There is not doubt that innovation leaders and intrapreneurs have lots of drive. They make things happen and this is one of their key qualities. But there is also a thing such as too much drive.

I recently had a couple of incidents where this became very clear. Both incidents evolve around people in new jobs. They have been hired to bring change to their organizations and they are eager to show their capabilities. They are actually doing a great job having started several successful initiatives. But they want even more – and faster.

And then they forget that they have some fairly unique capabilities. Most people do not have a similar drive and even more people prefer status quo over change. When such types collide, the people with drive get frustrated and they might even start to doubt their own capabilities and whether they belong to this new organization.

The strange thing is that they have every opportunity to be successful. During these incidents, I was lucky enough to also get an executive perspective on this. The company leaders would be happy if the innovation leaders had started just a third of the initiatives they had undertaken. The thing is that people with drive sometimes move too fast for others to keep up with them. Or they may set the bar higher than other people are prepared to reach.  Also, people with drive sometimes are moving so fast that they fail to communicate fully with others about where they’re headed and why others should follow.

There are two lessons here. Manage your stakeholders and be prepared to adjust your goals and expectations. Always keep in mind that the change you are so eager to bring about affects other people, who can put roadblocks in your path if they think you’re going too far too fast. Identify and map these people and get a sense of how they feel about the things you want to change. Do this not only during the preparation of new initiatives but also during the implementation. This will also give you a better understanding of what success looks like. Maybe you also have to adjust – up or down – on this.