How Can Company Leaders Develop New Ones? Tips They Can Give Recent Grads

How Can Company Leaders Develop New Ones? Tips They Can Give Recent Grads

July 6th, 2022 Barbara Bell Leave a comment

Company leaders who are welcoming recent college graduates to their organization see themselves in the young faces walking in the door. Like these new graduates, C-suite executives and department managers once made the challenging transition to the corporate world, taking their first professional job with a combination of optimism, excitement and nervousness.

When they were much younger, some of today’s leaders had the good fortune of being mentored or at least encouraged by higher-ups. Others weren’t so fortunate and felt like they had to go it alone. Perhaps their bosses were too busy.

Whatever the case, those at the forefront of companies today have a great opportunity. As much as business leaders have on their to-do list, they need to make time for new members of their team in order to help them grow and, by extension, positively influence their company’s future. Investing time to nurture, encourage and boost the confidence of these new graduates entering the workforce is one of the most impactful tasks leaders can undertake.

Many of these graduates aspire to become corporate leaders, and in reality I believe an enormous set of obstacles they’ve recently overcome has given them a running start on that career path. These young professionals already are leaders.

How’s that?

The class of 2022, like the classes of 2020 and 2021, endured a trying experience that prior classes did not have to deal with – the COVID-19 pandemic. Staying on track to graduate required management skills, discipline, great effort and resolve – all qualities that leaders of successful companies must have to compete and succeed.

Now these talented and bright-eyed graduates are looking up to seasoned leaders to help show them the way – to make them better leaders than they already are, and to position them to lead companies in various capacities one day in an ever-changing fast-paced market. Here are some things company leadership groups should do to lift, educate and inspire recent graduates and smooth their transition to the corporate world.

Emphasize resilience. The pandemic experience they went through in college helps in this context. Adversity comes at us in many ways professionally and personally, and the sooner one learns to deal with it and develop a resilient toughness, the better chance they will survive and grow in the company. It’s easy for a young person trying to find their way in the corporate setting to get derailed when things don’t go their way.

Focus on adaptability. In today’s rapidly-changing business world, adaptability is a must. Leaders should talk to their recent graduates about developing a constant-growth mindset, always keeping an eye on how to use skills in another context. Encourage them to be open-minded about their future; the position they seek three years from now may be eliminated, and where they end up may be a much better position than the one they originally had in mind. Ingrain in them the ability to recognize that all challenges in terms of changing or expanding roles are opportunities for learning and growth.

Tell them it’s all about communication. Everyone looks to the leader. A leader knows that everything they say, and how they say it, is important. That’s great insight to give a young person as they’re just starting to communicate with people at various levels of the organization. And it’s not only one’s voice, but their body language and non-verbal cues that send a message. It’s essential to have good awareness about the signals you are giving out. A genuine smile, making good eye contact, and speaking in an unhurried manner can build confidence.

Make it more about relationships than about money. Many of us want to get big raises and/or climb the corporate ladder. But too often young people just starting out equate corporate leadership with dollar signs, and there’s so much more to it than that. Leaders can teach them early how to build relationships – both inside the company and with clients – and how that is the most important and satisfying part of a successful leader’s journey. To be good at your job, and to one day be a great leader, a positive attitude is instrumental, and the respect of people is central to being passionate about your company.

Show them how to bring value. Taking the relationships point a step further, leaders should stress to young grads that bringing value to others means making it more about the people you are helping, and less about you. Focus on how the company’s mission can positively impact others before you think of how it can advance your career. That kind of prioritized thinking – putting one’s heart in the right place – can reduce insecurities and pressure.

These new graduates have amazing opportunities ahead of them, and leaders – perhaps remembering people who made a difference in their own lives long ago – have a tremendous opportunity to help these wide-eyed young folks make a strong transition, and launch them toward their potential.

About Barbara Bell

Barbara Bell (www.captainbarbarabell.com), author of Flight Lessons: Navigating Through Life’s Turbulence and Learning to Fly High, was one of the first women to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. Now she works to empower the next generation of female leaders. In 1992, Bell and fellow aviators went to Capitol Hill to help successfully repeal the combat exclusions laws, opening up combat aircraft and ships to women in the military. Bell holds a B.S. in systems engineering from the United States Naval Academy, an M.S. in astronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, an M.A. in theology from Marylhurst University and a doctorate in education from Vanderbilt University. Currently she is an adjunct professor of leadership at Vanderbilt, where she is developing the next generation of leaders for our world.

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How To Keep Ego From Derailing Your Efforts To Become A Great Leader

May 20th, 2022 Barbara Bell Leave a comment

When it comes to leadership, a fine line can exist between confidence and egotism.

