Final answer:
To enhance innovation, a manager should focus on employee involvement and adaptability per the Denison Leadership Model. These factors encourage active participation, flexibility, and resourcefulness, fostering a more innovative environment. It also includes understanding different leadership needs and creating a cooperative work relationship.
Step-by-step explanation:
If a manager wants to help employees be more innovative according to the Denison Leadership Model, the focus should be on employee involvement and adaptability. These two factors are essential in fostering an innovative environment. Employee involvement ensures that team members are participating actively, speaking up in meetings, embracing new projects, and contributing ideas. Meanwhile, adaptability encourages employees and the organization at large to be flexible in the face of changing priorities and assignments. This includes encouraging employees to seek out ways to contribute to areas that are a priority for the manager and to be resourceful, reaching out to team members for support or feedback.
Creating such a workplace culture where these traits are nurtured involves understanding the employees' needs and leadership preferences, which means being aware that some employees thrive under more structured environments while others require less supervision. This approach aligns with the shift from a traditional hierarchical model to a more egalitarian and cooperative work relationship, where managers and employees work together to support each other's success as well as the organization's goals.