Emerging leaders are facing a fast and furious future. For both the veteran leader handing off and the smart, ambitious younger leader stepping up to accept the hand-off there are a few important things to consider for maximum value.
For example, my grandson is learning to ski. He had a couple of lessons last year and is back for year two. He is a competitive perfectionist and will eventually ski double black diamond runs, fast. Last year started in the kiddie corral on mostly flat ground. Now he is riding the chairlift and skiing beginner terrain. He is going slow while learning to go fast.
For now, the most important thing is to love the experience of being on the mountain as he learns his equipment and other basics while having fun. He is also learning from an expert, the right way, from the beginning.
That is not how it was for me. My ski instructor was Kenny, a mechanic I worked with during and for a while after high school. He was a fun guy who got me started both on snow, water, and on apres ski jugs of cheap red wine. His greatest enjoyment was to take me to the top of the chairlift, point me downhill and watch the carnage as I tried in vain to slow, stop or turn without crashing. I still can hear him laughing as he gracefully skied down to where I was a heap in the snow. It took longer than it should have for me to “get it.” Years later skiing became easy and deeply satisfying.
I wear a helmet skiing for protection against my mistakes and other unexpected circumstances. My friend Kevin says, “Leadership is tough, wear a helmet.” Leadership mistakes and unexpected circumstances are reality but less common for leaders who have gotten the leadership handoff from a talented mentor, coach, teacher. Leadership should be easier and more satisfying.
Unlike football, the leadership hand-off is not a snapshot in time. Some people are called born leaders at an early age. Usually because they take charge and the other kids follow. That’s not adequate for a high performing leader in a dynamic organization. Leadership is a learned set of skills built on a perspective of accountability, commitment, and humanity. Whether you are giving or receiving the handoff consider these tips.
- There is a difference between coaching and mentoring. Coaching is likely to focus on learning to do some specific task such as setting goals and keeping score or managing a budget. Mentoring is focused on overall development of the leader and includes perspective, attitudes, and behavior in addition to skills and tools. Mentoring engages the entire individual and a shared commitment to growth and development over time in the context of the gap between where the individual is and where they want to be. (Not always just job wise)
- Constructive criticism isn’t; valuable feedback provided with the intention of helping someone learn and grow is. Valuable feedback is specific, usable, timely, and accurate. Learn to give and receive it well. A talented mentor will ask thoughtful and difficult questions. They will do much more questioning than telling.
- Don’t pass on and don’t accept remnants of outdated perspective. Smart people are debating whether the industrial age is over or simply being transformed. Industrial age management thinking is history and will not well serve leaders of the future. Command and control is out. One size fits all is out. The right mix of strength and warmth for the individual is in. Loyalty is redefined as mutual benefit. There is a natural law that we must give to receive and the two are not necessarily connected directly or timely. Humility and a commitment to serve others are enduring characteristics of the leaders I most admire.
- The ability to accomplish something significant through people over whom we have no control is an essential metric for leaders of the future. It is likely that the smartest, most talented people are not in your employ and don’t want to be. In the past their talent was unavailable because they lived elsewhere or lacked credentials we valued. The ability to access and assimilate brain power from outside the walls of your organization is a unique emerging leadership talent. Few veteran baby-boomer leaders are experienced at this. The best are experienced in creating clarity and unity with an inspiring vision, strong communities of trust, transparency and an unwavering commitment to do good in the world through a successful business. This is the mentor to seek.
Chris Anderson is CEO of DIY drones – “If you build communities and you do things in public,” he says, you don’t have to find the right people, they find you.” DIY drones produces a drone that is similar to the US Military Predator and has 98 percent of the same functionality (without the weaponry). From the outset blueprints were open sourced and available to all in his community which now totals 55,000 people. Anderson spends three hours each morning nurturing the community. *Exponential Organizations, © copyright 2014, ExO Partners LLC, Salim Ismail
A parting message for next-generation senior leaders – The life you want to live, the future you want to create, the person you want to be is the north star/vision that should guide decisions. There are times when it may be necessary to be in a role that isn’t where you want to be, yet it is important for maintaining focus and progress towards the life you want or in some cases simply paying the rent. There is tension between security and the pull of the north star. Sometimes security wins and sometimes it should. Yet remember security is not permanent and financial security is only one component of security and success. Many jobs will disappear in the fast and furious future. People will not. Leadership is about people. Management is about stuff. Leaders of the future must be students of the future to be able to anticipate and adapt fast.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.
