Diversity as Key to Entrepreneural Innovation

The anchor for successful entrepreneurship, especially in the Philippine digital technology space, is thoughtful problem-solving. An extensive understanding of issues and the context in which they exist is crucial, and for Patrick Gentry, CEO and co-founder of Sprout Solutions, this means drawing on the diverse knowledge and experience of everyone in his organization.

According to Gentry at his keynote speech during the Institute of Corporate Directors’ (ICD) monthly luncheon held on November 15, “servant leadership” is their key approach to corporate governance. Beyond transparency and compliance, this style of stakeholder engagement has helped the company foster an environment that provides employees at all levels the opportunity to influence Sprout’s direction as an organization.

“That kind of approach is extremely appealing to the high-level resources that are coming up through the ranks right now. Those people that are between 30 and 40 that have 10 years of experience under their belt, they really look for that style of leadership and that style of government.”

Servant leadership encourages employees to voice out their opinions to steer a business towards optimum impact for everyone affected by its operations. This is particularly advantageous to digital technology companies, who need to keep products and services relevant to the market while attracting new talent that can help the business keep up with changing demands.

“In this age of digital disruption, we rely on innovation, and to have innovation you have to have a lot of diverse ideas coming up from the bottom,” said Gentry.