When your customers say you are innovative; when your suppliers say you are innovative; and most importantly, when your staff say, "we are an innovative company", only then you have found the secret to long-term success. You have harnessed the imagination of your people - the true source of your business growth. Only then will you earn the title of being innovative.

The four key areas to focus your innovative thinking that can add to your bottomline are:

1. Marketing Systems Innovation: A marketing innovation is not a clever advertisement. It results from finding new ways to communicate and add value.

2. Leadership for Innovation: In an era of employee contracts and leased executives, define a route for people to contribute in ways that go beyond compliance to formal contracts. Our management philosophies must evolve. Old styles do not provide for creative thinking.

3. Business Processes Innovation: Innovation is needed to add value to human resources, operations, finance, and so on. We need internal specialists who create opportunities for those who sell and deliver services and products to customers.

4. Products and Services: Customers want world-class innovation as well which will meet their existing needs and focus on anticipating future needs by taking customers to places where they want to go (but may not recognise it yet).

The place to start is to look at your organisation in terms of its culture. What is the prevailing attitude towards ideas and creative thinking? To earn the title of being "innovative" takes a focus on the long-term bottomline of the business and the people in it. It's not that complicated. We must use our people and assets to create long-term value. It's one of the basics of business - ideas and innovation lead to business growth!

Five ways to enhance innovation in your business:

Listen to People: Listen to people when they comment, criticise, offer suggestions or ask questions. Respond in a positive way.

Seek out Ideas People: Seek out employees, suppliers, customers and others who are ideas people.

Respect Ideas: Support and respect ideas. Give credit where and when it is due.

Be Committed: Be committed to the process of finding ideas for the success and growth of your business.

Give Ideas: Give ideas generously. You will be rewarded in turn.