Is Your Leadership Cute or Cringe?

Recently, I led an offsite with a group of leaders of a global Fortune company as part of a six-month strategy and culture initiative. While I’ve worked with leadership teams for over 25 years, this group made it clear that they were unlike others. This group fell across several generations: youngest millennials and oldest baby boomers. What’s eye-opening for me is that the younger leaders view leadership much differently than the older ones. And let me tell you, Gen X and baby boomers; we need to get on board with how the new generations view leadership.

What’s eye-opening for me is that the younger leaders view leadership much differently than the older ones.

I led the group through a discussion of contrasts on how every level in the company could perceive the organizational changes they were proposing differently. Within the first few contrasts, the younger group of leaders took pieces of paper and wrote “Cute” on one side and “Cringe” on the other side. They taped the paper onto the top of pens and pencils and proceeded to “vote” by raising the “Cute” side (defined as “Works for me” and "It’s something I feel proud to represent”) or the “Cringe” side (defined as “Doesn’t feel right”).??Those leaders in the older generations laughed at first but eventually followed suit and joined in on the voting (sans the signs).??Still, it was a collective, authentic moment of alignment - not to mention the speed at which decisions were made. I remember when the newer or less tenured leaders were highly deferential to the more senior leaders in a room, waiting for their ques. Today’s leader has an agency and is using it boldly! In this case, the more tenured leaders became fast followers.

I see younger leaders operating less formally than their predecessors – even when discussing serious issues. And they are assessing important decisions through the lens of “emotions first.” They lead with a people-first mindset, concerned with how their decisions would make their customers and team members feel.?

I had dinner the other night with a neighbor (a baby boomer) and he was lamenting the good old days when the next generation knew their place, called you by your surname and “carried your bag.” I??pushed back and told him about my recent experience. I shared my view that this new generation of leaders leads differently, with emotion, and can make quicker decisions. I shared my philosophy that quicker decisions can help a business change at the speed of the marketplace. And while he didn’t hold up a sign, his face said “Cringe.”??

What do you think? Is leading with emotion Cute or Cringe??

Yesterday’s leaders focus first on logic – connecting people to facts and data with the philosophy that hearts will follow. What I’m seeing now is a pendulum swing with today’s leaders. They are engaging their customers and team members by considering feelings first. My conclusion is that leading with emotions is indeed ‘cute’. Those who lead with emotional intelligence (EQ) understand that nothing gets done without the buy-in of team members and customers. When you’re talking about business-defining issues like culture and strategy, it is critical to lead with EQ because if your people aren’t bought in, your organization can’t change at the speed of the marketplace. We have all seen stagnant or slow-to-change organizations become irrelevant, and their people and customers disengaged. That is likely a result of Cringe leadership; leaders who are too focused on logic and data and not focused enough on connecting to people.?

Need help creating a Cute mindset with your leadership team? Let’s talk. -G?

#leadership #leader #change