Editor’s Note: This is inspired by career oriented advice from Harvard Business Review, adapted specifically for the high visibility world of HVAC and BAS.
Innovation is often associated with new technology, major investments, or groundbreaking ideas. But in the HVAC and building automation industries, innovation can start with something much simpler: a better way to solve a problem, a more effective way to support a team, or a willingness to challenge an established process.
Whether you work in the field, manage projects, lead a sales team, oversee service operations, or guide an entire organization, your ability to think creatively and help others improve can have a lasting impact on your career.
And you don’t have to be unhappy with your current position to pursue that growth. In fact, when you enjoy your work, trust your team, and believe in your organization, you have an excellent foundation for developing your leadership skills and contributing to its continued success.
So, what makes an innovative leader in HVAC and building automation? It comes down to how you approach challenges, collaborate with others, and turn new ideas into meaningful improvements.
1. You Look for Ways to Improve What Already Works
Successful professionals understand the value of established processes. Whether you’re commissioning a building automation system, coordinating service calls, estimating a mechanical project, or managing customer relationships, consistency and reliability matter.
Innovative leaders recognize that appreciating an existing process doesn’t mean assuming it cannot be improved.
You might identify a way to reduce callbacks, streamline project handoffs, improve estimating accuracy, simplify controls programming, or help technicians access the information they need in the field. Small improvements can save time, reduce costs, and make the work experience better for everyone involved.
How to put it into practice: Pay attention to recurring frustrations or inefficiencies in your daily work. When you identify an opportunity, consider a practical solution and share it with your manager or team. Focus on improvements that support your organization’s goals while making your own work and the work of your colleagues more effective.
2. You Bring Other People Into the Problem-Solving Process
Innovation rarely happens in isolation. Some of the most valuable ideas emerge when people with different experiences and areas of expertise work together.
In HVAC and building automation, collaboration is particularly important because projects often involve sales professionals, engineers, estimators, project managers, technicians, service coordinators, and operations leaders. Each group sees different aspects of a project and can identify challenges others might overlook.
A service technician may recognize a recurring controls issue. A project manager may see an opportunity to improve communication between installation and commissioning. A sales professional may identify a customer need that could lead to a better service offering.
Innovative leaders create opportunities for these perspectives to come together. They ask questions, listen to feedback, and recognize that the best solution may come from someone who doesn’t hold a leadership title.
How to put it into practice: Invite input from colleagues outside your immediate team. Ask field personnel what could make projects run more smoothly, consult engineers before finalizing an approach, or encourage dispatchers and service coordinators to share patterns they notice in daily operations. When people feel their input matters, they are more likely to contribute ideas that benefit the entire organization.
3. You Stay Curious About New Technology and Industry Developments
The HVAC and building automation industries continue to evolve. Advancements in smart building technology, connected systems, energy efficiency, analytics, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence are creating new ways to design, operate, maintain, and optimize buildings.
Innovative professionals don’t need to master every emerging technology. They do, however, remain curious about developments that could improve their work or create value for their customers.
For BAS technicians, programmers, and engineers, that might mean exploring new integration capabilities, analytics tools, or approaches to system optimization. For HVAC sales professionals, it could involve learning more about electrification, energy-saving solutions, or changing customer priorities. Project managers and operations leaders might investigate tools that improve forecasting, resource allocation, or project visibility.
For executives and general managers, staying informed helps connect technological developments to broader business objectives, including customer retention, profitability, employee development, and long-term competitiveness.
How to put it into practice: Set aside time to learn about one relevant development in your field. Attend an industry event, participate in manufacturer training, exchange ideas with a knowledgeable colleague, or explore a tool that could address an existing business challenge. The goal isn’t to chase every trend; it’s to recognize which developments are worth understanding and potentially applying.
4. You Treat Challenges as Opportunities to Learn
Even in a role you enjoy, challenges are inevitable. Projects run behind schedule, systems behave unexpectedly, estimates miss the mark, customer expectations change, and teams encounter staffing or coordination difficulties.
What distinguishes innovative leaders is how they respond when things don’t go according to plan.
Rather than focusing exclusively on assigning blame, they look for the underlying cause and consider what can be learned. They ask whether a process needs to change, whether additional training would help, or whether better communication could prevent a similar problem in the future.
This approach is particularly valuable in technical and operational environments, where resolving the immediate issue is important but preventing a repeat occurrence can deliver even greater long-term value.
How to put it into practice: After completing a challenging project or resolving a recurring issue, take a few minutes to evaluate what happened. Identify what worked, what could have gone better, and what your team can do differently next time. Share those lessons constructively so the entire organization can benefit.
5. You Help Create an Environment Where People Can Share Ideas
A team cannot innovate consistently if people are afraid to ask questions, admit mistakes, or suggest alternatives.
Innovative leaders understand the importance of creating an environment where colleagues feel comfortable contributing ideas and raising concerns. This doesn’t mean abandoning standards or accepting every suggestion. It means evaluating ideas fairly and encouraging constructive discussion.
For a service manager, this might involve inviting technicians to recommend improvements to troubleshooting procedures. For an engineering leader, it could mean giving designers opportunities to explain alternative approaches. For an executive, it might involve creating regular opportunities for employees at different levels to share feedback about company processes and priorities.
When people know their perspectives will be considered, they become more engaged in finding solutions and taking ownership of the results.
How to put it into practice: Ask for input before decisions are finalized, acknowledge thoughtful suggestions, and explain why a proposed idea is adopted or declined. If an idea isn’t practical today, consider whether it could be useful in the future. Consistent follow-through demonstrates that collaboration is more than a talking point.
