Don't be a stranger when change is afoot

Most organizations these days are under constant pressure to adapt to changing conditions and expectations, so leaders have to be particularly adept at coping with and managing change themselves.  One aspect of this is their willingness and ability to communicate — a lot!  When change is afoot, employees’ thirst for information is almost unquenchable, which is normal and predictable.   People need a constant flow of information and more detail than would seem natural or necessary.  As a result, leaders must be visible, open and proactive.  This is not the time to hide in your office, run from meeting to meeting or dodge face-to-face interactions with perfunctory emails and stilted memoranda.  Proactive leaders should:  get out there with whatever information you have as fast as possible, take questions often, open new channels of communication, let people vent their frustrations, answer questions forthrightly and stay patient.  With your help, people will usually adapt over time, and they will remember you as a caring and trustworthy leader.

Leaders today have to earn their "street cred"

If you supervise anyone under the age of 35, your credibility starts with your technical skills; don’t kid yourself into thinking that your job title and fancy office earns you any respect, at least not until you can “add 2 plus 2.”  You broadcast your competency everyday to Gen X and Gen Y employees who live and breathe technology, and your “street cred” (your true credibility) depends initially, on your technology skills.  You don’t have to be Steven Jobs, but you do have to be able to find and convert files, change your email settings and retrieve your own cell phone messages.  If not, you look like an imbecile to this important group, and you shouldn’t be surprised if they label you as a (say it with me) “Loser!”, in which case they’re already looking for another boss and workplace.  If you find this article taped, stapled or welded to your door, someone is trying to send you a message; listen to it.  Stop asking your staff to do the simple technology functions for you and start doing them yourself.  Stop acting silly and saying you’re not “computer literate” as if self-deprecation will help; it doesn’t.  Go take some introductory or intermediate classes on the technology you’re using and get the basics.  Your friendly neighborhood geeks will appreciate the effort, and your street cred will improve dramatically. 

Treat the new workforce like volunteers

Like it or not, the workforce has changed, and leaders have been slow to adapt.  Gen-X and Gen-Y employees have very diverse values and display dramatically different behaviors, some in sharp contrast to their Boomer bosses.  In fact the modern workforce resembles true volunteers more than traditional employees, and this has important implications to leaders.  For example, the new workforce is more knowledgeable than their managers (particularly in regard to technology).  They have more job options and feel more loyalty to their careers than their organizations.  They are highly mobile and don’t plan to stay in one job for very long, often measured in months, not years.  Like volunteers, if they are not getting something personally rewarding out of their work experience, they might not return tomorrow.  Pay and benefits are not enough to attract and retain them; they come and they stay for other, more personal reasons, just like volunteers.   In this environment, leaders need to be particularly attentive to the needs of each employee, their personal goals and unique motivators.   Successful manages should be having frequent conversations with people to monitor their individual job satisfaction and find ways to align their work with their motivators.  It’s hard work, and more than ever, it’s your job.

If you want learners, then you must be one first

Managers often mistake their promotions as confirmation that they are prepared for their new job; usually, they are not.   Many have been told their whole lives how “gifted and talented” they have been, and their early career success appears to validate what they have been told.  If you fall for this, it can be fatal to your professional trajectory, and you will be shocked one day when your career flat lines or derails entirely.  After coaching hundreds of new and experienced managers, I have learned that leaders who feel “ready” avoid self reflection, dismiss constructive feedback and stop learning.  Those who feel like “works in process” tend to be proactive at obtaining feedback, creative in their developmental activities and fast learners.   If you are hiring or promoting managers, make sure you evaluate their learning aptitude along with your other competencies.  If you are an aspiring manager, make sure you adopt or maintain a learning mindset.  To help you do this, I recommend the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck.  To enhance your results even further, make your learning transparent and you will teach others to also adopt this approach, thus creating a “learning organization.”  Now that’s leadership!