Marketing Profs

So you're looking for an impresario of innovation, a doyenne of the different, a marketing maven. But how do you know if the person you're interviewing is really the wizard of wow that your organization can count on to help pep up its profits? And how do you know your corporate culture will accept this champion of change?

A culture of innovation requires inspired leadership. Built upon a strong network of structures, processes, and people, the innovative organization is typically populated with business leaders who are willing to free up resources to execute new ideas and who have the courage to take risks rather than just talk about them

Marketing innovators are attracted to cultures that embrace change, and are willing to explore ideas that are truly different.

Assuming that your organization's culture is conducive to innovation, there are some specific qualities to look for when hiring a marketing innovator.

Strong innovation talent shares the same basics of other high-caliber talent: They are intelligent, analytical, and financially oriented. They also have demonstrated success in leading teams, the ability to analyze metrics and financials, and an organized thought process and high degree of business creativity. Good innovators are naturally curious. They continually ask questions, seek analogies from the world around them, and explore new things. They are smart.

Innovators also have specific personal qualities that contribute to their creative abilities. According to Mitchell Ditkoff (www.ideachampions.com), change management consultant and creator of many products that promote innovation, including Free The Genie (a series of 12 booklets on creative thinking), the following qualities can be used to describe innovators:

Challenges the status quo; curious; self-motivated; visionary; entertains the fantastic; takes risks; given to movement and interaction; playful/humorous; self-accepting; flexible/adaptive; makes new connections; reflective; recognizes patterns; tolerates ambiguity and is committed to learning.

The innovator also balances intuition and analysis, is situationally collaborative, formally articulate, resilient, and persevering.

In addition to having at least a broad cross section of the aforementioned qualities, successful marketing innovators typically exhibit the following qualities: