Discruptive Leadership Disruptive Leadership is a weblog offering news, thoughts, comments, opinions and more on growing for-profit technology businesses in emerging markets (China, India, etc.) Being successful requires a very different approach … strategies and techniques that change the game, overturn the status quo, and ultimately make the biggest possible impact. This approach is positively “disruptive” … disruptive innovation, disruptive marketing, and ultimately, disruptive leadership.

Mark Beckford, the author, did this for more than 10 years. Doing it is hard, very hard. There are more failures than successes. Mark both failed and succeeded. He's observed other companies, groups and individuals do the same. You learn when you do both.

Disruptive leadership is a concept that is borrowed with pride from the theory of disruptive innovation put forth by Clayton Christensen in his seminal book "The Innovator’s Dilemma" and the even-better sequel "The Innovator’s Solution."

Disruptive leadership captures the essence of what it takes to be successful as a business leader trying to crack the secret formula of growing in very dynamic emerging markets.

Disruptive leadership could apply to so many concepts, but the focus here is on market, business and product development for growing successful “for-profit” technology businesses in emerging markets.

Note the highlight on “for-profit.” Why? Because so many blogs, online communities, companies, and organizations are trying to close the digital divide and improve lives. Social ventures and entrepreneurs are becoming even more prevalent than ever. But there are very few talking about how to grow a sustainable, profitable technology business. NextBillion.net is one example.

Mark is an unabashed capitalist if the appropriate regulations are in place to protect the environment, intellectual property, workers rights, etc. He believes a vibrant, competitive and OPEN economy allows companies to grow, attract capital, and re-invest profits for more growth and innovation. He believe this does more good than harm, as the obvious successes in China and India exhibit as they grow their economies and middle classes.

Does capitalism solve all societal ills? No. Does it create some income disparities? Yes. But this is not the place to debate the pros/cons of globalization and capitalism in developing countries. There are plenty of other sites and forums to do that.
So, please read, comment and participate. Hopefully you will learn something new, or teach Mark something he don’t know.