View from the Top Arcus Innovation Leaders Series  Learn how business leaders use innovative approaches to shape their strategies. The majority of executives make it to top positions by being very good operational managers: meeting sales objectives, improving products and services to keep up with competitors, supporting existing customers and acquiring new ones, and so on. Arcus’ multi-industry survey of over 1500 senior executives found that of all the challenges companies face in this area, the biggest challenge is finding ways to create a “climate for innovation”. Management is about business results and processes. Leadership is about people. The key quality you need in good leadership is passion—the urgency to attack and solve the complex problems that all organizations face. Arcus Innovation Series The Arcus Innovation Series is based on in depth interviews with over 1500 senior executives from organizations like Siemens, Unilever, Domtar, Canada Foundation for Innovation and Maple Leaf Foods. They argue that leadership is about having a vision for innovation and creating a framework for action around the vision to allow partners and employees to pioneer new ways of working.     Contact Arcus to find out how to benchmark your innovation strategy:  A presentation on best practices from 1500 companies  A culture change audit  An innovation workshop  An innovation strategy Arcus research indicates that to create a culture of innovation, you need to be surrounded by highly talented people, and you need to find a way to transmit your passion to them, so they will buy into your vision of the future, perform at the highest possible levels, and come up with innovative solutions to the challenges of achieving the vision. No surprise, then, that the topic of innovation has been gaining ground as CEOs seek to incorporate concepts like “a culture of innovation” into their assessments of a company’s long-term value. Innovation in healthcare and the “bottom-up Reformation”: An interview with Mr. Neil Seeman, Director and Primary Investigator, Health Strategy Innovation Cell at Massey College, University of Toronto. Mr. Seeman says we need new out-of-the-box measurement tools that recognize “successful failures”. In healthcare, in particular, we talk a lot about our “success stories”. We don’t like talking about our failures. The challenge to admitting to failure has to do with our organizational culture in healthcare. There is a lack of understanding in healthcare that patients are leading what Steve Case calls a “bottom-up Reformation”.  Read the interview Corporate performance and governance: An interview with Mr. Jim Leech, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP). A message to CEOs on performance benchmarks, governance, risk consciousness and performance systems. First, risk consciousness needs to be built into all processes of the business. It needs to be integral to the compensation and investment process. At times, management has taken on significant levels of risk to produce superior results so that they could increase their compensation. Risk needs to be brought into the equation. Senior executives are starting to understand that. Read the interview Globalive’s view on the Innovation Imperative: An interview with Mr. Anthony Lacavera, CEO, Globalive Communications Corp. Mr. Lacavera says its critical for companies to be prepared to grow in a profitable and sustainable way. Globalive's strength has been low management turnover and a strong, cohesive and consistent strategy. The company's drivers of success have been the right team and a consistent and disciplined approach. Read the interview Brand leadership and vision for innovation : An interview with Mr. Geoff Craig, VP & GM, Brand Building. Mr. Craig argues that leadership is about having a vision for innovation and creating a framework for action around the vision to allow partners and employees to pioneer new ways of working. Read the interview Innovation and return on capital : An interview with Mr. Andrew Tremblay, Business Development Manager, Domtar EarthChoice, Corporate Markets Canada, Domtar Corp. Mr. Tremblay says that in capital intensive businesses, innovation needs to be seen as a way to get better return on the capital employed. Read the interview A shared vision for innovation and change : An interview with Ms. Kathryn Fitzwilliam, Corporate Vice President, Marketing Resources. Ms. Fitzwilliam says first and foremost you need to make sure that people understand and support a shared objective. Read the interview