WHAT YOU STAND FOR, WHAT YOU believe IN AND WHAT YOU VALUE WILL HELP YOU BE YOUR REAL SELF AND THE MOST AUTHENTIC LEADER YOU CAN. IT WILL HELP YOU TO LEAD WITH COURAGE AND CONFIDENCE.
Chapter 1
The game has changed
The game we are playing has changed. The way we operated in business twenty years ago, even ten years ago, is different from how we operate today. Significant factors have driven a change in the way leaders communicate and inspire, with the ability to engage and influence now being one of the most important skills someone in a position of leadership needs to possess.
Every day, leaders need to communicate. They need to talk about everything from organisational strategy and values to messages of change. They have to deliver tough and unpopular decisions and they have to communicate triumphs and successes. They have to motivate, engage and excite. They have to ignite.
The reality is that this is becoming increasingly difficult, and skills used in the past are fast becoming redundant. Leaders need to not only be aware of this but also understand why this is happening – so they can then do something about it.
This chapter looks at some of the recent shifts that leaders need to comprehend in order to flourish and grow as leaders.
Understanding generation Y
By 2020, generation Y will make up the majority of the workforce. Many senior leaders I work with tell me that one of their biggest challenges is to manage and lead generation Y. But, as John Stuart Mill (an English philosopher and economist) once said, ‘That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation, often becomes the height of wisdom in the next’.
Generation Y includes people born between 1980 and 1995 (although some ranges include people born as late as the early 2000s). The label of generation Y followed on from the previous generation's label of generation X, and while this seems to be the label that has stuck, this group is often also referred to as Millennials or the ‘dot-com’ generation. (If you're wondering why the labelling for generations went from ‘baby boomers’ to ‘X’, it's due to Canadian author Douglas Coupland, and his book Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. The book was ironically about a generation that defied labels by stating ‘just call us X’.)
Over the past few years, comprehensive studies have shown how generation Y is different from previous generations. For example, Deloitte's third annual Millennial Survey, conducted in 2014, polled nearly 7800 members of generation Y from 28 countries. The findings of this survey outline the significant challenges that business leaders face when trying to meet the expectations of generation Y.
Key findings from the survey showed generation Y valued these features in organisations they worked for:
• Ethical practices – 50 per cent of those surveyed indicated that they wanted to work for a business with ethical practices.
• Innovation – 78 per cent of respondents said they were influenced by how innovative a company was when making employment decisions. Most said their current employer did not encourage them to think creatively. They believed the biggest barriers to innovation were management attitude (63 per cent), operational structures and procedures (61 per cent), and employee skills, attitudes and (lack of) diversity (39 per cent).
• Nurture of emerging leaders – over 25 per cent of respondents indicated that they were ‘asking for a chance’ to show their leadership skills. And, 50 per cent believed their organisations could do more to develop future leaders.
• The ability to make a difference – they believed the success of a business should be measured by more than just its financial performance, and argued a focus on improving society was one of the most important things a business should seek to achieve.
• Charitable acts and participation in ‘public life’ – 63 per cent of respondents indicated that they donated to charities, while 43 per cent actively volunteered or were a member of a community organisation, and 52 per cent had signed petitions.
In 2013, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in conjunction with the University of Southern California and the London Business School published their results of a two-year global generational study called PwC's NextGen: A global generational study. With more than 44 000 people participating, the results are similar to those found by Deloitte, and also offer valuable insights for leaders and organisations keen to understand what makes generation Y tick.
According to the findings from the study, generation Y:
• value work–life balance, with the majority of respondents saying they were ‘unwilling to commit to making their work lives an exclusive priority, even with the promise of substantial compensation later on’
• place a high priority on the culture of the workplace they choose, wanting to work in an environment that ‘emphasises teamwork and a sense of community’
• value transparency (especially in relation to decisions about their careers, compensation and rewards)
• want to provide input on their work and how it is assigned, and openly seek the support of their supervisors
• expect their contributions to mean they are supported and appreciated, and want to be part of a cohesive team.
PwC highlighted that, while all of the preceding statements are also true of other generations, it's not to the same degree. For example, 41 per cent of generation Y would like to be rewarded or recognised for their work on a monthly basis (if not more frequently), whereas only 30 per cent of other generations ask for this kind of frequency.
Generation Y isn't going away and judging them will not help. We need to understand them, and adjust the way we lead them accordingly, in order to lead organisations that flourish.
They have great expectations
Generation Y wants to be challenged; they want to be inspired and they will not accept the status quo. It's this innate sense of curiosity and their ability to question tradition that has given them the moniker ‘generation why’.
With so many options available to this generation, if leaders are not providing a workplace that challenges and inspires them, they will seek to work somewhere that does.
I was recently talking to a member of generation Y called Robert. Robert is about 30 and works for a large corporation. He was sharing with me the experiences of his latest performance development conversation. In the corporation he works for, employees are asked what job they would like to be doing in five years' time. Robert thought this was a stupid question because the job he will most likely be doing in five years' time doesn't even exist yet. This mindset is very common for this generation, and while this kind of thinking may be exciting for them, leading such creative employees, whose working lives seemingly don't have the boundaries we once had in traditional business, can also be very daunting.
This generation has different expectations and beliefs about what they want out of work from their employers. Yes, they want to achieve and be rewarded financially but it is not just about that. They are looking for greater fulfilment, more personal development and opportunities to cultivate a more well-rounded life. More importantly, they genuinely want to make a difference and, therefore, they take corporate responsibility very seriously.
Aaron is an example of this. He is a lawyer who worked for a global consulting firm for five years. The incentive for the long hours that came with the role was the possibility of a very highly paid job. But he told me that he came to realise that nothing about the
