Adapting Leadership to a Younger Workforce

Kamakshi, a Marketing and Strategy enthusiast, brings in a decade of experience in transforming brands. Her key interest lies in creating a brand’s identity and bringing it to life through detailed execution.

Young Leaders, What Do they Have in Common?
Leadership, like everything, has evolved a lot over the years. And rightly so; if the businesses have changed, the leaders must also keep up the pace. However, some inherent traits have remained the same. One such trait common amongst leaders of both yesteryear and today is courage—the courage to explore and implement innovative ideas, the courage to take risks – on people and the courage to stand strong against the tide of time.

While it is not possible to cultivate this trait, organizations can surely create an ecosystem that supports individuals to demonstrate and grow this trait, should they want to. The, of course, starts with recruiting right, but with frameworks like Devolution of Power, it is possible to foster and grow budding leaders for tomorrow.

Technology – the Advisor, the Empowering Force
We are talking about the first Digitally Native generation, so the question of the role Technology plays in their lives doesn’t arise. Technology is one of their key leverages, not just helping them stay relevant to industry trends and market changes but also helping them maximize efficiency and effectiveness. Whether it is productivity management, communication, or AI, successful young leaders know how to leverage this power tool.

Information Exchange
Ask any Gen Z about how they make a decision; more than 70 percent would say they checked out their peer

group’s feedback and decided accordingly. Whether it is their employers, food, clothing, movies or homes. This generation is all about information and energy exchange, not just about learning from the older generation. Irrespective of the domain, age group, or experience segment, the young gen-z leaders are experts in creating their own channels to learn from. They appreciate organizations where Ideas are preferred over Hierarchies and do not shy away from creating such a culture wherever given an opportunity.

Irrespective of the domain, age group, or experience segment, the young gen-z leaders are experts in creating their own channels to learn from.

Balancing Work and Life
Young leaders are increasingly great advocates of leading balanced lives. There is an increase in the number of professionals who work with the corporates but are not hesitant to explore their interest areas. Thus, a workplace that aims to foster young leaders and an engaged workforce needs to cater to these interests as well. Whether it is health, creative outlets, entrepreneurial opportunities, the more, the better.

Fair and Open Workplaces
Last but not least, a fair and open work culture is the basic task the budding leaders have. They love organizations that are bold enough to put out their vision and are open to discuss how they plan to achieve it. They love companies where they are provided opportunities to contribute to the vision and their thoughts are valued. And they simply love workplaces where exceptional contributions result in growth.

The crux of the matter is that your young leaders believe that you care for them. That requires investment in their interests, their growth and in programs that encourage them to embrace new challenges. By integrating these strategies, a new-age work culture can be fostered, where curiosity, innovation, and the pursuit of excellence can thrive.