32 Things to say to Young Leaders
- Why aren’t you asking for feedback?
- Tell me who you want to become in behavioral terms.
- Why do you matter?
- Tell me what you expect from yourself.
- Pursue clarity by asking more questions.
- Don’t let old leaders beat the dream out of you.
- Stop talking – do something. Old leaders think you want success on a platter. Prove them wrong.
- Tell me where you’re going. How will you know when you get there?
- You’re acting like an idiot.
- Stop dreaming about moving on. Changing geography doesn’t change you. The personal struggles you run from today, will meet you somewhere else tomorrow.
- What’s the next step?
- What are you learning?
- Tell me what you’ll do differently, next time.
- Try again.
- Which option feels good to you? What feels good about it?
- You’re great at….
- How do your strengths apply to this situation? When experienced leaders focus on fixing weaknesses and neglect strengths they become unwitting enemy. Friendly fire kills young leaders.
- How are you helping others succeed?
- How can you connect with the team?
- Where do you fit in?
- What did you do, today, to bring out the best in someone else?
- What frustrates you? Frustration points to ineffective strategies and methods.
- Do difficult stuff. Ease is the enemy.
- What should you stop?
- How will you know if you succeed?
- Stop whining. Make it better.
- Tell me what’s important, today. How does that build the future?
- The quickest way to earn respect is by solving a big problem that everyone hates, but no one wants to deal with. (Tip: solve it with others, not on your own.)
- You have more in you.
- What can I do for you?
- I believe in you.
- What are you waiting for?
Which of these things do you need to say to a young leader, today?
What would you add to the list?
Not a list guy.
Would ask if they want to Practice Praxis…the integration of beliefs and beliefs and behaviors.
Without mastering this you tell me how people are going to Lead when their behavior does not match what comes out if their pie-hole?
I would also mention to them when we are amongst our own trust and cooperation are the natural reaction.
If you don’t feel trusted and cooperated with you might be a redneck!! Lol
Really you might be working in a place with people who do not believe what you believe…..leave.
SP
EA
Thanks Scott.
How do your behaviors express your beliefs?
How are you being consistent with your beliefs?
Where are you violating your beliefs?
How can you more fully align behaviors with beliefs?
Well I have been sober 30 years.
Walk what I talk apparently.
I am being consistent by sharing my experience strength and joke and not bloviating about things I have only read or heard about. And I have stayed consistent since you have know me Dan our application of Leadership in this country is shameful.
17 Trillion in debt and 80% of employees hate their jobs.
Changed because I am not the most lived person on the greatest blog on the net bout Leadership, this one.
I have the guts to say what I feel irregardless of the consequences.
Like me, agree with me you are going get a true response, consistently.
I do not feel I am violating my beliefs and if I did I would stop that.
I am happy now and I have an Epic Vision for my Future and am taking daily actions to have my Vision become my reality.
Feel I can more closely align myself by working on feeling My Higher Powers Will for me and following that Intuition even when my ego tells me it makes no sense.
Thanks for asking…..if I smoked I feel like I could use a cigarette!! Lol
SP
EA
Lol experience strength and HOPE!!!! Hehe
A nice touch to give.
I like the comment: Stop talking – do something. Old leaders think you want success on a platter. Prove them wrong.
It feels like there are a few assumptions in these suggested statements to young leaders … primarily that they are not succeeding and maybe not trying 🙂
In which case I would hope someone would help them visualize their goals, understand their strengths and then discover their hold backs or limiting beliefs and develop actions plans to create new ways of thinking or being to overcome – not just purely focusing on tactics – this is not sustainable – go deeper. Not sure I would call someone an idiot – doesn’t feel productive — maybe just not my style.
All in all I understand the context of each item and the list and agree there is a need to encourage up and comers in a productive way so they don’t get lost in the viscous cycle – there is a role for the coach and mentor
Thanks ckmic. I think because the “old folks” believe they have worked hard to achieve success, they resent young people who, they believe, want success without sacrifice. There’s probably misconception on both sides of this one.
Thanks for interacting with these ideas and adding your insights.
A good list. Some more…
1) What are you trying to get done?
2) Why does it matter to you? To your team? To those the organization benefits?
3) Does what you’re doing matter enough to make it a priority? To not do something else that may be good, but not quite as good? To cause you to personally fixate on how to continuously do better while rejecting distractions and ignoring perks?
4) Is what you’re trying to get done valuable, rare, hard to imitate? What additional or different resources, methods, etc. can you bring into play to leverage that valuable, rare, and hard to imitate advantage? What are you doing that has little value?
