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Key Takeaways Some of the most valuable innovation inside a company doesn’t come from market research — it comes from empowering the “intrapreneurs” already embedded in the work.
Leaders who spot these people, build psychological safety and give them room to experiment can turn internal ideas into a competitive edge that’s hard for outsiders to replicate.
Leaders are often really good at looking out in the world around them to find inspiration for their next breakthrough. They scan the market for pain points, potential customers, partnerships, new products and funding opportunities. But inside large, mature organizations, some of the most powerful innovations often start with a founder’s mindset inside the organization.
Internal innovators, often called intrapreneurs, are closest to the work, the friction and the customer experience. When leaders recognize and empower them, those individuals can drive innovation, speed and competitive advantage that competitors struggle to replicate.
I experienced this early in my career at the Kelley School of Business. A colleague named Brad Wheeler pushed ideas that felt bold at the time. He advocated for a laptop requirement for MBA students and encouraged the use of Lotus Notes to enable digital collaboration among students and faculty. That work became an early version of what we now call a learning management system.
Later, when I stepped into a leadership role connected to those initiatives, the groundwork Brad had laid helped launch Kelley Direct, the school’s fully online MBA program, which eventually became the number one online MBA program in the country. None of that would have happened without our dean being a leader willing to bet on an internal innovator, Brad.
Here is how leaders can identify and empower intrapreneurs inside their organizations.
1. Spot the hidden intrapreneurs
Intrapreneurs are usually the people doing the work who see how things could be better.
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