The current challenge for the survival and growth of companies is the appropriation of innovation in all its senses, the generation of propitiate resilient environments, the innovation philosophy acquisition into action, and improve internal dynamics and cohesion through a comparison of leadership styles oriented by the motivation to serve as a servant leadership. This chapter analyses the relevance of the culturally intelligent organizations to carry out innovation. Likewise, the styles of servant leadership and administration that generate a collective consciousness tend to create innovation and more resilient environments.
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Organizational leadership behavior styles are changing during this turbulent environment driven by the sanitary crisis generated by the pandemics, demanding more people centered management and more ethical leadership styles inspired by the theory of servant leadership. COVID-19 was created grim situation in the world and put necessity of servant leadership. Recognizing that the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, library leadership continues to practice servant leadership (Piorun et al., 2021). Servant leadership characteristics and skills are more necessary during pandemics, crises, and disasters. Management systems in a turbulent business environment might explain the shortfalls in organizational learning and servant leadership and the reactive responses towards risk and uncertainties. Ali (2017) argued that Sustainable development goals (SDGs) can be implemented especially following goals through entrepreneurships: SDG-1, SDG-5, SDG-8, and SDG-13.
The 21st century has a challenge for companies: taking innovation seriously, seen as appropriating innovation in all its forms to generate it. With this and for it, a particular and personalized mix of servant leadership, governance, knowledge of human capital and creation of collaborative networks is required. Thompson (2015) explores the approach of innovation in the diverse leadership styles between transformational and servant leadership within organizations concluding that despite their differences, both leadership style has profound influences upon organizational innovation. According to this author, servant leadership creates an environment conducive to innovation focusing on the needs of followers, while transformational leadership approaches innovation focusing on the organizational needs and the attainment of organizational goals.
Wang, Meng, and Cai (2019) explore the effects of servant behavior at the cross-level on organizational innovative behavior and found that thriving at work mediates the relationship between innovative behavior and servant leadership. More recently, a study conducted by Hutabarat, Suharyono, Utami, & Prasetya (2021) examined the effects of servant leadership on corporate competitiveness and sustainability using service innovation as a mediating element, developing a conceptual and theoretical model. The above in such a way that ecosystems of innovation are created, where actors of the companies, collaborators, partners, competition, and market form a synergistic system that promotes practices that lead to innovation.
Innovation in a global world is the common denominator towards success in the reality of the global economic environment of constant dynamism, which requires innovation as a fundamental idea for the holistic appropriation of innovation in companies. According to Drucker (1985), innovation is of vital strategic importance in management as a survival mechanism for corporations. Among the main factors for innovation Whiting and Solomon, (1989) are the willingness to take risks, the generation of creative ideas, and the adaptability to entrepreneurial spirituality.
Considering the importance of innovation, it is worth mentioning that its impact is not only internally, such as Schumpeter's definition of Innovation (1961). where some activities inherent to business innovation are established, such as: The introduction into the market of a new good, the introduction of a new production method, the opening of a new market, the conquest of a new source of supply: as well as the implementation of a new structure in a market (Schumpeter, 1961).
Some research has shown that a leading factor to obtain and follow a pattern of innovation within organizations is the leaders followed by a systemic approach to the above to obtain a relatively stronger and closer relationship with the improvement in organizational performance and driving towards innovation (Abbas and Asghar, 2010). Resilient organizations are supported by essential elements to achieve the best practices in functional domains aimed to receive the resilience benefits of agile servant leadership, strategic adaptability, and robust governance.
Other very important characteristic recently mentioned for companies and their members are mentioned by Livermore (2010) who comments only the culturally intelligent companies carry out the innovation, likewise the styles of servant leadership and administration, will generate a collective conscience tending to create resilient environments of innovation. Organizational resilience is multifactorial influenced by attributes, behaviors, collective servant leadership and contextual and external forces.