A Leadership Challenge to Older Leaders

I love leaders, both young and old. At every level, in every category and in every industry. 

This post, however, is for Older Leaders. I'm categorizing that as 55 and older. Now don't get all technical and age arrogant on me.... There's no magical reason why 55 is the cutoff. The idea is that this post is for those leaders who are "older in general than others around them." So this might apply if you are 45 and you are surrounded by a bunch of leaders 25 and younger. You get the point.

From my vantage point, there are some things those of us that are "younger" want the leaders around us who are older to know. These are just a few of those:

1. Pursue us- We're not in it for the long haul anymore. 35 and under leaders in general are more about projects than they are about careers. More about movements instead of organizations. So if you want to keep us around in your organization, you're going to have to pursue us. Show us you are approachable, and connected to where we are in life.

2. Understand us- make an effort to be in touch with our generation. It doesn't mean you have to dress like us (not all the time anyway!!), but when you make a concerted effort to be in touch with what we are in touch with, it makes a huge difference. We're motivated by making a difference, and being part of something bigger than ourselves.

3. Train us- Once you've got us on your team, pour into us. We may not show it, but we truly desire to be mentored and we need wise sages and mentors who will train us up. Constantly look for ways to pass on your insights to us. We are hungry for mentors, and are open to you passing on your wisdom. And not just your successes and the things you've done right- we want to know what you've failed at, both to make you "human" as well to learn from your experience so we won't make the same mistakes.

4. Inspire us- Cast vision for us. Motivate us through painting a picture of where we are headed. Lead us. But Don't manage us. Managing to you means something completely different than it does to us. You were schooled on the management theories of the 80's. Major generation gap here. And a source of lots of tension that is difficult to manage.

5. Listen to us- We have a lot to offer. Sometimes we're not sure how to best communicate it, but we do bring tremendous raw talent and motivation to the table. We are technically savvy, and understand how to make things happen through completely different systems and processes. Take a posture of listening to us before you dismiss our ideas. Be curious about what we know and what we can offer. Lean in to our wisdom, even though it's void of experience. 

6. Connect us- We are drawn towards community, and relational networks through which we can make an impact and affect change. Community is incredibly important to us, in any context. We want to climb the hill together, not by ourselves.

7. Challenge us- Kick us in the pants. Push us to continually and constantly improve and grow in our leadership capacity. We need to be coached, and great coaches are both inspiring as well as challenging. You won't run us off. 

8. Release us- Literally, kick us out. Not only give us permission to leave, but actually encourage us to leave and pursue other things. Once it's time for us to move on, we might need your encouragement to pursue what God might be stirring up in us. Especially during the last couple of years, when it was much easier to just hang on than to really let go and chase after our dreams. We're not leaving because we're "giving up" on your vision, we just want to make ours a reality.

9 Tips for Your First Time in a Meeting

We've all been there. First time in a one on one meeting with your boss. First time in a brainstorming session. First time in a staff meeting. First time with the new leadership team. Whether your 1st meeting ever as a young intern, a newly hired greenie, or seasoned pro who is new to the team, there are some keys to how you should approach the environment of a 1st time meeting.

1. Don't try to be the expert. Reality is, you're probably not. Make others in the room around you the expert.

2. Ask lots of questions. This is your entry point for any meeting, at any level. Good questions give you instant credibility. And many times are more strategic than the right answer.

3. Don't feel like you have to give any answers. While asking good questions, don't feel the need to provide answers in response. Immediate answer givers can quickly become annoying and overbearing. 

4. Be curious and engaging. Look people in the eye. Engage with everyone around the table and in the room. Encourage others ideas.

5. Take a posture of learning. Be the most interested. Listen really well. 

6. Get coffee. Or drinks. Or snacks. This shows you are okay with serving everyone else. Whether young or old, you've never too old or young to wait on others.

7. Write it down. Whether you're the official "note taker" or not, writing things down shows honor to those around you, plus writing it down and taking notes creates accountability for you and helps you remember next steps. 

8. Push for clarity, and move towards execution. Direct the meeting and overall conversation towards execution and completion. The goal of a meeting is to make things happen, so do your part in moving that way. 

