#17: Leadership for the Future

Leadership for the Future

I am a big believer in term limits for positions in government politics. What about term limits in leadership positions, though? Would imposing a term limit on leadership positions strengthen the workplace and promote a more sound, diverse, and inclusive environment??

I raise this question because some people have difficulty letting go of leadership positions. What about those who refuse to adapt to the changing times around them? What about refusing to adopt new leadership frameworks and evolve??

I don't know if this is a depressing or motivating statistic, but we spend much of our adult life at work. The average person spends 92,120 hours at work over a lifetime (18-67 years old). Even if you love what you do, that is still a significant portion of your life focused on giving your time, attention, and skills to someone else. This statistic alone brings an entirely new meaning to work/life balance in my eyes.?

Recently, Elon Musk gave an interview and spoke about how society is restricted from evolving due to aging leadership. There should be limits to aging leadership or prehistoric leadership. When retention rates are consistently declining, when you refuse to get out of the way, or when you cannot make a decision, the problem is so apparent.?

These are exciting times in the workplace because five generations are now working amongst each other. The only problem is that some of those generations have refused to evolve with the times and still live by a style of management or leadership that no longer belongs in 2022.?

Let's take, for example, the Baby Boomer Generation. They prefer a relationship‐oriented leadership style. On the other hand, Baby Boomers prefer collaboration and are more comfortable with leadership and direction from their supervisors. Also, they choose to communicate directly, pick up a phone, or let decisions wait until direct communication is made. Whereas GEN Y is more of a solo, keeps to themselves, communicates via technology, is less face-to-face, and thinks outside of the box style of relationship-oriented leadership. These are just two examples of the five generations in the workplace. The challenge and point being made is that in order for us change the workplace, as leaders, we must be willing first to change ourselves.?

Inter-Generational Leadership

Given the technological boom, various communication and learning styles, and many generations bringing distinct ideas and views to the workplace, it is safe to assume that every small business, corporation, organization, agency, or department needs inter-generational leadership abilities. What is inter-generational leadership? Inter-generational leadership is awareness of generational differences and their potential contributions, where leaders from different generations are clearly identified and mutually respected. An agency experimenting with an inter-generational leadership style is the U.S. Navy.?

NavalX

The United States Navy has been running a pilot program called NavalX, in which the Navy works with military and civilian members of the Naval workforce. NavalX serves the Navy and Marine Corps as an innovation and agility cell, supporting and connecting initiatives across the Department of Defense. They connect teams with tools, training, and resources - enabling people to think differently and deliver more effective solutions to the warfighter. The best part, they do not believe in chains of command and traditional organizational charts.?

Round Table Leadership

I have always been a fan of round-table leadership. Round table leadership styles support an environment where everyone's voice matters and administrative courage is not frowned upon but encouraged. The legend of King Arthur is one that I loved because it told a story about a great servant warrior who stood for something. He was also a knight who had to follow the concept of chivalry.

The fact is that the notion of chivalry is still alive and strong in our contemporary society. Unfortunately, teamwork has died, and the focus on individuality continues to predominate in today's society. The advent of the servant warrior is also required to resurrect the concept of authentic leadership. We speak about being ethical in today's world, but a knight would also adhere to serving others and fighting for one's country. He led by example and thought that individuals were essential to society. The capacity to assist others is what gives leadership its strength.

The fact is, Arthur was ahead of his time. I look up to Arthur's leadership style for various reasons and try to live up to it. In my perspective, Arthur's best practices include the following:

• Arthur recognized that a leader was only as good as his army. He must have realized that nobody wins a battle alone.
• When Arthur sat with his knights at a huge table, he spoke about the importance of collaboration and quality relationships. He must have known there is power in collective thinking and relational bonds.
• Arthur's tale also taught me the importance of teamwork in high-performing teams. The round table knights were flawless in their job and their personal life.
• Arthur also realized that everyone on the team should have a voice. Speak up, speak with courage, and you shall be respected.?

What's the Point?

The point of this article is that Arthur promoted collaboration and psychological safety, and his table was a visual embodiment of it. All of the knights could sit comfortably at his large and circular table. Is there enough place for more than just you at your table, or is it reserved for a select few? Are you promoting a democratic leadership style or a selfish style?

When an organizational structure places a high premium on the individualism of the small circle, it takes work to implement the desire for cooperation. When a leader, team, or organization fails to encourage outstanding collaboration, the leader, team, and organization suffer a competitive disadvantage.

So, who's in, and who's out? Is there enough place at your table for everyone? Are you willing to extend an invitation to others? Have you built your table large and round enough to accommodate everyone? Or are you trapped in the ancient narcissistic period of taking credit for things you didn't do and collecting undeserving awards?

Considering the above, we agree that we need a shift in thinking to succeed in today's workplace. Imagine a workplace where employees are encouraged to improve and become their best selves if they can. I'm referring to the?WeWork?style of thinking but applied to business operations. Every day will be different due to this workplace revolution, including these instances.?

• Leadership stops treating employees like resources.?
• We focus on improving workplace inclusion and culture.?
• Get organizations out of the '90s technologically.?
• We concentrate more on work/life harmony and less on the mission.?
• Eliminate once-a-year performance reviews and improve our employee check-in/touch base/review processes by meeting more frequently.?
• Improve our treatment of employees, and retention will become very easy.
• Transform our traditional workspaces into customized, safe, and healthy collaborative environments.?
• We focus on tying the intangibles into everything we do to make employees feel valued and appreciated.?

Work is not life. Work should be stress-free, enjoyable, and satisfying, especially if we spend one-third of our lives doing it. Steve Jobs once stated:?

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

The Bottom Line

We will lose our best employees if we do something about toxic and archaic leadership. We must change our leadership strategy to maintain a healthy, talented, diverse work environment. We can't change the world if we don't first change ourselves.?

You've been briefed.?