6. You Are Willing to Experiment Without Losing Sight of Results
Innovation requires a willingness to try new approaches, but in HVAC and building automation, experimentation must be balanced with safety, technical requirements, customer expectations, budgets, and project deadlines.
Innovative leaders know how to test ideas thoughtfully rather than making unnecessary changes without a clear purpose.
A project manager might pilot a new scheduling process on one project before expanding it across the organization. A service operations leader could test a revised dispatching workflow with a small group. A sales manager might evaluate a different approach to account planning and compare the results with previous performance.
These controlled experiments make it possible to learn what works without introducing avoidable disruption.
How to put it into practice: Start with a specific problem, define what improvement would look like, and identify a manageable way to test your proposed solution. Evaluate the results before deciding whether to expand, adjust, or abandon the approach. Treating experiments as structured learning opportunities helps your team become more adaptable while maintaining accountability.
7. You Connect Your Ideas to the Bigger Picture
Innovation is most valuable when it supports a meaningful objective. A new process or technology might be interesting, but its real value depends on whether it improves outcomes for customers, employees, or the business.
Innovative leaders understand how their individual responsibilities contribute to the organization’s broader success.
For example, a BAS programmer who develops a more efficient troubleshooting method can help improve service responsiveness and customer satisfaction. An estimator who improves project accuracy can help protect margins and set realistic expectations. A service coordinator who strengthens communication can help technicians work more efficiently and customers feel better supported.
At the leadership level, the same principle applies to larger decisions involving market strategy, service offerings, talent development, operational investments, and customer relationships.
How to put it into practice: When proposing an improvement, explain the problem it addresses and the outcome it could produce. Consider whether it will save time, reduce risk, improve quality, strengthen customer relationships, support employee development, or contribute to profitable growth. Connecting ideas to business priorities makes it easier for others to understand their value.
8. You Help Others Grow Alongside You
Professional growth doesn’t have to mean moving into a different position or pursuing a management title. It can also mean becoming a stronger technical resource, improving your ability to collaborate, or helping colleagues develop their own capabilities.
Innovative leaders understand that an organization’s long-term success depends on developing the people who make it possible.
Experienced technicians can share troubleshooting knowledge with newer team members. Senior engineers can mentor colleagues on system design and integration. Sales leaders can help account managers strengthen their consultative skills. Project managers can share lessons learned that improve future project execution. Executives can build development opportunities that prepare employees for greater responsibility.
When knowledge is shared, teams become more capable, resilient, and prepared to handle new challenges.
How to put it into practice: Identify one way to support a colleague’s development. Offer to explain a technical concept, share a lesson from a recent project, provide constructive feedback, or help someone gain exposure to a new responsibility. You can strengthen your own leadership abilities while helping your organization build a deeper pool of talent.
9. You Remain Open to Feedback and Different Perspectives
Experience is valuable, but it can also make it tempting to rely on familiar approaches. Innovative leaders recognize that continued success requires a willingness to reconsider assumptions and learn from others.
This is especially important in industries where technology, customer expectations, and project requirements change over time. A method that worked well several years ago may no longer be the most effective option today.
Being open-minded doesn’t mean disregarding your experience. It means combining what you know with new information and perspectives to make better decisions.
How to put it into practice: Ask trusted colleagues or managers where they believe you could improve. Listen carefully when someone offers a different approach, and evaluate the merits of their suggestion before dismissing it. You can also seek feedback after completing an important project or leading a difficult customer conversation.
The willingness to learn from others is a strength, regardless of your position or years of experience.
10. You Take Ownership of Your Continued Development
Being happy in your current job and committed to your employer doesn’t mean your professional development should stand still.
In fact, a positive work environment can provide an excellent opportunity to build new skills, take on meaningful challenges, and prepare yourself to contribute at a higher level. You already understand your organization, its customers, and its expectations. That knowledge can help you identify where your development would have the greatest impact.
For a field technician, the next step might involve learning advanced programming or system integration. An engineer might pursue deeper expertise in energy optimization or system design. A sales professional could strengthen strategic account management skills. An operations leader might focus on financial performance, process improvement, or team development.
The right direction depends on your interests, strengths, and the needs of your organization.
How to put it into practice: Have a conversation with your manager about the skills that would make you more effective in your current role and better prepared for future responsibilities. Establish a development goal, identify the resources you need, and look for opportunities to apply what you learn. Your development plan should complement your current career path rather than assume you need to leave it behind.
Innovation Can Strengthen the Career You Already Enjoy
You don’t have to be a senior executive, manage a large team, or develop the next major technological breakthrough to be an innovative leader.
Innovation can be demonstrated through the everyday decisions you make: how you solve technical problems, communicate with customers, support colleagues, evaluate new tools, improve processes, and respond to unexpected challenges.
For HVAC and building automation professionals, these behaviors can lead to better project outcomes, stronger customer relationships, more effective teams, and a more capable organization. They can also help you build valuable skills and increase your contribution without sacrificing the aspects of your current position that you enjoy.
If you’re happy where you are, use that satisfaction as a foundation for continued growth. Look for ways to make your work more effective, help your colleagues succeed, and contribute ideas that move your organization forward.
The most meaningful career development doesn’t always require a change in direction. Sometimes, it comes from finding new ways to make a positive impact right where you are.aptable, and remain willing to consider possibilities they hadn’t previously imagined.
Source & Attribution
• Harvard Business Review — “What Makes an Innovative Leader?”