What the upcoming generation of future leaders need to learn from the guys at the top
I’m coming out of the closet. I am unashamedly, loudly and proudly…one of Generation X . I am no longer in my 30’s and in truth only just holding on to my 40’s. No longer can I think of myself as ‘emerging talent’ and I will never again be referred to as a ‘one to watch’, ‘rising star’ or ‘high potential’. Fast approaching my 50’s I have to admit that, whilst I will never stop learning, I’ve finally reached the stage where I’ve forgotten more than I know. And there’s a small part of me that’s very grateful for that.
We expect a lot from our talent today. We want our emerging marketing leaders to be commercially astute, to have creative superpowers and to understand data analytics. We want them to be strategic, be able to manage projects, demonstrate an understanding of technology, be expert communicators, be customer obsessed brand champions, consummate stakeholder influencers and know more about social media than Mark Zuckerberg (because after all they are a similar age). So, in short, we expect them to be better than we were.
But as employers and leaders, it can be challenging to truly inspire and develop our marketers to be the best they can be. In a climate that’s financially changeable at best we have reduced promotion prospects for our people and shrinking budgets for training and development. Technology, whilst improving 90% of everything, has actually reduced the one to one human connection between bosses and their direct reports (go on, admit it, you’ll often send an email rather than meet up for a chat) and in a world which requires everyone to do more for less, faster and better, it can be hard to find time in the day to spend with our rising stars.
So how do we ensure we are bridging the gap between todays emerging talent and the leaders at the top? How can we do more to engage them, empower them, retain them and ignite their ambition, drive and huger to be the best they can be? In my opinion the answer is simple. We have to show them.
It really is all about us, the current leaders, the Gen X and baby boomers who have been there, seen it, done it, got (and grown out of ) the T-shirts. We’re the ones to provide the benchmark; it’s our knowledge, wisdom and experience that should be shared. It’s up to us to demonstrate that although good leadership is about creating followers, outstanding leadership is about creating other leaders. No pressure there then!
If you agree that leadership is all about developing others then you’ll already know that there is no task more important than communicating with your people. The best leaders take time to personally appreciate their team’s actions, achievements and efforts. Good leaders will find the time to meet with emerging talent often, face to face, one to one, encouraging them to try more, do more, become more. Developing talent, in my view, means ‘managing’ a little less and ‘leading’ a little more, telling gently but listening loudly. Good leaders will evidence, through their own behaviours, that respect is a reward not a right, that authenticity and openness builds trust, that encouraging original thought and a little risk taking can unlock unseen abilities and that the more you give the more you get.
The upcoming generation of leaders should see that in addition to the (easy to learn) technical skills it’s actually their personal beliefs, purpose, ambition, abilities, character, attitude, qualities and motivation that will equip them to get to the top.
And who are the best people to show them the way? Well, that’ll be the guys already up there.