Certainly, everyone has an ego and we would achieve little in life if there wasn’t a part of us filled with the conviction that we can tackle the challenges before us.

But unfortunately, sometimes things get out of hand. When a leader has an outsized ego, that can result in the entire team’s morale slumping, with some people beating a hasty retreat and seeking better opportunities elsewhere.

There are other negative impacts on the organization as well. One study revealed that not only are narcissistic leaders less collaborative and less ethical, but the cultures of the organizations they lead also are less collaborative and ethical.

In other words, the bad example those egotistical leaders set permeates everything within the culture.

So it’s important for everyone involved that leaders keep their egos in check even as they exude the confidence that’s needed to inspire those around them. With that in mind, here are a few things leaders need to know about out-of-control egos – and how to correct those problems:

Ego can make you think of your needs over others. Leaders with big egos are caught up in their own importance, and that can make them blind to the team’s importance. If you see your team’s needs as inconsequential, it’s time to re-evaluate both them and yourself. As a veteran, I can tell you that the military tries to instill in people right from the start the importance of the team because lives depend on how well you work together. Lives may not be on the line at your business or organization, but how the team functions is on the line. And if your ego prevents you from conveying to team members how important they are, and that you care about their needs, the entire enterprise can suffer.
Ego can cause you to devalue those around you – at a cost. Sometimes people with big egos build themselves up by tearing others down. If members of your team are made to feel that they can do no right, that they aren’t valued, then their self esteem will wane. (I can remember seeing women in the military struggle when they were made to feel that they didn’t belong or that they weren’t qualified.) It’s hard for people to perform at their best when their self esteem is low. Certainly, if team members aren’t performing up to the job’s specifications they need to be corrected and told how to improve. But view this as an opportunity to build them up rather than tear them down.
Ego can keep you from admitting you don’t know everything. When you see yourself as always right and everyone else always wrong, then you aren’t likely to demonstrate to your team that you value their input. And people want to feel that they are being heard. Let go of the notion that you have to be the smartest person in the room and that you need to know everything to be a great leader. As your leadership responsibilities grow and become increasingly more complex, become comfortable being more of a generalist. Rely on those who work for you as the specialists and lead them in the direction you want them to go.

Maintaining the right amount of ego can be a balancing act. After all, a certain degree of ego is a good thing because it gives you the confidence to soar and to make the tough decisions your job requires.

Just be careful that it’s not allowed to balloon out of control.

About Barbara Bell

Barbara Bell (www.captainbarbarabell.com), author of Flight Lessons: Navigating Through Life’s Turbulence and Learning to Fly High, was one of the first women to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. Now she works to empower the next generation of female leaders. In 1992, Bell and fellow aviators went to Capitol Hill to help successfully repeal the combat exclusions laws, opening up combat aircraft and ships to women in the military. Bell holds a B.S. in systems engineering from the United States Naval Academy, an M.S. in astronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, an M.A. in theology from Marylhurst University, and a doctorate in education from Vanderbilt University. She is an adjunct professor of leadership at Vanderbilt.

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Leaders Undermine Their Own Authority When Words And Actions Are At Odds

April 14th, 2022 Barbara Bell Leave a comment

Employees can’t help but grumble when the boss claims to value work-life balance, but then works well into the evening each day, firing off late-night emails with the expectation they be answered by morning.

Their morale plummets and they start updating their resumes when managers insist on top-notch results from everyone – everyone except the managers themselves, that is.

Face it. Those you lead are watching, especially the younger people who may look to you as a role model. As a leader, it’s important that when you set high standards for others, you make sure you meet those standards yourself.

I learned that lesson in the military even before I was promoted into leadership positions. As one of the first women to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy and the Naval Test Pilot School, I understood that my every move was going to be watched to see how I would measure up. Whether I liked it or not, my actions and behavior would speak volumes to both the women and men around me.

So how was I going to handle the scrutiny? I decided that on the outside I would always be polished. I tailored my uniforms, kept my shoes shined and my hair pulled back, and always stayed in good physical shape. On the inside, I would continue to develop my drive to become the kind of aviator with whom others wanted to fly. This didn’t mean I had to be perfect. I would make mistakes, as we all do. How I handled those mistakes was where I would be watched even more closely, and that was another way for me to shine and serve as an example.

All of that translates directly to leadership in any field, whether business, the military or some other area of life. The adage “actions speak louder than words” remains as true as ever because the people on a leader’s team are quick to notice when what the leader says and what the leader does don’t mesh.

This isn’t to say that every inconsistency creates problems and that one slip on your part will send your credibility crashing. It comes down to how often it happens and what people regard as your underlying values system. According to a study published in the journal Research in Organizational Behavior, people generally accept a momentary lapse, but are less forgiving when the misalignment between what their leaders say and what they do starts to come off as hypocrisy, the researchers found.

