tion “noncore.” It is ultimately the leader’s responsibility to
make sure that innovation remains on the right people’s lists.
To enable your navigation and promotion plans, start by cre-
ating a map of the top of your organization. Discuss your best
guess regarding how each senior leader views the corporate
entrepreneurship group and innovation investments more gen-
erally. Who are potential allies, detractors, and fence-sitters?
Which decision makers and influencers do you need to be sure
to engage? What is their leadership style (e.g., are they out-
spoken, or do they work behind the scenes)? Are there impor-
tant people on the fence whom you might be able to bring over