A Chief Innovation Officer is in charge of managing the entire process of innovation within a company, and is in some instances the only individual who originated the new ideas or even makes them sense. The benefits of having a Chief Innovation Officer are quite obvious to any company that is looking to increase their market share and/or improve their customer service.

Innovation is the main catalyst for success in business; without it, you simply cannot compete in today’s market place. Having someone who represents your company on an ongoing basis at all levels helps keep problems at bay and can help to form new partnerships and bring your product to market faster.

The characteristics of a good and successful chief innovation officer like Josh Team are generally quite self-explanatory, but there are a few subtle traits that will separate those that succeed from those that fail. First, you want a person with outstanding leadership qualities. Achieving anything requires skill, and excellent leadership skills are a must for any executive position you may seek.

It is important that the organization you work for values its leaders and looks forward to having them in power every day. A leader that consistently develops strong relationships with key customers and the organization they represent, along with developing strong relationships and a high level of competence in their field will be greatly sought after by Fortune 500 companies.

Achieving great success in your organization as a chief innovation officer will require that you are a problem solver. You need to be able to identify problems, have a plan to fix them, and implement the best solution when possible. This includes understanding what makes a product successful in competing markets, identifying the customer’s desires and wants when seeking to solve the customer’s problem, and implementing the best solution in a timely manner.

The third trait you will need to have if you want to be a successful chief innovator and visionaries are: strategic innovation. If you are leading a large organization that lacks in innovative thinking, your company is doomed. Companies that realize that they must innovate and buy-in to their own unique strategic innovation agenda stand out in the market place, outperforming their competition. This is not to say that small companies cannot become competitive with bigger companies, it just takes a bit more creativity, commitment, and vision on the part of the CIO.

Last, but certainly not least, you will need to be able to demonstrate results in order to become a true strategic innovator. Your CIO needs to develop and implement an action plan that drives innovation internally, attracts outside investment, and supports the delivery of results.

Many innovations fail due to poor execution, a lack of strategies in place to execute on those strategies, and a fear of the unknown. If you can demonstrate in black and white why executing new ideas is critical to the success of the organization then you will become the true leader and CIO that any company will seek.