Post by Gregg Caplitz on Apr 14, 2021 12:11:19 GMT
Module 3 Innovation
1.Choose one leader you know, have worked for, or have simply followed via press, books, podcasts, etc.
I choose my current boss at FedCap, Craig Stenning. His leadership as CWS struggled to function during the early days of the Covid crisis was an excellent example of how innovation is essential to effective leadership, especially during a crisis.
2. What is one way trait or behavior that they practice that encourages innovation in their team?
During March of 2020 as the Covid crisis began to escalate Craig made the innovative decision to remain open to service our population. We are for almost all our participants their last hope. Absent our services many of them would be on the street hungry and homeless. I brought Craig a proposal that would require our Culinary department to not only remain open but to operate at a level it had never seen before, of almost a 1000 meals a day to feed first responders at Boston’s Hospitals who were struggling for 12-18 hours fighting the disease, often with nothing but a sandwich since hospital in-house food facilities were closed. We were doing this with a new and untested funding source doing volume the kitchen had never tried in the past. I was the new guy, there for barely three months. We were operating in a world that seemed like a bad 1950’s sci-fi movie. Most leaders would have never given the green light, at best a cautious yellow. Craig saw the potential. Convinced FedCap senior leadership to support the project with initial start-up funds and martialed the other CWS staff and participants to support this daring program. The results? To date we have delivered almost 60,000 meals and well more than 700,000 lbs. of groceries and fresh food to Boston First Responders and then residents impacted by Covid. This program continues today now with the full support of the City of Boston as an example of what CWS can do. Without Craig’s innovative leadership it never gets off the ground. This is how a leader encourages innovation in his/her/their companies. Also we have been able to train young adult homeless youths as part of this innovative program allowing us to accomplish a portion of ours's and FedCap's mission that we were training young homeless youth for a future career. And it lead to Project HOPES. Our new behind the wall initiative in cooperation with National Restaurant Federation Educational Fund and Massachusetts Department of Correction. We are only beginning
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3.What is one thing that you took away from their work that you are striving to implement today in your work?
My exposure to Craig’s leadership has left me convinced that encouraging innovation is a very effective model. I have attempted to encourage my direct reports to innovate and test solutions to the rapidly changing environment we function. I have stopped attempting to micro-manage results and have encouraged an atmosphere where it is not only acceptable to try and fail. It is expected. The results have been improvements that I clearly understand would never have occurred under my old one-man band leadership approach.
1.Choose one leader you know, have worked for, or have simply followed via press, books, podcasts, etc.
I choose my current boss at FedCap, Craig Stenning. His leadership as CWS struggled to function during the early days of the Covid crisis was an excellent example of how innovation is essential to effective leadership, especially during a crisis.
2. What is one way trait or behavior that they practice that encourages innovation in their team?
During March of 2020 as the Covid crisis began to escalate Craig made the innovative decision to remain open to service our population. We are for almost all our participants their last hope. Absent our services many of them would be on the street hungry and homeless. I brought Craig a proposal that would require our Culinary department to not only remain open but to operate at a level it had never seen before, of almost a 1000 meals a day to feed first responders at Boston’s Hospitals who were struggling for 12-18 hours fighting the disease, often with nothing but a sandwich since hospital in-house food facilities were closed. We were doing this with a new and untested funding source doing volume the kitchen had never tried in the past. I was the new guy, there for barely three months. We were operating in a world that seemed like a bad 1950’s sci-fi movie. Most leaders would have never given the green light, at best a cautious yellow. Craig saw the potential. Convinced FedCap senior leadership to support the project with initial start-up funds and martialed the other CWS staff and participants to support this daring program. The results? To date we have delivered almost 60,000 meals and well more than 700,000 lbs. of groceries and fresh food to Boston First Responders and then residents impacted by Covid. This program continues today now with the full support of the City of Boston as an example of what CWS can do. Without Craig’s innovative leadership it never gets off the ground. This is how a leader encourages innovation in his/her/their companies. Also we have been able to train young adult homeless youths as part of this innovative program allowing us to accomplish a portion of ours's and FedCap's mission that we were training young homeless youth for a future career. And it lead to Project HOPES. Our new behind the wall initiative in cooperation with National Restaurant Federation Educational Fund and Massachusetts Department of Correction. We are only beginning
-
3.What is one thing that you took away from their work that you are striving to implement today in your work?
My exposure to Craig’s leadership has left me convinced that encouraging innovation is a very effective model. I have attempted to encourage my direct reports to innovate and test solutions to the rapidly changing environment we function. I have stopped attempting to micro-manage results and have encouraged an atmosphere where it is not only acceptable to try and fail. It is expected. The results have been improvements that I clearly understand would never have occurred under my old one-man band leadership approach.