To avoid even a whiff of that hypocrisy, leaders should make their values clear to those they lead, and then demonstrate behaviors consistent with those values. I remember doing just that when I took a major command post in the military.

I shared my values with my team members and challenged them to hold me accountable to those values. I showed them daily that my values of teamwork, truth, honesty and respect could become the values of the organization.

My team accepted my challenge and completely embraced our mission. My values became the values of the organization. The quality of their work multiplied, and most importantly, their work lives were enriched by becoming a single team. It was perhaps the proudest moment of my career.

But none of it likely would have happened if those under my command detected that I didn’t live up to the values I expected of them.

Today, I advise all leaders to write down their concepts of leadership and to share them within their organizations.

Even as they set high standards and strive to live up to those standards as a model for others, leaders also need to be cognizant of the fact they don’t know everything. And it’s fine to allow the team to realize that, too.

As your leadership responsibilities grow and become increasingly more complex, become comfortable being more of a generalist. Hold close to your values and rely on those who work for you as the specialists, then lead them in the direction you want them to go.

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How To Build Leadership Programs For Women In Your Organization

February 25th, 2022 Barbara Bell Leave a comment

The percentage of women who hold leadership roles in business, higher education and government grows with each passing year – sometimes dramatically, sometimes incrementally.

But every gain holds the promise of more gains, as young girls see opportunities previous generations didn’t.

“Each of us stands on the shoulders of all the women in our chosen professions who have come before us, who have blazed a trail,” says Barbara Bell (www.captainbarbarabell.com), a professor of leadership at Vanderbilt University and author of Flight Lessons: Navigating Through Life’s Turbulence and Learning to Fly High.

“Others have done the hard work, and we must too. Throughout my career, I learned many deepening skills of leadership and was privileged with many opportunities to lead.”

But Bell, one of the first women to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy and the Naval Test Pilot School, also says that businesses and other organizations can do a much better job of helping women reach their leadership potential. And March, which is Women’s History Month, is as good a time as any to get started.

She says some ways organizations can develop better leadership programs for women include:

Provide mentors or a support system. Certainly, a mentor can guide and advise those emerging leaders in an organization, which is valuable in and of itself, Bell says. “But it goes beyond just having someone who offers guidance,” she says. “It’s important as women are developing their leadership skills to have someone in their corner.” Bell says that when she was an instructor at Navy Test Pilot School, she worked for a Navy department head, Commander Dave Kennedy, and a Marine Corps Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. Bob Price, who did that for her. “Both of these leaders supported my work and, more broadly, helped expand the roles of women in military aviation,” she says.

Allow them time to grow. Bell says that, too often, people think they need to have everything figured out before they take the risk of heading down a new path or beginning a new opportunity. But organizations can help women grow as leaders if they free them of this idea. “Women need to understand that, as you become more senior in your leadership, you should let go of the notion that you have to know everything,” she says. “They also should understand that as their leadership responsibilities grow and become increasingly more complex, they should become comfortable being more of a generalist. One way of growing in leadership is to rely on those who work for you as the specialists and lead them in the direction you want them to go.”

Encourage, don’t discourage. It’s easy to point out obstacles someone faces and to express doubts about their abilities to overcome those obstacles, Bell says. Avoid that temptation. She recalls a career manager in the Navy who suggested her record wasn’t strong enough to get into Test Pilot School. “Fortunately, I didn’t let him dissuade me,” she says. “By that point in my career, I was so used to the naysayers that I was not fazed.” But it did affect her approach when she became a career manager later herself. She vowed never to discourage, but only to encourage those she worked with.

Understand that women leaders can be role models for others in the organization. In flight school, Bell became a role model almost by default because she stood out as the only woman in her Naval Flight Officer class. “My calling to leadership included the privilege to be the example,” she says. “Other women who assume leadership roles have the same opportunity and privilege.” And having role models who inspire others is good for any organization.

“For anyone, rising to the top takes hard work, endurance and persistence,” Bell says. “You have to be in it for the long haul. But whenever we create forward motion in our lives, we generate the lift that will take us to new heights.”

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Barbara Bell (www.captainbarbarabell.com), author of Flight Lessons: Navigating Through Life’s Turbulence and Learning to Fly High, was one of the first women to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. Now she works to empower the next generation of female leaders. In 1992, Bell and fellow aviators went to Capitol Hill to help successfully repeal the combat exclusions laws, opening up combat aircraft and ships to women in the military. Bell holds a B.S. in systems engineering from the United States Naval Academy, an M.S. in astronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, an M.A. in theology from Marylhurst University, and a doctorate in education from Vanderbilt University.

How Can Company Leaders Develop New Ones? Tips They Can Give Recent Grads

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