There are endless articles and books on innovation leadership – about how the mix of different leadership styles are used to create better teams and organizations. And of course there’s no arguing the concept. But today, I’d like to approach the topic from a different angle, by identifying all the legacy habits that so many leaders, especially those in Asia and other frontier markets just have a hard time letting go of.

1. Autocratic Leadership

I believe that one change we’ll see in leadership studies in the next ten, maybe twenty years is the elimination or at least minimization of autocratic leadership from leadership books and studies. In all fairness, if you consider how the business world works now a days, one person dictating how to complete a project or task won’t work for very long. Of course this varies based on the skills of the individuals involved but for the average business this is true.

Tip 1: You must have faith in your teams and foster a culture of upward communication to be a modern day leader.

2. Laid Back Attitudes

Even as I was writing this point, I was wondering if in fact it should be the opposite. But the doubt lasted for just a few seconds because we all know that truly driven employees actually thrive when they are pushed (reasonably of course) to do their best. I know of one company where when you walk into the office at 8:30 am you can see people working on their tasks for the day with full blown energy. However, at another company the office is still half empty and those who are there are still waking up. I personally feel that a lazy office environment will lead to lazy teams and that just won’t do.

Tip 2: Push people to reach their maximum potential. They’ll thank you for it.

3. Following the Industry

You know that place called your comfort zone? Get out of it. It’s the only way you’ll make waves. It’s far too easy to just follow where the industry is going. It’s safe, if everyone’s doing it, it must be the right way to go. But really it’s the same as the age old saying “If everyone jumped off a bridge would you jump too?”. The natural next question is how do you get out of your comfort zone when it comes to an entire industry? Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne explain how to create untapped market space thus making competition irrelevant. It’s logical. It’s powerful.

Tip 3: Don’t follow other companies, pave your own path and take customers to places they only dreamed of.

Just by definition innovation leadership requires constant work. Once you’ve mastered implementing the tips above you’ll need to move onto other technique that will keep you and your team mates on your toes. After all, being passive is the first step to taking the easy way out and that’s not where you’ll find exciting business victories.

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Paul Keijzer is the CEO and Founder of Engage Consulting and the co-Founder of The Talent Games, which aims to transform HR by digitising talent processes and creating more engaging and productive workplaces through gamification and mobile technology. As a global HR and Leadership Management expert, Paul knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.