Lessons from young leaders

Year long leadership programs have kicked off in February, and at DISCO we are embedded in a few of them. Most recently I facilitated the first workshop of the Australasian Railway Association’s Future Leaders Program, where a cohort of 45 leaders aged 25-35 will spend a year building their skills, self-awareness and leadership capability.

The name Future Leaders in no way implies that the participants are not already dynamic leaders with big ideas and the ambition to deliver. At our peril organisations will operate in a hierachy that priviledges age and tenure over capacity and ideas. This was abundantly apparant when we ran a Young Leaders World Cafe with the cohort and emerging industry leaders who were just a little further along the path to share what they wish they had been told about leadership.

I moved between the groups across the hour taking notes furiously to capture the wealth of insight that was shared. These are ideas and ways of leading that serve all of us to remember, no matter where we are in our careers. All of this can be summarised as one participant noted below…

TL:DR – Be a good human.

For the longer version of their collective leadership insights read on!

·       All leadership is relational, does your team know they are valued, seen, heard and known? When people feel this way they work collectively to elevate, bringing their skills and enthusiasm to create a cohesive skillset.

·       Hierarchy and our place in the structure doesn’t define capacity or skills. Engage with all levels and understand how you can help deliver the outputs vertically and horizontally in your organisation.

·       Age, gender, race can be (and is) a barrier, transcending that is the capacity to connect, empower and invest in people, once real connection and culture is established, difference can be transcended – but it takes consistent showing up as who you are.

·       You don’t ‘manage up’ - you show up and ensure that the senior staff are communicated with, and to, so they are clear that when you bring your ideas or outputs, particularly in meetings, they are not surprised or blindsided.

·       Make a conscious (courageous and vulnerable) effort to build relationships with your executive team, know and show your value and take the time to understand where your skills can really contribute to their horizon and deliverables.

·       Don’t invest so much energy and effort in whether people like you or you like them – what do you need to deliver together as an output? Care about the outcome and recognise the attributes of the team and stakeholders to get you there. Meet people at the place of ‘how do we do this’ with respect despite differences, and recognise and enjoy when you do have connection.

·       You are never ‘ready’ to lead, it is always a place of evolution. Tolerate the discomfort of not knowing and lean in hard to the verb of leading – there is no destination, only constant dynamic learning. Just begin.

·       Collaborate, communicate early and often, know your value and what you bring and where it fits in the delivery of your output AND your contribution to culture.

·       Lead socially, build connection, trust and community. Assume competence and skills and be laser focussed on making sure people know what is expected of them and how you can support them to get there.

·       Data shows men are hired for potential, women are hired when they have shown they can do the role. Men need to recognise the bias and advocate for adjustment, women need to be aware of this data and push for awareness, allyship and back themselves into what might feel like a stretch position.

·       Work hard, show up, be seen, clearly signal ambition and leadership interest to the people and organisations that you are aligned with, show your worth and your resourcefulness to the people who you identify as links to your role goals.

·       CEO is a generalist position, if that is your aspiration and you’re a technical specialist ensure you round out your skills and qualifications to broaden your capacity.

·       Walk the floor, know what people do, don’t ask them to do something you wouldn’t, bring an empathetic lens to their experience of the work and defer to their knowledge not tenure or role.

Dr Polly McGee is a Neuroleadership Designer, Facilitator, Author, Podcaster  and Co-CEO of DISCO. Polly spends their time in organisations building trauma-responsive leadership capacity and psychologically safe, productive cultures; designing and leading workshops; and working with high performance clients in their private therapy practice. From leading fast growth start-ups and excelling in innovation to guiding digital strategies Polly brings a unique perspective to the table with an intersectional lens that collides neurobiology with scaling technology and person-centred leadership capacity across organisations.