5) Who are the best performers on your team? Who are the worst? Why? What are you doing to improve your team? What are you doing to improve your own performance?
6) What actions are you taking to lead upwards, downwards, and sideways? Are they effective? How do you know?
7) Are you a good follower? How is that evidenced?
8) Who are you accountable to for performance, ethics, values?
9) What personal habits/skills do you want to acquire? What habits and faults do you want to get rid of?
10) How do you show respect and gratefulness to the team you lead? Is anybody on the team left out, ignored, etc.? Do you play favorites?
KaPOw!! Thanks Marc. Great suggestions.
Love #10!
Unless statistics changed since I wrote my thesis a few years back, one disconcerting fact I discovered in my research was 51% of Baby Boomers had little or no interaction with the millennial generation. You offer a great list. I would add one more at the beginning: Say Hello.
Thanks Bill. The idea that 51% of Boomers have little to no interaction with millennials makes me sad. But, it’s a great opportunity for everyone who gets it. Glad you jumped in.
Thanks for the great questions, comments and observations!
I would ask: what kind of leader do you want to be? How will you express your leadership point of view and enroll others in it? How will you serve others via your leadership? What difference do you hope to make in the leadership world?
Tapping into young leaders’ dreams is a simple way to start them planning the execution and actions to bring it to life.
Thanks Cindy. Love your additions. They made me feel like rising up.
Tapping into someone else’s dream is so powerful. We get so caught up in ourselves that we lose the opportunity to align with others.
Good afternoon Dan;
This is a great post for new leaders to frequently refer to. Especially those who are not honestly certain what type of leader they are, and want to be. (QUESTION) – “what advice do you have for lower level, and or potential leaders who’s dreams have been crushed along with any ability or opportunity to see their dreams and visions become a reality? When old leaders become ineffective and detrimental to organizational mission (but are solidly grounded in place via ‘The Good-ole-boy Network’) how does one remain positive and focused on their vision and mission while working for a leader who knows less than them, put’s forth NO effort towards personal growth, or growth of their employees or company?” Maybe the simplest way to phrase my question Dan would be to ask, “How do good people and organizations SQUASH Nepotism and it’s devasting effects as opposed to taking the cowardly high road and walking away….
Cheers Dan
SGT Steve
I would tell a young leader two things: meditate upon the naysayers naysaying, and you can learn something from everyone even if it’s what not or what you wouldn’t do. If a leader pitches an idea to an investor, and the investor states the idea stinks, there isn’t much to meditate upon. If the investor states, your idea to build every component of a microphone and assemble the parts in your own shop will place the price at a point the market might not accept, then you have a lot of things to meditate upon. If the leader of your group pulls an entire team into a conference room and states the entire team isn’t doing anything right or responds “nothing” when asked to provide an example of one thing the team is doing right, there is a lot to learn from that action.
Some excellent material to ponder!
Dan I have been reading your blog for well over a year, and I always get some great advice, lessons to learn, and a challenge to take on. This particular post really resonates with me because it makes leaders remember that there are always up and coming ones who need strong mentors and guidance to help them succeed and reach their full potential. It’s a cycle we need to follow if there are to be strong leaders always at the ready. It’s a great challenge for me, so thanks again for doing what you do so well.
Oh, and bonus, there are some great interview questions in here as well that I plan on using!
I will give all this to young talent. Add these also-
1. Se clear goals.
2. Beak these goals into small ones so that focus is not lost and they are measurable.
3. Review these goals regularly and do course correction if needed.
4. Seek out and get your goals reviewed from peers.
5. Decide what you want to be five years down the line and focus on achieving it.
I personally don’t believe age should define whether someone is a leader or not. You go to a pre-school and there are leaders, followers, bullies and outcasts. So I guess my advice to older leaders is that they should respect and encourage leaderships skills in younger people. Some people are genuinely born leaders.
My advice to all leaders is to listen or read twice as much as your talk. There is a saying that you have two ears one mouth so you need to listen twice as much as you talk. The same goes for observation. It is difficult to talk and observe people at the same time. This could explain why so many of the people you meet with true wisdom are the people sitting in the corner of the room listening to what’s being said and observing the room. Hard to do that when you are doing the splits out the front. I personally believe our world is flooded with talkers. I am unfortunately one of them.
xx Rowena
All great except 26. Calling someone “whining” is not helpful. This is something old leaders say when they don’t want to have patience with someone who is learning.
Thanks Mae. You aren’t whining about 26 are you? 🙂