On April 28th, we will be facilitating a conversation around the Vision of Young and Emerging Leaders. It’s a topic near and dear to my heart as a father of two young boys growing into leaders. Many leadership platforms tell us to listen to our young leaders and learn from them, and in this article, I will attempt to answer why their opinion is so critical. 

More Years Doesn’t Always Mean More Wisdom

I’ll be the first to say older isn’t better relative to wisdom. While we may think age brings us unprecedented wisdom, it often puts up walls and closes our minds, both things that are bad for business. We could stand to take a page from the young leader’s playbook. 

Established industry leaders often arrive at their goals and declare that there is no further room for growth. Once that is decided, all voices and opportunities for growth get quieter. Take a moment and think about why (your essence) you began with and reignite the passion in what you do. When that passion is there, curiosity and improvement know no bounds.

All of that to say, a young leader’s opinion is critical because, without it, production becomes stagnant, people become unhappy in their positions, and potential remains untapped. 

How Will Young People be Leading Tomorrow and for Decades to Come?

Younger leaders are not tied down by the fears of yesterday. If there is one thing older leaders know is that being led by fear prevents all opportunities from reaching you while your mind remains set on short-term solutions and results. Young leaders look beyond fear, they are creative enough to see the possibilities towards a better tomorrow.

This is just one example of how young people are already leading us into the decades to come. The younger generations are teaching us how to be better humans. I mean, at the root of it all, it’s about being better people, better leaders, better partners, so we can create a world that serves better. When we are helping others we are at our best.

How Are Young Leader’s Perspectives Changing the Way Existing Leaders Lead?

Emerging leaders are calling for us to listen to them, the fact we are talking about their lessons is already a change for the better. Young people are entering the leadership conversation and making sure they are heard. That alone is why their opinion is critical.

Leadership has shifted to become more people-oriented, we are looking at people, instead of numbers, for results and opening our minds to opportunities. Young people are providing a new perspective for organizations to restructure our understanding of respect in workplaces and shifting values of organizations to place importance on soft skills.

We’ve hand-picked outstanding and emerging leaders to join you on April 28th for the first part of the Leadership Development Series. We have much to learn from each other at the Leadership Development Series and so much more from our younger leaders who keep curiosity and passion close to their hearts.

“Young people aren’t the leaders of tomorrow. 

They are the leaders of today and tomorrow.”

~ Kathy Calvin

In service, 

Greg

Dig deeper on the topic:

Register now for the April 28th Leadership Development Series

Younger and Wiser: Young Leaders on the Future of Business

5 Leadership Lessons to Embrace in 2022 and Beyond