A young worker in a well established electrical firm recently complained … that change was stopped at every stage … by veterans who clung to long-standing practices.
Age matters … he insisted … and a younger person could lead the 
firm out of financial difficulties that worsened weekly. Do you agree?
You have to admit that young minds offer elements to leadership that older brains lack. How so?
1. Youthful leaders add an element of curiosity that makes the workplace into an adventure where others succeed.
2. Younger leaders tend to tackle issues with fewer axes to grind … they vent less and cynicism seems farther from their camp.
3. Rather than cling to timeworn tactics … younger leaders often prefer to try newer approaches and take more risks.
Wait a minute? If it’s true that age matters … and it does to some … then you can also argue that older leaders do more for firms. Why it’s so?
1. In older leaders you’ll find more interplay between leadership knowledge and experience. Over the years they learn to transform workplace pressures into change and growth through feedback.
2. Older leaders have less to prove than their novice counterparts. They laugh at themselves rather than stress out. That’s why people prosper and productivity increases under their watch.
3. A seasoned leader’s brain has grown many more dendrite brain cells for the work … and so can sustain an organization at the cutting edge.
Yet how can older leaders trump younger … while at the same time … younger leaders ace their aged mangers? It happens because age alone rarely defines great leaders. Do you agree?
If not age then what makes leaders great?
Robyn McMaster says it best. For Robyn … lifelong fascination for discovery paves the way for transformational leaders. What do you think?
Thank you Ellen, and if I were describing you I would say that you have an insatiable curiosity and that you take new risks almost weekly!
Posted by: Robyn | January 12, 2008 1:54 PM | Permalink to Comment