In 2024, a record-breaking 83% of senior executives ranked innovation among their organization’s top three strategic priorities, according to the Boston Consulting Group’s annual innovation report. Yet, just 3% of companies say they’re actually ready to deliver on those ambitions.
Despite organizations having multiple innovation projects and a strong pipeline of ideas, it seems that, for many teams, the foundational elements of an innovation strategy, such as a clear direction, leadership buy-in, and execution are falling short.
To boot, more than half (52%) cite an unclear or overly broad innovation strategy as one of their organization’s top three challenges. This worrying disconnect between innovation teams and leadership often presents itself as missed opportunities, wasted investment, and transformation efforts that fail to get off the ground.
For innovation teams, these findings raise an important question: Does your leadership team actually believe in the strategy you’re asking them to support?
In this article, we explore the consequences of lacking leadership buy-in for innovation strategies and offer practical tips to align your innovation efforts with business goals so your ideas get the backing, funding, and momentum they need to succeed.
Why leadership buy-in is the make-or-break factor for your innovation strategy
Leadership buy-in can determine whether your innovation projects flourish or flop. Too often, companies go through the motions of innovation without a coordinated plan of how it delivers against business goals.
A Harvard Business Review study revealed that around 70% of innovation initiatives “do not reach their goals.” With businesses estimated to spend a staggering $1.3 trillion on digital transformation initiatives annually, somewhere in the region of $900 billion is being wasted on failed innovation projects.
In many cases, the ideas are there, the appetite for innovation exists, and teams are capable of delivering transformation projects. Research by McKinsey has found that innovation projects are twice as likely to succeed when senior leaders spend more than half of their time on innovation transformations.
However, without leadership buy-in, even the best ideas quickly lose momentum.
Without the necessary resources, budget, or access to key decision-makers, innovation projects will inevitably stall as teams struggle to move forward and capitalize on promising solutions.
Over time, this lack of momentum takes its toll. A lack of support erodes enthusiasm, leaving talented innovation professionals feeling frustrated and undervalued as they receive little-to-no tangible backing for their efforts.
At an organizational level, failing to secure leadership buy-in for innovation strategies can lead to a significant loss of competitive advantage. Businesses that are spearheaded by leaders that understand and champion innovation can move faster, respond to customer needs more effectively, and take market share. This is especially true in fast-moving sectors such as technology, healthcare, and manufacturing, where waiting too long to act often means missing the opportunity altogether.
What’s more, securing leadership support is crucial for getting the right resources in order to progress a project from an idea to delivery, whether it’s funding, access to talent, or technology. Innovation initiatives often require an upfront investment, and without buy-in from senior leadership, securing those resources can be a major hurdle.
Leadership buy-in ensures that your innovation strategy is closely aligned with the company’s broader objectives. When leaders actively support innovation, it becomes an integral part of your organization’s long-term vision, not just a collection of projects that exist in isolation.
Start with what matters to them, not you
One of the main reasons why innovation struggles to gain traction is because it’s often perceived as something separate to the main objectives of the business. According to the Boston Consulting Group, only 12% of executives say their innovation and wider business strategies are strongly linked and delivering meaningful impact. If innovation projects aren’t seen as contributing directly to improving revenue, streamlining operations, or increasing customer satisfaction, it becomes harder to make the case for support.
Start by asking yourself: What do your business leaders care about? Are they looking to reduce costs, increase market share, or improve product offerings? These are the areas that your innovation strategy must support.
Instead of presenting innovation as an abstract concept, show how it can deliver measurable outcomes in the key areas that matter most to your leadership team and your business.
For example, if you work for a manufacturing company that is focused on expanding its market share, you could explain how a digital transformation project to implement a predictive maintenance system that monitors equipment performance in real-time, predicts breakdowns, reduces downtime, and improves efficiency could give your business a competitive edge in attracting new customers.
Example of companies in this space from FounderNest:
Leaders are more likely to get on board when they see how innovation aligns with, and can help them meet, their goals.
