When you were in college or university you were faced with the challenge of choosing your “major”. An area to specialize in for the next 4 years. After you achieved your degree you searched for a relevant job that related to your area of specialization. All that was great to kick start your career. But for ‘next generation leaders’ the area of specialization will matter less and less.
Next generation leaders won’t be identified by what they currently do. Instead, when preparing their list of star talent, current leaders will consider the length and breadth of their talent pool. I’m not talking about the tenure or experience of the talent pool. I’m defining these as:
- Length: how far-sighted their aspirations, desires, and hunger for success and growth is
- Breadth: how wide their scope and abilities can be and the depth of their core values
Traits That Define the Length of Next Generation Leaders
I’ve often advised line managers to hire for the future position and the present one. And that’s the key when building your team. One of the biggest mistakes hiring managers make is to fill vacancies with candidates whose skills and experiences address current challenges. Sure it’s important to get the job done. But is that all you’re working for? To just get the job done?
Skills are learnable for the most part. So it’s fairly safe to say anyone can “do the job”. But does everyone possess the capacity to do what will be required of them in the future? Will they be resilient to changes and innovations of the future? Things will not remain the same – how we work, how we commute, how we compute and how we communicate. All of this will change. Hence, there’s safety and comfort knowing that your team comprises of next generation leaders who are resilient and adaptive to these changes.
Next generation leaders also possess vision that’ll define their length. A well-defined career path, ambition, aspiration and trajectory of growth is what you have envisioned for yourself. You don’t see your career flat-lining and doing the same thing in the next 5 years. You have goals that you know you can achieve with your organization. You probably even have identified the trainings you need to enhance your role. Bottom line is you want to do more. Contribute more. And for that you also need to know more. Where the organization is heading and what its future looks like. These are important capacity building aspects that next generation leaders need to be engaged about.
Traits That Define the Breadth of Next Generation Leaders
Textbook knowledge isn’t what you’re looking for in the next generation leader. It’ll help you address the needs of the current challenges. True leaders, while ensuring the current is operating smoothly, are focusing on the future.
Firefighting isn’t going to be an achievement at the end of the day. No, it’s going to be something that’s not routine. Something that’s not the norm. Something that’s out of the box. And that’s why next generation leaders have to be innovative and creative. Your success will magnify if you’re going to be the catalyst of innovation and creativity. You challenge the status quo and consciously be disruptive and inventive. An agitator (in a positive way) to help people aim higher and do more.
However, all your disruptive energy can work negatively for you if you’re not aligned to the organization’s core values. And this is where current leaders must ensure that next generation leaders are well aware of what’s core and basic to their organization. Their behaviors, mannerism, personalities and more all should reflect the organization’s values. Simply put, next generation leaders must have the values in their DNA. This is another reason why recruitment should be selective and should ensure that only those with similar values are welcomed into the talent pool.
Delegating work and getting things done are the easy part of a leader’s job description. Developing capacity is a challenge much greater. And it’s even more so when you’re looking to identify and develop next generation leaders who possess the length and breadth that’ll not only secure the organization’s future, but propel it to exponential growth.
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