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When AI is designed intentionally, it can spark innovation without sacrificing functionality or performance.

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Tune out the industry naysayers and lean into solving your target market's pain points. When you're a brand disruptor who aims to provide innovative solutions in an established "business as usual" marketplace, your company and its leadership are bound to ruffle some feathers. To overcome any negativity, continue to stay above the fray and let the data speak for itself. By proactively educating the underserved market of consumers and staying truthful about your business intentions, you'll mobilize a community of ambassadors in no time, who are willing to support your organization's potential and share their personal testimonials.  As you begin to strengthen your client base, remember to put their needs first. But it's also imperative to build bridges by keeping your competitors even closer. At the end of the day, feedback, whether good or bad, fuels inspiration and innovation. This puts your company in a much better position to address concerns, defend its own progress, and defeat the status quo mentality of other colleagues in the field. Below, 16 Fast Company Executive Board members share tips to maintain your clients' confidence in your new establishment and develop loyal partnerships that will last a lifetime.

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Inspiring employees to address current business challenges—transparently and collaboratively—enables the opportunity to find innovative solutions for business growth.  Tapping into the ideas of the people you work with each day is an effective way to foster the spirit of intrapreneurship on the job. It can move the company closer to its mission to spark innovation that has a positive influence, in-house and externally, in the marketplace.  An employee's concept may seem risky or unconventional, at first, but as a leader, being willing to facilitate a safe space for staff critical thinking and creative experimentation will help the business and its team stay fresh, collectively, moving forward with better outcomes for the organization and attainable solutions for its current and potential clients and customers.  Below, 14 experts from Fast Company Executive Board are sharing their best practices to inspire innovation and intellectual freedom that will excite your team.

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Implementing these top strategies may help your business stand out during one of the most competitive selling cycles of the year.  The holiday season is the perfect time to nurture your established brand relationships with loyal customers and clients and possibly develop some new ones. Whether your company is targeting B2C or B2B, it's also a chance to come up with other creative concepts to grab people's attention, make them smile, and show them that you truly care.  If you focus on the humanization of your company, highlighting the effectiveness of your employees, you'll connect effectively with the community at large. Here are 14 ways that Fast Company Executive Board members are successfully keeping their organizations in the public eye not only in November and December but throughout the entire year.

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Companies that possess a strong purpose—one that does good as well as makes money—and consistently base their decision-making against this criterion will be those that build legacies to last the test of time.

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Your ability to weather a huge storm, in the marketplace, may also increase the growth potential of your business success down the line. Whether you're a CEO corporate executive addressing a corporate PR nightmare or a small business owner strapped for cash, trying to figure out how you're going to make payroll next month, a business crisis is bound to happen at some point so you have to be ready to face the challenge.  In the long run, taking accountability and keeping a cool head is one of the best ways leaders can avoid knee-jerk reactions and learn to troubleshoot the storm more effectively. Below, 16 expert panelists from Fast Company Executive Board will explain what overcoming industry obstacles have taught them in general and how doing so can help other company leaders improve their business patterns overall.

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Sometimes, the simplest daily habits can have the most significant impact on your overall productivity and mindset. Happy and healthy employees can help enhance a team's overall productivity. The more productive and collaborative your team is, the more successful your business will be. As a leader, part of your role is to model good habits to increase productivity, whether it's by making time for self-care routines or by creating the perfect organizational system that works for your team. Below, 15 Fast Company Executive Board members shared the unique habits they believe can help both the personal and professional productivity of leaders and their teams.