I get this question a lot in my leadership workshops mostly with new managers or very senior folks. I see this across cultures especially in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
What does years of experience really mean? To me it is focussed effort in one area or domain using certain skill sets. Yes, you learn a lot which helps you figure out things in a certain manner consistently. You then rely on this as your truth and operate out of it in most other situations you will encounter in the future too.
Now let’s look at the current work environment. Things are changing rampantly – people, technology, processes, geographies. With this in mind, the approaches that have worked for you in the past may or may not work in the future dynamic environment. So, here’s a thought – may be all your years of experience actually will become a handicap in doing effective work in the future, if you rely too heavily on it. There has to be a certain humility with that experience. With that humility comes the understanding that the newer less experienced generation has different paths, beliefs, values, thought processes which when leveraged can actually be of tremendous value to both you, your teams and the organisation. Truly people who want other people to listen to them because they think they know more are operating from a very hierarchical mindset. Going forward this mentality will be a roadblock as a people manager. When companies are working hard to build collaborative cultures such mindsets will be challenged.
I am not trying to say that all that experience is a waste. Of course, it has tremendous value. However, you undermine its value if you think that it gives you the right to feel superior and try controlling people. It is an indicator of non-leadership behaviour. To be an expert in a field that changes from day to day is like trying to hold onto running water in your palm, which we know is impossible.
Question what you are calling experience too. Is it the number of years on your resume or on corporate payroll? Twenty years of experience will not make you a great people manager. It is how well you groom your team and elevate the people that you work with, which will.
Instead of asking the question, “I have so much experience, why won’t my team listen to me?” ask yourself, “What will it take for me to leverage my experience such that both me and my team can gain from it?”
While you may be responsible for all the decision making, there in both a top-down and bottom-up approach that will lead to optimum decisions.
Essentially, your team will listen to you when you start listening to them.
(Views expressed are personal. )
The author is founder and CEO of Talent Power Partners, a Bengaluru-based global leadership development company. She is a leadership development specialist, an ICF certified executive coach and author of the book Team Decision Making.
