Great leaders know we should always be raising up the next generation and eventually handing off the baton of responsibility. However, a tension exists only brave leaders will talk about.
Older leaders still have things they want to accomplish.
Older leaders still have a lot left in the tank.
Older leaders are now experienced and have the wisdom to know how to best leverage all the knowledge they have accumulated.
Older leaders do not want to be put out to pasture.
And if none of those statements resonate with you, let’s get practical. Older leaders still have bills to pay, grandchildren to help, and a retirement to fund.
Older leaders are often not ready to give up the leadership mantle… yet!
So the question becomes obvious. How do older leaders continue to add so much value the organizations they work for do not have to (or want to) make the difficult decision of replacing them with a younger, cheaper leader?
For a wonderful case study of an experienced leader no one would think of replacing, let’s look to the world of sports where the 39-year-old New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is having the best season of his Hall of Fame career. To prove my point, Brees has a career completion percentage of 67.3%. Through 10 weeks of the 2018 season, Brees is completing a historically best 77.3%. How?
Brees appeared on the November 21st edition of The Peter King Podcast to discuss this and other topics. As I listened to their conversation, I gleaned the following 16 Things Older Leaders Can Do To Not Lose Their Jobs To Young Leaders Prematurely:
- Older Leaders Can Be Loved, Respected, And Admired By Younger Leaders – Along with head coach Sean Payton, Brees is an Apex Leader for the city of New Orleans, the Saints organization, its players, and his family.
- Older Leaders Can Produce Superior Results – The Saints have a league-best 10-1 record. In addition, Brees has thrown a conference-best 29 touchdown passes.
- Older Leaders Can Be Part Of An Organization They Are Confident In – Brees has confidence in the play calls and its abilities to get his receivers open.
- Older Leaders Can Have A Team They Are Confident In – This Brees has.
- Older Leaders Can Be Committed To Everyone Else’s Success – They can put their teams in the best positions to succeed
- Older Leaders Can Be Problem Solvers – They must bring solutions.
- Older Leaders Can Protect The Organization – They have made their mistakes. They must protect the company and their teams from harm.
- Older Leaders Can Make Great Decisions – This is how they will be leverage their experience.
- Older Leaders Can Know How To Best Use People – Brees gets the ball in hands of guys who can make plays.
- Older Leaders Can Handle Stress The Best – The stress level of the quarterback is higher than anyone else because it involves so much. Brees handles it well. Older leaders should have “seen it all”. Therefore, should be a sense of calm and security for their teams.
- Older Leaders Need Continuity. They Need To Retain Their Employees. – One of the reasons Brees is having such a great year is the Saints returned their entire offensive line.
- Older Leaders Can Still Develop Young Leaders – dBrees has done an incredible job helping develop Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamira.
- Older Leaders Can Be Detail-Oriented – They must limit mistakes by making a big deal over small things.
- Older Leaders Can Offer No Surprises. They Can Be Reliable – They should be proven commodities and do what you expect them to do. No surprises.
- Older Leaders Can Do Extra – They must set the standard for younger leaders by putting in extra work.
- Older Leaders Can Have A Sense Of Urgency – The fact is time is running out. Father Time is undefeated. Older leaders are trying to send the game into overtime.
What is one thing you can do from the list above to extend your leadership influence?
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