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Third Generation Leadership and Expectations

Guest post by: Douglas Long

Article Overview: Gen Y works from the premise that authenticity is important – both in themselves and in their leaders. In the main they are not interested in second guessing the leader – they want to be authentic and they believe they have a right to say what they think or to question that which is dubious, doubtful, or unclear.

Third Generation Leadership and Expectations

The quality and quantity of output by a person in any task is directly related to their ability and willingness to carry out that task. That's been known for a very long time. It has also been known for a long time that the willingness of a person to perform an activity is related to their expectations relating to that activity - unfortunately this has not received the attention it deserves. Today the issue of expectations is critical in everything relating to performance.

When I was young "expectations" were simple. Following the Second World War and through into the 1960's, New Zealand had full employment with jobs to spare and the question was not "would I get a job" but rather "which job will I take". For most people there was little or no need to undertake university education unless you wanted to enter a profession such as engineering, medical practitioner, dentistry or the like. Accountants didn't need a university degree. In this world the expectation was that whether at school, university, or elsewhere those in authority would ensure you received the information you needed and that they would develop in you the skills you needed in order to perform. There was also a general expectation that, during your working life, you would be employed by only a few organisations - there was some approbation attached to those who changed jobs frequently.

This was the Second Generation Leadership world run primarily by First Generation Leadership people.

Young people today have grown up in a world where they know they can access information readily. They quickly learn to sort 'information" from "misinformation" and their social networking ensures that individuals and sources offering scams and/or misinformation are quickly identified and shared. These people are not prepared to be "talked down to" or to be made feel inferior in any way. They are prepared to learn; they are prepared to "knuckle down" and do the hard yards; but they want to know that what they are doing is worthwhile and they want to be involved not only in what they are doing but also with the people they are doing it with.

They want to be engaged - and if they do not feel engaged, they will soon seek another situation in which they do feel valued and respected.

The expectations of Gen Y are vastly different from those of their predecessors.

This, in turn, brings about a clash in expectations between the Second Generation Leadership world and the Third Generation Leadership world. Second Generation Leadership world wants to maintain a hierarchy in which those at the top have power and are able to use it. 2G Leaders are used to being able to control who knows what and when they know it - and this includes the right to provide partial or misleading information if they deem it the best approach in terms of the goals to be achieved. When 2G Leaders ask for input or say they welcome questions and discussion, it is with the unstated proviso that no-one will seriously question "what" is to be done although they may tinker around the edges. 2G Leaders see alternative suggestions as "disloyalty" or "lack of team approach" and they are very likely to punish those who transgress the (mainly) unwritten golden rule that "he who has the gold makes the rules".

All this is not something that fits the Third Generation Leadership world of Gen Y.

Gen Y works from the premise that authenticity is important - both in themselves and in their leaders. If there is a request for input and suggestions, then they feel very comfortable in making these. In the main they are not interested in second guessing the leader - they want to be authentic and they believe they have a right to say what they think or to question that which is dubious, doubtful, or unclear. Just visit any of the social networking sites on the internet and it is clear that these people are prepared to share information about who they are and about what they have been doing. For those of us brought up in a First Generation Leadership or a Second Generation Leadership world much of this disclosure is at least discomforting and often horrifying. To Gen Y it is as natural as eating and breathing - it is part of life.

Not surprisingly Gen Y finds the concept of hierarchy one to be questioned and those leaders who seek to use positional power in order to achieve results are likely to find themselves without the followers they need in order to achieve what needs to be achieved.

I'm rather excited by this new world. I like the authenticity I see - even if it is often confronting and means I have to make personal adjustments. I remember back to when I was a teenager and young adult and the subterfuge I and my friends used in order to do that with which our parents disapproved - it was a world where, at times, partial truths were preferable. It was a world which clearly perpetuated the pattern of previous decades in which the only crime was really in being found out - and then, usually, only because parental disapproval could be enforced by far more positional power than is the case today.

In this new world I see the seeds of openness and harmony. Sure there will be serious questioning of the status quo in every area of life including religion and politics. There will be vehement disagreements and arguments - that is healthy. But, hopefully, it will be a world with far less hypocrisy and cant than the one my generation has made today.

If we seriously want a better world for our grandchildren and great grandchildren (and I certainly do), then bring on Third Generation Leadership! Its what Gen Y rightfully expect.

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Article Tags: 3G leaders, authenticity, Geny Y, third generation leadership



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