Hard Advice for Young Leaders
When our oldest son Jeremy was in high school he was on the
wrestling team. It was intense training. I loved the discipline and confidence
it gave him and I loved the wrestling matches.
When Jeremy would come home from a hard day of practice he
wanted to bring what he learned in training into our family time. I had always
enjoyed wrestling with my boys, but now he wanted to take our play time to a
whole new level. We would start wrestling in the “assumed position” he had been
taught, but then I would use my extra 70 pounds as an advantage and quickly pin
him to the ground. He would often yell, “No, you’re doing it wrong! That’s
not the rules!” To which I would always reply, “No buddy, you’re on my
turf now, you play by my rules…and I say there are no rules.” And in
that illustration lies a principle younger leaders need to learn as they enter
the field of leadership. Here’s the principle: If
you’re gonna play with the big boys and girls — you’ve gotta bring your big boy
and girl game. Let’s face it. Many entering the field of leadership today have
lived as a generation where they were given much of what they wanted but had
few demands placed on them personally. They played multiple sports, for example
— which they enjoyed — but it meant they didn’t have “chores” when they were
home. Of course, there are exceptions, but this is often the case. By the way,
this was also more the case for my generation than for my father’s generation.
I’m not being completely critical of this — it was mostly true
for our boys also, but because of this, I often see young leaders enter the
field of leadership these days with some unrealistic expectations. They
sometimes expect to receive equal reward without paying their equal dues. I
should also point out I see some incredible young leaders. Hard-working,
Conscientious, Dedicated, Loyal, So this is an “if the shoe fits” post. What
disturbs me most is when young leaders fail to live up to their full potential.
Here are 10 ways I see that
occurring:
- Making
excuses for poor performance rather than attempting to improve
- Pretending
to have answers to problems they’ve never experienced
- Refusing
to learn from other people — especially older people — discounting
anything which isn’t from your generation
- Demanding
more than they are willing to give — maybe especially in regards to
respect
- Expecting
a reward they haven’t yet earned
- Depending
on step-by-step instructions instead of learning by trial and error
- Refuting
another generation for content when technique is the real difference
- Being
cynical towards anything opposite of the way they think it should be
- Remaining
fearful of taking risks or making a mistake
- Treating
loyalty as if it is a strange idea from the past
Wow! I told you — hard words. They only sting if they’re true. And,
granted, all of these were probably true to some extent of every generation.
They seem very common today among younger leaders.
My advice: Young leaders be patient, teachable, humble, grateful and
mold-able as your enter positions of authority and as you are given
responsibility. Don’t fail to learn all you can from those who went before you
or to grow from your mistakes. Expect to work hard to achieve the things you
want from life and realize things may not always be as you would want them to
be. There are a few stories of people who stumbled into instant success, but
those are rare.
The reward: Over time, as you are
diligent, you will likely change some of the rules. I hope you do. Some of the
rules of my generation need changing. I’m not afraid for you to teach this old
dog new tricks. I want to learn from you. I want you to have responsibility and
authority. I want you to be fully rewarded and recognized for your contribution
to society. I also want you to realize, however, that most things of lasting
value take time and discipline to achieve. The
“big boy and girl” world can be tough, but you can make a huge contribution if
you are willing to pay the price.
By the way, I gave this same advice to my sons as they have
entered adulthood and the workplace
Source: http://www.ronedmondson.com/2015/08/my-hardest-advice-for-young-leaders.html
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