Bring stakeholders in early, not at the last minute
If you want stakeholders to champion your work as an innovation team, they need to feel like part of the process, not just the approval stage. Engaging stakeholders from the start is essential for getting leadership buy-in because it builds alignment, trust, and a sense of ownership.
This increases the chances that your strategy reflects what matters most to them and is more likely to be supported, whether it’s financial gain, operational impact, or improved customer experience. If you can demonstrate that your innovation efforts are clearly connected to their goals, it’s far easier for them to justify the investment and advocate for the project internally.
“We involve them [stakeholders] in open innovation projects to make them ambassadors. We do the up-skilling and work on our innovation culture through events.” - Kristina Daae Smedsvig, DNB
Including stakeholders early on also reduces the chance of any unexpected surprises, which many leaders tend to veer away from. It gives them time to raise concerns, ask questions, and get comfortable with any undue risk before a formal ask is on the table. And practically speaking, if they’ve been part of shaping the strategy in the first place, they’re more likely to feel accountable for its success.
Communicate using language that leaders understand
For business leaders, the language of return on innovation investment (ROII), growth metrics, and market share often resonates far more than buzzwords like "disruption" or "cutting-edge technology." As such, it’s important to position your innovation strategy in terms that mean something to your leadership team. For the most part, leaders care about hitting revenue targets, reducing operational costs, gaining a competitive edge, and improving customer experience.
One of the best ways to get support for innovation projects is to show how they help achieve your company’s main goals. Frame your idea in terms of business impact: cost savings, revenue growth, increased speed to market, or improved customer satisfaction.
So, instead of saying: "We need to adopt a new data analysis platform." Say: "By connecting our systems, we can reduce manual reporting time by 60%, freeing up staff to focus on higher-value work and getting insights to leadership faster."
Even if the project is still in the early stages and the numbers are rough estimates, the important thing is to show that you understand what matters to the leadership team. Speak to their priorities, and use the metrics they care about to prove that this innovation project will drive measurable results.
“The top priority here is the ROI on capital employed in the projects. This is by far the best argument. We also define the impact of projects on other strategic goals of the company.” - Marina Lützenberger, Fraport AG
Demonstrate the value of your innovation opportunity with data and case studies
Similarly, your leadership team will want proof that your innovation strategy presents a solid business opportunity. This means backing up your proposals with evidence. Data from pilot programs, industry benchmarks, or case studies from comparable companies (or, indeed, your competitors) can all help you to create a compelling case.
If you can point to another company in your space that implemented a similar system and cut costs by a specific amount or increased revenue by a measurable percentage, that’s going to carry far more weight than a vague promise of improved performance.
Timothy Lumb from ALS says it best: “As an innovation lead, your most powerful tool is storytelling. Use the hero’s journey to show what could have happened if you’d backed a winning idea-celebrate the highs, confront the setbacks, and demonstrate how your team would have overcome challenges. Once you’ve inspired excitement, tie your story to the right KPIs: start with the behaviours you want to drive, measure the journey’s key steps, and show how you’re managing risk and resources. Ultimately, leaders and investors want to see you’re not just chasing ideas, but building a process that turns innovation into real, measurable value.”
Present a business case that wins C-suite support
A business case is a document that lays out why a specific project is worth doing or an investment is worth making. It typically lays out the what, why, and how: what the project is, why it matters, how it delivers value, and what it is going to take in terms of time, money, and resources. The goal of a business case is simple: to get buy-in from leadership and decision-makers in your organization.
“It's hard to convince people and make them change their mind. Usually, it's best to look for their interests, and create a situation where they could win, or at least it could be communicated like that.” - Michal Monit, Michal Monit Consulting
A lot of people think that a business case has to be long and complicated to be taken seriously. In fact, the strongest cases are often the simplest. They get straight to the point, focus on outcomes, and make it easy for leaders to see the ROI, whether that’s revenue, efficiency, market share, or something else that ties into business priorities.
It’s important to be upfront about any risks or challenges you might encounter. Leaders are more likely to back an innovation strategy that doesn’t shy away from any potential hurdles, but demonstrates you’ve thought about how to handle and mitigate them. Being considered and realistic is far more powerful than being overly optimistic.
