As increasing numbers of Baby Boomers retire, their former leadership roles are being filled by a new generation of leaders. Quite literally in some cases, leadership has skipped over Generation X and has anointed individuals from Generation Y to strategic roles. Why? Well in part it’s in response to the pace of change businesses are experiencing. More and more organisations are turning to the younger generations to capture and reflect the technological innovations, global opportunities and generational shifts that will determine their future growth. So, is this a recipe for success? Will we see highly talented employees rising to the challenge and successfully guiding their organisation through changing times?\u00a0 Or will it result in often untried individuals pitched into the leadership cauldron\u00a0only to emerge, beaten, battered and burnt from that chastening experience.<\/p>\n
In all likelihood, it is probably somewhere in between. That said, for younger leaders in particular there are a number of areas that they may wish to pay particular attention to in order to enhance their overall chances of success.<\/p>\n
A newly appointed ‘young leader’ in their 30’s will undoubtedly find themselves subject to challenges and questions that would rarely be asked of an older employee who is perceived to have greater managerial or leadership experience. These can include issues such as:<\/p>\n
Generational Stereotypes.<\/strong>\u00a0Leaving aside factors such as competence or expertise, younger leaders are often characterised by stereotypes to do with their age. They are likely to have to address lazy preconceived images that paint them as unorganised, uninformed, apathetic, selfie-obsessed narcissists with an overly developed sense of self-worth and entitlement. In most cases wrong, but a stereotype is still a stereotype.<\/p>\n Limited Business Experience.<\/strong>\u00a0A \u2018leader\u2019 in their 30\u2019s is likely to have had between 8 – 15 years post university experience. For some, questions as to whether this is enough will arise. Inevitably there will be certain aspects of managing a business that younger leaders are unlikely to have experienced. Addressing these \u2018knowledge gaps\u2019 is key. Put simply, will they be able to do the job asked of them? Are they seen as a \u2018risky appointment\u2019? Or will their career to date (and it is likely to have been a stellar one, to get them into the role they now occupy) give others a false impression of their true ability to lead \u2013 are they destined to fail?<\/p>\n Establishing Confidence.<\/strong>\u00a0Unfortunately, there are likely to be rather too many experienced individuals (including some passed-over for promotion) waiting for these young leaders to \u2018get it wrong\u2019 in order that they can be proved \u2018right\u2019. Ensuring that all<\/em> within the workforce are both engaged and supportive of the leader is one of the biggest challenges. However, it can be particularly challenging if the individual steering the ship is younger and has less experience than their employees.<\/p>\n Managing Perspective.<\/strong>\u00a0Essentially \u2018how leaders show up\u2019 is of particular importance for younger leaders. Many make the mistake of surrounding themselves with like-minded individuals. People with similar backgrounds, perspectives, and indeed, similar leadership styles, images and approaches. Clearly not a great start if you are trying to address a diverse workforce. Good leaders welcome individuals who \u2018challenge\u2019 their thinking. After all, this is what ultimately drives business performance and innovation, not a cohort of \u2018yes-men\u2019 who are all looking to ingratiate themselves. Encourage diversity and build an organisational culture that appeals to the many, not just the few.<\/p>\n Failure to appreciate the past.<\/strong> In hiring a young leader, organisations are often keen to introduce more dynamism and innovation into their activities. And there\u2019s certainly nothing wrong with that. However, younger leaders can become fixated on their own personal agenda that the foundation from which they are working is often neither acknowledged nor appreciated. Get this wrong and the stability of what is currently in place, alongside the confidence and engagement of employees and customers can be seriously undermined. A good leader should always look to the future, but should not lose sight of the past.<\/p>\n Leaders in any context can often face similar challenges. However, for younger leaders, being\u00a0aware of a number of practical business approaches can often pay dividends. These include:<\/p>\n Whilst these pointers \u00a0provide a platform to support younger leaders transition successfully into bigger leadership roles, it is essential that the organisation contributes to their on-going development. Focus on ways to address knowledge gaps and \u2018blind-spots\u2019. Doing so will improve the chances of a successful appointment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As increasing numbers of Baby Boomers retire, their former leadership roles are being filled by a new generation of leaders. Quite literally in some cases, leadership has skipped over Generation X and has anointed individuals from Generation Y to strategic roles. Why? Well in part it’s in response to the pace of change businesses are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[47,23,24,48,49,50],"class_list":["post-8136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-blog","tag-authentic-leadership","tag-coaching","tag-leadership","tag-leadership-development","tag-leadership-impact","tag-reputation"],"yoast_head":"\nSo what to do?<\/u><\/h2>\n
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