We recently taught and spoke to over 100 future leaders from around the world. Based on our interactions, we believe two major societal trends are creating challenges for both them as young professionals and for you, their leaders.
· Success culture. The amount of recognition and recognition given to highly successful people in many fields varies dramatically compared to an “average” or “highly successful” person. For example, elite athletes, entertainers, influencers, founders, investors, and CEOs are making many times more than in the past at very young ages.
· Comparative culture. The rise of instant global communication has created an environment where millions of people know who these megastars are and how much money they make. Future leaders can compare their lives not only with these glamorous stars, but also with their more successful classmates, who happily smile on social media.
While the combination of success culture and comparison culture may have a positive impact on some people, it has had a negative impact on the lives of millions of young people. Many of the world's developed countries, such as South Korea, are seeing significant increases in depression, anxiety, and even suicide. Once a very poor and uneducated country, it is now one of the richest and most educated countries in the world. It is also called a “miracle” of economic development. However, anxiety, depression, loneliness and suicide are now said to be at epidemic levels, especially among young and educated people. Currently, the birth rate is the lowest in developed countries.
As an example of comparative culture, South Korea leads the world in cosmetic surgery. Young people feel like “losers” when compared to the more successful and attractive stars they see on social media, despite being role models who were once considered successful and attractive. I am.
Hearing from future leaders reveals how these two trends can negatively impact their lives. We were surprised to learn that many people felt they were underpaid for what they believed they should be doing at this stage of their career. On one level, it may be difficult to understand that a 32-year-old MBA who makes over $300,000 a year feels that he is “undercompensated” and that his salary is “unfair,” but this is exactly what we heard. Even worse from a human perspective, talented young people who are in the top 1% of their peers on some measure of socio-economic success are often 'disappointed', 'frustrated' and 'disappointed' in their careers. I feel that there is.
Fighting comparisons
As a current leader interested in developing future leaders, what are the implications for you? I hope you can resolve this soon. it's not. We are still working on this. Our immediate suggestions are:
· Focus on contribution. Recognize the efforts young leaders have made and the efforts they can make for the organization in the future. I got the impression that the young professionals we met were caring people who genuinely wanted to make a positive difference in the world. Show them how this can be done.
· Try to help, not judge. The practice of older people bashing younger people as ungrateful and without perspective has been going on for centuries. It never worked. Don't do it yourself and prevent others from doing it.
· Fight negative thoughts. Limiting the destructive elements of success and comparison cultures. Try to eliminate obsession with megastars that can trivialize your real-world accomplishments.
· Keep learning. Although the world is evolving in many positive ways, there are also negative aspects as mentioned earlier. Do your best to keep up with the changes.
The best way to develop future leaders is to start by understanding who they are.