9. Act like you don't belong, but work like you do. This is a good rule for any meeting, and your overall leadership in general.

Young Influencers List July Edition

Here you go the July edition of the Young Influencers List. You can see all the past month's lists here. 

1. Jason Dyba - Atlanta based designer, video producer, artist and creative project manager at Passion Conferences. Check this out. 

2. Latasha Morrison - Austin based abolitionist, reconciler, bridge builder, and director of operations at Gateway Church. 

3. Heredes Ribeiro - campus pastor and COO of Potential Church in Miami. 

4. Lawrence Sheffield - Birmingham based founder and ex director of Magic City Woodworks, helping young leaders experience the art of woodworking. 

5. Diana Mao and Alissa Williams - NYC based co founders of Nomi Network, globally creating employment opportunities for at risk women. 

6. Paul Park - executive director of First Fruit Foundation in LA. 

7. Nikkolas Smith - LA based concept artist, architect, and part of the Disney Imagineering team. 

8 Signs You're too Big for Your Britches

This post ties in directly to the issue of Accountability. Having someone in our lives who will shoot straight with us is incredibly important.

Many times as leaders we start losing a sense of reality and get "too big for your britches," as my grandmother used to say when I was growing up. When that happened as a youngster, my grandmother would go grab a switch from the tree outside and I would quickly shape up. Or at least start paying more attention. 

Here are a few warning signs of this potentially occurring for leaders. The pitfalls of becoming too much of a prima donna.

1. You feel like you need an entourage. Everywhere you go.

2. You're unreachable. You have so many systems and handlers in place to shield you from the outside world that not even your closest friends can get in touch with you.

3. The only people who get any time with you are those who you need something from or who you see as further up the ladder of success. Anyone "below" you gets pushed off to someone else. Along with the only people you want to interact with are peers at your level. 

4. You speak and give advice WAY more than you listen and ask questions.

5. You quit laughing consistently, especially at yourself.

6. There are certain jobs or projects that you feel are simply "below" you. You would be offended if someone asked you to do some of these tasks.

7. Nothing is ever good enough or done well enough. A standard of excellence is one thing. But when nothing ever meets your approval or is good enough for you, you've crossed the line to being way too wrapped up in your own world and in your own sense of hero status.

8. You quit learning, growing and innovating. You focus on being the expert, the hero, the speaker and the teacher, instead of being the learner, the guide, the platform, the shepherd,  and the aggregator. Your posture becomes the arrogant loud 1st instead of the confidently quiet and humble 2nd. 

Any of these consistently showing up in your world? If so, I recommend you take a chill pill, make some adjustments, and lighten up!

10 Ways to Elevate your Leadership Level

It's middle of the year, and as such, here are 10 reminders and ways to raising your leadership level. Hopefully these motivate you as well as inspire and challenge your team.  

I would recommend talking through each of these with your team, and challenging your team to live these out with intentionality over the next few months. 

1. Lead with Authenticity. Be Real. Human. approachable. Guard against hubris.

2. No sideways energy. Communicate. Focus. Guard against silos and wasted energy.

3. Stewardship. Each of us embracing and understanding our role in what we've been given and required to manage and uphold through the current platform we have.. Not just the leader, or the person in charge. 

4. Expertise. See myself as an expert, both in Individual responsibility and organizational responsibility.

5. Receive what we create. Become our own customer. Be passionate about allowing what you do to actually be something that you appreciate being the customer of. Guard against the mundane.

6. Guard against cynicism. Behind the curtain we have to guard against this. Fight it at every turn. And call it out if we see it.

7. Excellence. We are the best in the world. Confidence not arrogance. Act like it. Maintain a standard. Guard against being lazy and pessimistic.

8. Serve one another. Jump in and help. Get it done mentality. Not just at events or special occasions. All the time. Be willing to do whatever it takes.

9. Protect and maintain a "make it happen" culture. Guard against the phrase "it's not my job." and guard against creating clicks.

10. Get better every day. Guard against complacency. Keep learning and leaning into constant and continuous improvement.