In one of my first jobs, I was in charge of leading a group of volunteers who were just a few years younger than my parents. I was the one with the title and in charge, but really everyone else in the room had ten times the wisdom and experience.
Maybe you are in an organization and have been entrusted with leading a team of experienced people. This can be challenging and even intimidating. Allow me to provide a few ideas that may help you if you are in this situation.
Tap Into Their Experience
I didn’t know what I didn’t know about life, this community I was leading, or many other aspects of the situation. On one level, that served me well because I was willing to take risks, but consulting the wisdom of the people around me helped me be more calculated in my risk-taking.
You have the benefit of years of experience around you. Tap into it. When you get stuck and are unsure about a decision, gather feedback from your team. Learn from both the successes and failures of your experienced team to help everyone succeed. One reminder: when success comes, give credit to the team, and don’t take it yourself.
Set Clear Boundaries
I was an umpire for baseball when I was thirteen. At one point, an adult coach was yelling and arguing with me about a call I made. I could have caved, but I was confident in my decision and knew I had the authority, so I turned around and confidently threw the coach out of the game. I heard nothing else from him that game.
Maybe you got the position instead of someone else with more experience. This could create tension and a team member may try to undermine you. Use what author Kim Scott and former top leader at both Google and Apple calls radical candor. Pull the individual aside and have a conversation with both candor and care. Demonstrate care by trying to understand where they are coming from and candidly explain the issue and the line that was crossed. Balancing these will set and maintain clear boundaries.
Demonstrate Confident Humility
In his book Good to Great Jim Collins describes a level five leader as someone with intense drive and great humility. These two traits demonstrate this confident humility. As the leader, be willing to work as hard as your team. At times, work alongside them so you can understand them and what they do. Coming alongside the team demonstrates humility and a desire to learn.
Confidence comes from a clear vision. You have been entrusted with this role for a purpose. Do you know the purpose for your team? What do you want to accomplish with your team? What are you moving toward beyond the bottom line or some other practical goal? Why is what you do as a team so important? Get clarity on these answers and confidence will grow and overflow.
Develop a Learning Culture
“A shared vision . . . provides a rudder to keep the learning process on course when stresses develop.”
Peter Senge
The vision that gives you confidence should be shared with the team. As that vision becomes clear create a learning culture where you discuss the vision together. What will this organization/team look like in a year? Answer that together, establish the steps to achieve that vision together and you will have a team that is learning, unified, and doesn’t care about the age or experience of the leader. You will have a team going in one direction together toward a clear goal. When this is happening, you will be leading well.
How are you doing in each of these areas? Which one do you need to think into more? Contact me and I’d be glad to help you. If you find this helpful, please share it with others. Lead Well.
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*Thoughts from others on this topic are below
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/269563
https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/how-to-manage-people-who-are-older-than-you-0717
