To move forward, we sometimes need people to show us the way. Although technology projects and science research are often team efforts, just as often groups of innovators achieve their best when rallying behind a leader who is able to inspire and motivate them with a visionary idea or an exciting master plan.
Such leaders can come in many guises: a maverick academic in charge of a cutting-edge science lab; an experienced businesswoman at the helm of a company building ground-breaking tech; a young entrepreneur inventing an entire sector; a celebrated institution or university that has kept successfully embracing new challenges throughout the decades.
In all those cases, a clear vision and a will to improve the world have helped leaders make a difference and triggered significant change.
Leadership in innovation is not just about setting and attaining corporate goals, either. The influence of leaders often extends beyond their company’s boundaries, reaching out to society. Steve Jobs’s unforgettable “stay hungry, stay foolish” mantra, and his tough leadership style, are far more than Apple’s motto – they have become part of the modern lexicon and consciousness.
In the same way, the current rush of enthusiasm for learning about the lives and opinions of other technology A-list executives – from founders such as Richard Branson and Eben Upton, to Nobel Prize winners like Paul Nurse – is revealing of innovators’ huge potential to bring about meaningful discussion and change.
That’s why one of the categories in the WIRED Audi Innovation Awards had to focus on Leadership in Innovation – to acknowledge and celebrate the individuals and teams who have inspired their personnel and the public to greater heights.
A panel of judges (below) assisted with pointing out who – in private enterprises, public institutions, establishments of higher education and beyond – has distinguished themselves in 2016, bringing about innovation and kindling other people’s ambitions. But who or what will eventually deserve WIRED’s title of innovator-in-chief?
Mike LynchAs CEO, Lynch has helped Invoke Capital raise more than £1bn to invest in tech ventures.
Reshma SohoniSohoni’s Seedcamp is a European accelerator that’s invested in over 200 companies.
Rory Cellan-JonesCellan-Jones is a journalist for BBC News, specialising in economics and technology.
Madhumita MurgiaFormer WIRED staff, Murgia is now the FT’s European technology correspondent.
Sarah DrinkwaterDrinkwater heads up Google’s Campus in London, a space dedicated to entrepreneurs.
Bill ThompsonEarlier this year, Thompson began leading Make It Digital, the BBC’s creativity initiative.
Eben UptonUpton founded Raspberry Pi, the manufacturer of small, cheap, customisable computers. It’s sold more than ten million units globally, helping inspire a new generation of coders, creators and makers.
Paul NurseNobel Prize-winner Paul Nurse launched the Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research facility, in early 2016. He is its chief executive and director, with around 1,500 scientists working across many fields.
Matt Clifford & Alice BentinckClifford and Bentinck’s Entrepreneur First is a six-month-long accelerator programme. It’s helped more than 50 startups, including Magic Pony, which was bought for £102m.
Martha Lane FoxEarlier this year Lane Fox joined the board at Twitter. She established the digital inclusion organisation DotEveryone in 2015 and is a House of Lords crossbencher.
Sheila RowanAfter proving Einstein’s theory of gravitational waves, Rowan was made chief scientific adviser for Scotland. She remains director of the Institute for Gravitational Research.
Demis HassabisWith DeepMind, acquired by Google in 2014, Hassabis aims to “solve intelligence”. The London-based company has been nominated for four out of the seven WIRED Audi Innovation Awards.
Dave BrailsfordBrailsford was knighted following the success of Team GB in cycling at London 2012. He now leads Team Sky, which – implementing his “marginal gains” methodology – has won the Tour de France four times in the last five years, most recently with Chris Froome.
Kathy NiakanIn February this year, Niakan became the first biologist to be permitted to genetically modify human embryos, using the CRISPR-Cas9 technique. She is a group leader at the Francis Crick Institute and was named as one of the 100 most influential people by TIME magazine.
-
For more info, visit wired.co.uk/wired-audi-innovation-awards
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
