Leadership nowadays

What's leadership? What's the kind of leader that you want to be? What's the kind of leader that inspires you?

When I started to work and I grew up as a professional, companies culture was driven by something that is called "meritocracy". I have to recognize that this concept should be present in all the companies. In the past, nowadays and in the future.

I belong to the Baby Boomers generation. People of my generation have grown up with a culture of production, that is, if you keep producing you are rewarded (salary, promotions, titles, ...). But this does not mean that we are the type of person capable of inspiring and motivating others or we are the type of person capable of changing and pivoting or we are good leaders. 

Time has changed. New people are joining the labor market. These people -Millennials and Generation Z- have a different mindset. Even their values are totally different from the ones of my generation. They want to spend their time between many professional and personal activities and for them the importance of these activities is not driven by the reward that they can find at the end of the day.

Different people, different culture, different mindset between all these generations. This could be a problem because people tend to lead in the same way that they were led.

Therefore, as leaders, we have to adapt our mindset and principles to the new values that these generations are bringing to the market.

What are the principles that have to drive the new leadership?

1.        Transparency: we have to say what we know and what we don't know. We have to provide as much information as possible, explaining the reason why we do things. Warning: we don't have to betray confidentiality. There's a slight difference between transparency and confidentiality that we must know and respect. Generation Z or Millennials demand inclusiveness, transparency and constant feedback.

2.        Authenticity is the competitive advantage we have because nobody knows how to do things like us. It is what makes us unique. Being authentic is the easiest way to build relationships with other people.

3.        Trust: companies are constantly changing and transforming themselves. This means that companies are moving to unfamiliar spaces that can create fear and insecurity in the people. We as leaders can inspire enough confidence to lead people in these changes. People trust you and trust is the key to any relationship that works.

4.        Empathy: we must show empathy, understand how our colleagues feel and act according to it. Moreover, sharing how we feel inside and outside of work with the team helps to reinforce the concept of authenticity and this will not question the position in the company.

5.        Define success and objectives: when humans are clear about what success is and what are the goals, we feel motivated and inspired to deliver results that exceed expectations. Not defining what success is creates a lot of frustration. It is critical to define success for a specific time as we move on the path to overall success.

6.        Develop other leaders: Leadership is a path that starts from execution towards empowerment. Creating and empowering other leaders can amplify our impact. This is a difficult lesson to learn if we don't feel safe enough with ourselves. One form of motivation for leaders is to know that because we know how to do something, we don't have to do it and others can do it on behalf of us.

7.        Diversity: generating an environment with a high degree of diversity of ways of thinking, decision-making or opinions will create the best space for innovation. The best ideas come from the sum of the diversity of experiences existing in a team. People from Generation Z or Millennials understand an environment of excellence or success as an environment of diversity with men, women, from different origins, etc ... For this reason, they seek these diverse work environments. Millennials and Gen Z are concerned with the image they give while Baby Boomers were more concerned with position. Therefore, the company's values around diversity, innovation or the environment are very important for Millennials or Generation Z.

Most likely there are many other aspects that we need to have in mind as leaders. Main thing is to understand that we are in constant change and we must adapt ourselves to these new times. Leadership is another aspect that we have to revisit constantly.

Thanks.