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# 7 People You Should Recruit to Your Innovation Team S12 Ep13
- URL: https://www.philmckinney.com/7-people-you-should-recruit-to-your-innovation-team-s12-e13/
- Published: 2016-06-28T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-01T14:09:06.000Z
- Author: Phil McKinney
- Tags: Past Shows, Studio Sessions, creativity, Innovation, innovation team, Podcasts, radio show, teamwork, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-03-26 05:08

Download [7\_People\_You\_Should\_Recruit\_to\_Your\_Innovation\_Team\_S12\_E13.mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/philmckinney/7%5FPeople%5FYou%5FShould%5FRecruit%5Fto%5FYour%5FInnovation%5FTeam%5FS12%5FE13.mp3?ref=philmckinney.com)

When building an innovation team, taking special care that all of the official and unofficial roles are filled is key - not to mention teamwork. So what are those critical roles for the innovation team?

In this weeks [Killer Innovations Show](https://killerinnovations.com/?ref=philmckinney.com), we address a listener question: What are the roles I should look for when building a high impact innovation team?

The 7 people I believe are the core of any team are:

1. **The Visionary**: The person who is the heart and sould of the idea.
2. **The Leader**: The person who recruit and motivate the best possible team. Visionary ≠ Leader
3. **The Mother** \- The person who is sensitive to everyone and makes sure everyone is taken care of.
4. **The Energizer**:The person who will get it done. Sometimes at a cost. They pump energy into the team
5. **The Customer Advocate**: The person who advocates for the customer. They are the voice of the customer on the project.
6. **"Radar O’Reilly"** (from the movie and TV show *Mash*): The person who can find/secure anything you need either by understanding the process in an organization or who has a Rolodex he can exercise to secure whatever the team needs to be successful.
7. **The Designer**: Design is no longer a behind the scene activity It is front and center with everything that touches the customer.

Bonus 8: **Neurodiversity:** Get people who think differently on your team. They can see what others don’t see in a unique and different way.

## Show Notes:

More on neurodiversity at [Does neural diversity hiring impact your innovation success? S11 Ep22](https://www.philmckinney.com/does-neural-diversity-hiring-impact-your-innovation-success/)