A Threat To Leadership

In the before times (before COVID, before video conferencing), I visited a client. The marketing team had an absolute superstar in the room. She had "it".

When this employee spoke, the rest of the room turned to her and listened. When she finished talking, the Executive took over, either borrowing her idea as his or dismissing it.

Remember the book I spoke about last week?

Emma offered a quote about her leadership position within the soccer hierarchy in England / Europe.

• "It is almost as if I am regarded as an existential threat instead of a colleague with great experience. It confronts you in so many ways."

In the meeting I was in, it confronted the young marketing star in so many ways ... every few minutes."

There is a significant generational difference out there. It isn't necessarily age-driven, but it can sure look that way. More important, it is a "command-and-control" generation, refusing to cede control to new thoughts, new ideas, new approaches, new individuals. It's like the leader who knows television advertising inside-and-out and pays $6,000 per commercial to reach 12,000 "viewers" refusing to yield ground to the YouTube expert who generates 150,000 online views at almost no cost, telling the individual what to do.

It's happening in politics.

It happens in sports.

It happens in your business, to varying degrees.

If you prioritize process over results, you'll have an employee development plan where you are pushing your responsibilities and accountabilities to a new generation.