As superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, John R. Ryan would often ask a classroom of students, “Who wants to be a leader?” and everyone would invariably raise their hands. However, in the classrooms of a large public higher education system, the same question yielded very few raised hands. The students in both institutions were equally intelligent, talented, and determined, so the discrepancy initially perplexed Ryan. On consideration, he theorized that the differences could be attributed to expectations and opportunity.
Naval Academy students are groomed from day one to be leaders. And the Academy’s environment, curricula, and faculty ensure that students have more opportunities to lead as their training progresses. In other institutions, leadership development is less consistent, causing students to think of leadership roles as inaccessible.
Ryan believes the same is true of the corporate environment. As CEO of the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), he is excited about the implications of his organization’s global study of emerging leaders between 18 and 30. A CCL report published earlier this year identifies three ways organizations can nurture their next generation of leaders, based on this study.
For CEOs with a forward-reaching view of succession planning, the report provides a roadmap for capturing and supporting a larger, more diverse pool of future leaders from within an organization.
Strategy 1: Reduce and Reframe Barriers
Almost half of the 10,386 aspiring leaders surveyed in the CCL study felt they wouldn’t have the psychological safety to take risks or make mistakes in their organizations. Other high-ranked concerns revolved around the stress and responsibilities incumbent on leaders, as well as the sacrifices required by leadership roles. In addition, the findings point to a lack of intergenerational trust and less than desirable levels of confidence and initiative among young people themselves.
Organizations can expand their talent pools by reducing and reframing these obstacles and shoring up emerging leaders’ coping skills. The CCL report proposes four actions organizations can take in this regard:
1. Foster resilience
This is best achieved if the organization’s current leadership leads by example. Be seen living active and healthy lifestyles that counter stress, setting boundaries to protect your personal time, and engaging in reflective practices.
2. Promote psychological safety
Develop reflective and transparent organizational processes that retrospectively interrogate actions for learning purposes. When mistakes are “celebrated” as learnings without repercussions, younger employees feel safer asking questions and taking risks.
3. Offer scaffold development
Provide the right development opportunities and the right level of challenge with appropriate supports in place, at the right time.
4. Break down silos
Raise awareness among emerging leaders of the importance of collaboration, and help them see barriers as bridge-building opportunities. They must understand and develop the social aspects of their work and learn how to achieve results by working together.
Strategy 2: Align Employee and Organizational Values
Some 22% of the individuals surveyed said they did not want to pursue leadership roles. Within this group, the majority fail to see alignment between their personal values and their organizations. Here again, the report proposes four actions organizations can take to address the issue:
1. Define and articulate purpose
Become a purpose-driven organization and involve emerging leadership in the process. Your organization’s purpose should drive decision-making in all areas of operation and at every level. In addition, each employee should understand their role in making the purpose a reality.
2. Build empathy and human-centered leadership
Reward empathy and compassion and address human-centered leadership in the organization’s training, leadership goals, performance reviews, and incentive programs.
3. Personalize development
Use tools like 360-degree feedback and peer review to develop self-awareness in emerging managers. Then, use the information gleaned from these processes to create tailored development programs.
4. Listen to and elevate emerging leader voices.
Create platforms and opportunities for younger or junior employees to voice opinions and participate in organizational debates safely.
Strategy 3: Support Equitable Access to Opportunities
A little under two-thirds of respondents felt leadership opportunities for youth were inequitable, and many felt youth were not adequately represented or supported in their countries. Organizations that create inclusive, equitable workplaces will help their emerging leaders and the organization to thrive. Three ways to do this include:
1. Analyze your recruitment and promotion practices
Audit the systems and policies used by your organization to recruit, hire, and promote talent. For example, who has what access to which opportunities?
2. Broaden your equity and diversity initiatives beyond gender and race
Look beyond race and gender to other differences like life experiences and financial stability. Systemic and structural barriers often exclude people on arbitrary, meaningless criteria we’re not aware of because we don’t fall into the excluded categories.
3. Democratize access to learning and development
Provide access to learning and development opportunities in multiple formats, with flexible timeframes. This allows employees to fit personal development into their lifestyle.
Final Thoughts
Preparing the next generation of leaders is a vital responsibility for CEOs, the rest of the C-suite, and boards of directors. Demographics are a one reason why: baby boomers are retiring, leaving leadership vacancies. The generation behind them, Gen X, is smaller in size, meaning there will likely be more vacancies than Gen X employees to fill them. Organizations may have no choice but to promote from their millennial and Gen Z cohorts.
More importantly, leadership development is vital for long-term organizational stability, employee retention, and a positive company culture. It also represents a wise use of your human resources. Younger employees have incredible value to contribute to your organization—don’t handicap yourself by letting that talent go to waste.