At the recent annual Anthropy gathering, which convenes leaders to inspire a better Britain, the next generation were given a stronger voice through the Emerging Leaders platform, which was created in partnership with Brandpie.
Leading up to Anthopy, we worked with young leaders and rising talent to ensure the agenda was relevant and reflective of youth perspectives. From this, four streams were specifically designed: covering AI, accessibility, future skills, and entrepreneurship. Emerging leaders also joined panels for other talks to showcase intergenerational perspectives.
From the discussions in these streams, it was clear that that elevating youth perspectives was crucial to bridging generational gaps in business. But how can business leaders move from intention towards action to continue creating intergenerational value?
Every organization is uniquely positioned to elevate the voices of their younger employees. Based on what we heard at Anthropy, I have designed two approaches that businesses can adopt to help leaders accelerate action.
The first is the “mountain approach”. This is about creating tangible initiatives for younger employees to engage with. To intentionally misquote the film Field of Dreams, “build it and they will come.”
The second is the valley approach. This is about credibly creating a culture where younger employees feel empowered to build their own mountains. Both shift the intention of intergenerational value into action. The benefits of both approaches include exposing leadership to new insights and exposing younger employees to how business works at leadership level.
The mountain approach: utilizing existing resources
What young leaders said:
When we interviewed emerging leaders at Anthropy, the majority echoed that they wanted more space to be heard and to be active in implementing change.
“One thing I am going to do differently as a result of today’s session is speak up and unleash my inner bravery,” said Lauren Niehaus, an Anthropy Emerging Leader.
How leaders can help:
The mountain approach is about utilising the resources you have. For example, as a business a mountain opportunity might be creating a youth shadow board. A shadow board provides young workers with visibility over decisions, creating more opportunities to speak up and be brave. This can often lead to significant career development.
Fashion brands such as Gucci have created shadow boards, consisting of mainly young employees across their business. The CEO at the time, Mario Bizzarri, told the Harvard Business Review that insights from the shadow board “served as a wake-up call for the executives”. Since then, sales have been largely driven by their digital strategies and have grown by 136%.
This approach is about creating something tangible that young employees can spot on the horizon. And by scaling that mountain, their voices are elevated by the resources of the business. The value of this is building confidence in young employees and creating clear channels for innovation.
Exploring the valley approach: creating opportunities
What young leaders said:
Young workers told us they often lack the confidence and backing to feel like they can share ideas with the business – leaders should focus on creating an environment that fosters these opportunities.
Ashleigh Onabajo, Anthropy Emerging Leader, pledged "One thing I’m going to do differently after today’s session is carry myself with more conviction. I have a lot of good ideas and I think I need to use them more.”
How leaders can help:
Carving valleys in your business is about creating a culture where new ideas can be shared. Part of this is about ensuring your business encourages psychological safety where individuals feel safe to take interpersonal risks at work and have a willingness to speak up.
A valley approach to this could be encouraging young employees to act like intrapreneurs. To be an intrapreneur is to apply an entrepreneurial mindset for innovative internal projects that enhance the company’s future.
For example, during her time at Coca-Cola, Thais Vojvodic pioneered an intrapreneurial project for inclusive recycling. Her ambition was supported by the company to establish the initiative with competitors to create a wider impact. The League of Intrapreneurs assert that actions like Vojvodic’s show how “intrapreneurs see the missing pieces as opportunities to innovate and often are masters at connecting the dots.”
At Brandpie, our intrapreneurial culture has been shaped by our core values; be bright, brave, and big hearted. When creating intergenerational value, young employees are encouraged to be brave with sharing bright ideas. Leaders are encouraged to be brave in being open to new ideas and big hearted in providing the support that is needed.
In summary
From our time running the Emerging Leaders programme at Anthropy, it’s clear that the appetite for action among young people is high.
As leaders, how can you start to let these opportunities emerge for them? Think about the resources that you have available to use the mountain approach and create spaces where young workers can be heard. Look for cracks of space and carve valleys for change to flow through. Opportunities exist equally in the mountains and valleys of every organization and often, the landscape for change will be co-created across all levels.
To think that the problems of tomorrow are not the problem of today is misguided. Creating a landscape of opportunity ensures the best foundation to accelerate action. Change is necessary but everyone is accountable, not just the younger generations.
How will you move from intention to action through intergenerational business value?
For more information on how your business can empower future leaders, read our Levers for change: accelerating sustainable action sustainable leadership playbook.
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