A major shift is occurring in early education. Brain science is
revealing the importance of social/emotional factors in enabling the
brain to learn. Essentially, progressive schools are spending an ever
greater amount of time cultivating healthy sense of self and so-called
“emotional literacy.” Research is demonstrating that when the classroom
is an emotionally healthy place for the student, their brains work
better.
While this new pedagogy has not formally grown beyond pre-school and elementary school, I think it’s just a matter of time before the importance of social/emotional health become common wisdom in the literature and practice of business leadership.
While there will always be notable exceptions, I believe the successful bosses on the 21st Century will be those that focus on creating healthy environments for their teams; workplaces that while maintaining high expectations and a commitment to accountability and excellence, support the individual, and understand that a worker who feels supported, validated and trusted is a worker that will do their best work. Much of management practice grew out of a more militaristic, top down, command and control approach. That is being replaced by the servant leader.
Between the impact technology has had on the expectations younger generations have on their career velocity, and the success of companies that have completely ignored the common wisdom of yesteryear, the model of a great boss is changing.
Just last week we had the pleasure of hosting General Raymond Thomas at Pandora. As the head of JSOC, he is one of the highest ranking members of the military. He came to talk about leadership. Even he, running perhaps the most hierarchical organization ever created, spoke extensively about the need for humility, and personal connection with his team members.
Leadership is going through a fascinating period of evolution. It will be very interesting to profile the Fortune 100 ten years from now. I suspect the CEOs of those organizations will be a completely new breed.
While this new pedagogy has not formally grown beyond pre-school and elementary school, I think it’s just a matter of time before the importance of social/emotional health become common wisdom in the literature and practice of business leadership.
While there will always be notable exceptions, I believe the successful bosses on the 21st Century will be those that focus on creating healthy environments for their teams; workplaces that while maintaining high expectations and a commitment to accountability and excellence, support the individual, and understand that a worker who feels supported, validated and trusted is a worker that will do their best work. Much of management practice grew out of a more militaristic, top down, command and control approach. That is being replaced by the servant leader.
Between the impact technology has had on the expectations younger generations have on their career velocity, and the success of companies that have completely ignored the common wisdom of yesteryear, the model of a great boss is changing.
Just last week we had the pleasure of hosting General Raymond Thomas at Pandora. As the head of JSOC, he is one of the highest ranking members of the military. He came to talk about leadership. Even he, running perhaps the most hierarchical organization ever created, spoke extensively about the need for humility, and personal connection with his team members.
Leadership is going through a fascinating period of evolution. It will be very interesting to profile the Fortune 100 ten years from now. I suspect the CEOs of those organizations will be a completely new breed.
