Last week I met up with an old colleague, Darren Coomber - about one year ago he took over as CEO of the InnovationXchange (IXC Australia) after working for many years as the leader of their intermediaries.
For any of you not familiar with IXC, they are responsible for the creation of collaboration agreements worldwide worth tens of millions which are expected to translate into impact valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars - though we can't tell you about most of them.
Conversation with Darren showed the endemic importance of trust and honesty in responsible leadership which is emerging as the key components of responsible leadership interviews to date.
Before I commence explanation of how the IXC work responsibly, I think it is important to first explain their not for profit business - it is unique internationally and widely misunderstood.
Their core service enables clients to collaborate safely and effectively across corporate boundaries and outside of their own network. IXC uses intermediaries – staff with Masters of PhDs in various disciplines and trained to learn all about a clients intentions, what the client plans to do, create, build and produce. The Intermediaries share this information with each other and actively seek to find external partners to assist their clients without disclosing any clients confidential information or strategic intentions. As expected, IXC staff work within very tight confidentiality agreements and must be able to build trust relationships throughout a clients organisation.
This role gives the Intermediaries broad access to innovation plans in companies, often much broader than many company staff as Darren explains via example...
"I was at a client conference where different departments were showcasing their work. A senior innovation manager said to me ‘do you know you may be the only person in this room that knows all of these projects and the researchers plans for the future. I don't even know what most of these people plan to do."
As you know, many large businesses work within silo's. Intermediaries work across them all - learning what they plan and what the future holds.
Because of their independence, intermediaries learn secrets that are not shared with their closest colleagues.
Then, the exciting bit is - the next day - the same intermediary could be working within that companies biggest competitor - learning all about their IP and plans for the future but with the potential task of finding ways for the two to work together.
And that is the life of one intermediary - the other IXC intermediaries around the world then communicate with each other and see how the businesses they work with can collaborate.
The IXC intermediary means of communication is called 'The Vault', a secure database accessible only to the intermediaries.
Let me give you an example of how this works.
There was a food company looking for an enzyme to help improve the quality of their product.
An intermediary working for them disclosed this to another intermediary who suggested they speak with a company they were working with – an enzyme developer focused on the mining industry.
Within a few months a collaborative agreement was developed which has lead to a series of R&D agreements. Not only has the process introduced collaborators that will never have likely spoken with each other it was able to navigate many of the common legal barriers by quickly identifying a specific area for collaboration that did not compromise either parties other agreements in enzyme development.
Part of working for a company like this must be the frustration that most people will never learn about many of the successful outcomes, although some of the ‘big ticket’ outcomes in rail safety and electric supercars can be found on their website.
Learning about how the IXC work provides many insights on how responsible leadership can be managed.
As a break-even not for profit business, Darren believes underlying his leadership is a core focus on openness and honesty.
Responsibility interacts with motivation with all his staff. Thankfully, within their small business - everyone working for IXC Australia are very passionate about their roles.
They believe in the aims of their company. They could all work elsewhere and earn more money with their skills. However, they work with IXC because they are motivated by creating new opportunities for their clients and helping to solve both small and big problems.
From a responsible leadership perspective, the main concern for Darren is how do you help the intermediaries grow and develop their careers - within and beyond IXC.
Reward through new responsibilities and recognition is one way Darren sees as a key way to encourage leadership development.
Responsible leadership encourages development of staff - through mentoring and coaching.
By considering why IXC intermediaries turn up for work you learn they love to help.
Through being respectful of what they do, Darren has been providing new responsibilities for his staff - to help them develop and to take on opportunities to influence the IXC business model, services and client delivery.
He learns what they are motivated by, then allows them to take responsibility for new areas - that they can oversee and grow.
"You can't make everyone a senior senior intermediary. You can make all intermediaries responsible for their interests."
When it comes to clients, Darren believes confidentiality is key - which you would expect given their business.
Alongside confidentiality are the important aspects of professionalism and respectfulness.
Clients buy trust that they will be managed professionally. You can still be assertive and provide advice. But, always with the knowledge that information and discussions are connected and you should never breach each others trust.
His staff understand this - it is the core of their business and all staff understand their associated responsibilities as they grow.
Learn more about Leadership, Responsible Leadership and The Responsible Leadership Global Road Map project at www.TotalExec.com.au
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