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The New Definition of Leadership
Just off the coast of Los Angeles you can see over 30 mega-cargo ships waiting to dock and unload the products I've been trying to buy for months. My wish list includes everything from a motorcycle to a 99 cent cable. What's the hold up? Not enough people to operate the cranes to off-load the containers and not enough drivers to get those containers to the retailers.
Our post-pandemic malaise of inventory shortages is directly tied to that part of our inventory that goes home at night, otherwise known as our "internal customers" (aka: employees). Sure, we can blame part of this on stimulus money, eviction protection and unemployment benefits but there's a bigger demon in the background that needs to be fed.
That demon is leadership. It's an intangible asset unlike a lease, food cost, software or insurance. Intangibles are harder to manage so we tend to put them on the back burner and focus our fixes on tangible things like margins, supply chain and cost per thousand. The skills of leadership have changed because the "customers" of leadership have changed.
It's wise to begin with a quick analysis of those customers. I'm going to avoid stereotypical labels and simply say most of these "customers" are somewhere between their mid-twenties and late thirties. The group spans about two generations who grew up in a vastly different world than the people they report to. Here are a few bullet points that reflect the differences:
- Parenting: divorce, latch key, helicopter parents who told them they were special and could have anything they wanted
- Education: awards for just showing up, pass/fail became pass/not pass, and we didn't set the bar (or pay) high enough for teachers.
- Technology: we've created a dopamine addiction satisfied by likes and friends and relationships based on swiping left or right
- Patience: next day delivery, binging TV and immediate gratification found on-line
- Environment: our focus on profit, quantifiable goals and not enriching life creates a huge imbalance in a culture based on replacing instead of repairing
The end result is a population with low self esteem in an imbalanced space with managers who haven't evolved their leadership methods. The sad news is that this group blames themselves when in fact it's not their fault, that's just how they were raised. No wonder so many people are quitting.
Here's what leaders need to do to evolve, stay relevant and fully staffed:
- Get past the mourning for a comfortable hierarchy. The "rules of the game" have changed
- The old model of strong, decisive and certain needs to be replaced by curiosity, open-mindedness, intellectual flexibility and a genuine interest in understanding others. Be transparent
- Navigating this change means embracing a willingness to fail, and getting comfortable with being criticized
- Give it time to process, try change in bite size chunks
- Get out of the office, engage, be humble and be proactive about it
Other ideas include no cell phones, tablets or laptops allowed in meetings. Job descriptions and annual reviews must include diversity and people development. Here's the biggie -- companies have no choice. This is the state of the workforce today and we'll have to work smarter to build confidence, teach social skills, remove temptations and nurture from the bottom up instead of the top down.
Of course, this is only my opinion, but it's one I value highly.
