Preparing Generation C Leaders For 2022 And Beyond

With the arrival of COVID in early 2020, we encountered a new demographic sub-group called Generation C or Gen C, namely children born during a global pandemic. They are part of a larger demographic group called Generation Alpha which is defined by people born after 2010.

In the world of leadership and management, we also have a unique sub-group of people, namely those who were new to management and leadership positions shortly before and now during the entire global pandemic. They have not experienced a normal transition into these key positions. Instead, they have spent most of their time as new managers and leaders dealing with an overwhelming number of adaptive challenges and uncertainty.

These Gen C managers and leaders, for lack of a better term, are creative, connected and outcome focused. They also are missing fundamental skill sets and experiences which previous first time managers and leaders had when entering and working in these important positions.

Recognizing that this group has managed and led others through a turbulent, global pandemic, an important question arises this winter: What can we do to assist them now in their growth as managers and leaders as we all move into 2022 and beyond?

I had not really thought about Generation C leaders until I got a call from a student of mine who had moved into his new job in management just as the pandemic started. In the beginning, he mostly worked from home and he had not met any of his team in person, only on Zoom. Furthermore he struggled with coaching his team and struggled feeling part of a team. He also struggled with the coaching he had gotten. What he wanted to talk with me about was how to lead his team and help his team work through some current and upcoming challenges. The result was an in-depth, engaging and lively conversation.

As many of us know, being a manager or leader during a global pandemic has been hard. However, being a new manager or leader during a global pandemic has been very hard and it continues to be very hard. When listening to both groups, experienced leaders and managers and new leaders and managers, one common theme is surfacing, namely that time was the critical factor in the beginning of COVID. And, it is still the critical factor today.

In the beginning of COVID and through to the current situation now, there have been numerous problems, i.e. crisis, technical and adaptive. One thing we have learned during the different stages of this pandemic, there never is enough time to create long term solutions, because the ever evolving inputs keep changing and modifying all plans, actions and systems. The degree we have been successful in defining and solving these problems with their ever changing inputs has been mission critical to positioning the company for 2022 - 2024. In short, our degree of responsiveness to these complexities has made a major difference. 

This week, seek out your Gen C leaders and managers. Engage them in a thoughtful dialogue about their challenges. Offer support and perspective when possible. They will appreciate it and you will learn many things from them in the process.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257