If you liked the writing of John Coleman and Bill George on Five Resolutions of Aspiring Leaders, I think you will like John Coleman’s work in Passion and Purpose where he, Daniel Gulati, and W. Oliver Segovia share their research on Emerging Leaders. Their HBR website slideshow highlight these six areas:
- Drive Cross-Sector Convergence
- Embrace Globalization
- Broaden the Definition of Diversity
- Prioritize Sustainability
- Integrate Technology
- Develop New Ways of Learning
Convergence
I have noticed for several years the convergence of for-profits (private and public) and not-for-profits. Coleman and his colleagues write “More than anything else, we hear from our colleagues about the convergence of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.” It seems as though the for-profits have been in search for a cause that goes beyond increasing shareholder value and not-for-profits that have been in search of a stronger toolbox of best practices. For example, Greg Hawkins, Stanford MBA and former McKinsey associate, joined up with Willow Creek Community Church in putting together the popular research project seen in the books Reveal and Move. Here a non-profit ministry meets high-powered research at a level not typically seen in the past. Companies like TOMS Shoes also demonstrate this convergence of cause and corporate strength. An example of a journal with a growing following that demonstrates this cross-over perspective is the Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Globalization
In past decades, working overseas was relegated to a specialized few such as foreign service workers, missionaries, and a select breed of international business leaders. This is a new day. Coleman et al. make this point, “Working in an international setting has become the new normal for young leaders. In our MBA Student Survey, respondents had worked in an average of 3.8 countries, including their country of origin.” They also show the contrast in views between current CEOs and emerging leaders, “Students were 46 percent more likely than CEOs to identify “global thinking” as a crucial leadership skill in the coming years.” At Crown College, we have moved globalization to one of our three core values.
Diversity
When I moved to Minnesota, I thought diversity might be defined as the difference between Swedes and Norwegians. Not so. Minnesota has the largest Somalian population in the US. St. Paul, Minnesota has the largest Hmong population of any city in the US. And for today’s emerging leaders, diversity goes beyond ethnicity to include citizenship, work backgrounds, family issues, religion, etc. Coleman et al. write “…there is a growing belief that these external measures of diversity—particularly race and gender—are insufficient, and that sensitivity training programs are quickly becoming outdated and ineffective. We are also realizing that as important as the diversity of the people you lead is the diversity of your own leadership experiences….This generation is pushing the idea that no one achieves happiness by cleaving herself in half—one part “professional” and one part “personal.” And as technological and cultural shifts increasingly allow such radically individualized diversity, the next generation’s leaders will use these shifts to gain a competitive advantage among customers even as they create a fuller work experience for employees.”
Sustainability
This theme is not new. Sustainability has been in the news for years. The difference now is the importance emerging leaders put on the topic in contrast to their parents’ generation and how they are re-framing the conversation. Representing this generation, the authors write, “In short, we are focused on breaking the traditional trade-off between environmental and economic impact to create mass change, realizing that we will never change the world unless we eliminate the trade-offs inherent in traditional sustainability.”
Technology
All of today’s emerging leaders are technology natives. Every day of their lives, they have experienced the growing centrality of technology. This is not to say that technology has become passé, but just the opposite. “The intellectual excitement around both Web 2.0 and mobile technology is that the opportunities they present are just beginning to be explored by organizations large and small. The ways that organizations are using these technologies are fascinating.” Everywhere we look, the world is flattening and becoming more connected. Tomorrow’s leaders understand this and embracing this future today.
Learning
Over the last 50 years, education around the world has experienced a transformation as learning has moved from traditional, brick and mortar settings to a vast array of learning environments and modalities that include not only online learning, but also learning that is more individualized, more holistic, more mobile, and more lifelong. Coleman et al. emphasize this as they write “…there’s a growing feeling among young business leaders that current learning models are not enough. Because of the rapid pace of technological development, increasing globalization, a more uncertain economic outlook, and myriad other reasons that will make future careers look drastically different from those of the previous generation, young leaders are increasingly embracing newer and more diverse ways of learning.
NOTE: While the insights provided here are based on sound research and are thus transferable, the sample group is unique. In the introduction of their book, the authors write “…these stories are supported by outside research and our own MBA Student Survey. Between September and October of 2010, we conducted a survey of more than five hundred current and recent MBA students from Harvard Business School (HBS), Stanford, Darden, Tuck, Wharton, MIT Sloan, and other business schools. We’ve collected and analyzed those results here.” There is no doubt that the MBA graduates from these institutions will play an important role in future leadership. At the same time, the reader will obviously realize that these schools are highly selected and thus their students and graduates may not represent the same balance of views of all emerging leaders nationally or internationally.
Coleman, John; Gulati, Daniel; Segovia, W. Oliver (2011-11-15). Passion and Purpose: Stories from the Best and Brightest Young Business Leaders (Kindle Locations 251-253). Perseus Books Group.
