Next-generation leaders in their twenties and early thirties have a bit of a bad rap.
If you listen to many Baby Boomer and Gen-X leaders talk about younger leaders, the complaints come quickly.
They:
- Don’t work hard enough.
- Seem to want it all (like a month’s vacation for starters).
- Have a hard time distinguishing between work and play.
- Need constant affirmation.
- Have no idea how to spell.
I’ve worked with a few young leaders that fit that description for sure, but far more who don’t. So many of the leaders I’ve worked with over the last decade-plus are under 30, and I have to disagree with the assessment of the emerging generations.
Sure, there are slackers out there. But I know some 50-year-olds who should get it together at some point. And besides, you can train people to spell. Quickly.
Some young leaders are slackers. But I know 50-year-olds who need to get it together at some point too. Click To TweetThe real challenge isn’t in working with young leaders. The real challenges come when you don’t put young leaders on your team and miss out on the immense contribution they make.
And when I say young, I mean young.
As in starting at 18 or 19, in college, or right out of college.
If you don’t have young leaders on your team, both you and your organization lose.
Here are eight things young leaders get right, and eight things you miss out on if you stick to older leaders.
The real challenge isn't in working with young leaders. The real challenges come when you don't put young leaders on your team and miss out on the immense contribution they make. Click To Tweet8 Benefits Young Leaders Bring to an Organization
1. Enthusiasm and optimism abound
Remember how optimistic you were when you were young?
Optimism is something every workplace needs, and it can be harder to find in leaders over 40. As a Gen Xer myself, I have worked hard to reclaim and fuel my optimism (it is a skill), but most young leaders have a natural optimism that is frankly refreshing.
Parents told the next generation they could change the world. Not only do they believe it, they’re also doing it.
The kind of enthusiasm you have when you’re young really helps make up for the lack of wisdom you might not yet have. Young and motivated easily beats smart and lazy.
Young and motivated easily beats smart and lazy. Click To Tweet2. They get their generation
I try to stay current, for a guy my age, I think I do all right. But I’m not 22.
Younger leaders see things differently because they grew up in a culture older leaders didn’t. There’s a difference between what you think a generation is about and what that generation thinks they’re about.
Having the voice of young leaders around the table gives me a much better sense of what resonates and what doesn’t.
If you want to connect with the emerging generation, having the emerging generation around your table is irreplaceable.
If you want to connect with the next generation, put them around your leadership table. Click To Tweet3. They’ll challenge all assumptions
Because they are trying to figure out how the world works, they ask great questions and challenge assumptions—assumptions that so often you’re blind to because you’ve lived with them so long.
When you’re in your teens, twenties, and even early thirties, you haven’t made peace with the status quo because you haven’t created the status quo (in contrast to older leaders, who by this point, did).
If you don’t like having your assumptions challenged, you’ll like irrelevance even less.
If you don't like having your assumptions challenged, you'll like irrelevance even less. Click To Tweet4. Quick studies
A 21-year-old can go from good to great in a few years.
And many are motivated to do it.
And don’t underestimate what a young leader can do. You can look at a bevy of 20-something founders/CEOs who are leading organizations or companies that have changed their industries, created new industries, and in other ways changed the world.
So many older leaders look down on young leaders and think they don’t have much to offer.
Be careful who you ignore.
Thomas Edison was paid $40,000 for his first invention at age 22, Mozart composed at age 5 and died at age 35, and Braille type for the blind was invented by 15-year-old Louis Braille.
5. They’re digital natives
My friends think I’m tech-savvy, even a bit tech-obsessed.
But put me around an 18-year-old or 25-year-old and I feel like the person who can’t figure out why their microwave keeps blinking 12:00.
Having young leaders who are both digital natives and cultural natives on your team is a distinct advantage if you’re trying to impact the next generation.
At least it beats a lot of fifty-year-olds trying to figure out what the next generation needs.
6. They are your succession plan
If you are not stacking your team with leaders 10, 20, and sometimes 30 years younger than you, you are not positioning your organization for future relevance or success.
Succession is a crisis in the corporate world and in the church.
Ultimately, though, there’s no success without succession, unless as a founder or long-term leader you want what started with you to end with you.
There's no success without succession, unless as a founder or long-term leader you want what started with you to end with you. Click To Tweet7. It’s all about the mission
As you’ve heard more than a few times, Gen Z and Millennials don’t want their job to just be a job. They want meaning and purpose in their work.
For organizations in maintenance mode, that will challenge you to shake off your cobwebs.
For organizations that are driven by the bottom line, you’ll have to find a bigger mission than just a sharper P&L.
But if mission drives you (as it does me), then you’ll find an amazing alignment with young leaders. Chances are your young leaders will own your mission, vision, and values deeply and push it forward. It can be a win-win.
They want to make a difference in the world, and they are passionate promoters of the causes they believe in.
Many will choose mission over money, which doesn’t mean you should be cheap (smart employers pay a living wage), but it does tell you this matters more than it did to Boomers and many Gen X.
8. Culture has become non-negotiable
Let’s face it, most workplace cultures (including churches and non-profits) leave a ton to be desired. Way too many are toxic.
Because young leaders see themselves as free agents, they’ll demand a healthy culture, and if they don’t find it with you, they won’t hesitate to move on.
Toxic cultures never keep healthy people.
Getting rid of toxic culture (not just abuse and harassment, but boredom, bureaucracy and dysfunction) is something that should have happened years ago.
But as you add more and more young leaders to your team, you’ll be able to accelerate the improvement of your culture more quickly.
It’s about time.
Toxic cultures never keep healthy people. Click To Tweet