TED Magazine - May 2017

suring, holding people accountable, get- ting rid of waste, and driving for excel- lence. I believe in social harmony and team building, weaving in the importance of accountability and financial stability. As for leadership skills required by younger executives, I’ll share this: A couple of years ago, we removed the land line in our home. I felt like I took a “cool” step forward into the younger genera- tion’s way of living, but when I told my 30-year-old daughter the news, she said, “Welcome to the 21st century, Mom!” That said it all for me. Baby Boomers and Gen Xers need to let go to some extent and be a part of and support the Millen- nial and Gen Z worlds. It doesn’t have to be scary; in fact, let it set you free and en- lighten your mind. The younger genera- tion will surely need to learn and support the golden rules of business excellence (customer service, accountability, respon- sibility, etc.); however, older generations need to be open to different business ap- proaches such as flex time, freelancing, and the use of technology. Elliott: I’m not a fan of categorizing people by age, but rather look for leader- ship in all demographics. I think all peo- ple respond to the same incentives: a worthwhile challenge, the authority and support to meet it, and credit and reward for accomplishing it. A good leader gets others to do what needs to be done and enjoy it. de Steiger: The leaders I’ve always admired most are humble, passing along credit for their success to the people work- ing around them; have strong problem- solving skills; embrace change; and look for innovation. Today’s leaders need to be able to communicate verbally and digitally to a wide generational audience including Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, Millennials, and Gen Z. Dungan: My leadership style is to set a clear direction, provide the resources for the team to accomplish their mission, and then get out of the way. Monitoring, coaching, and course correction if re- quired are part of the process. I believe that the fundamental leadership skills are the same for the emerging generation of leaders—what’s different are the methods of communication and style. Digital tools and software have made an enormous impact on how we communicate and manage; collaboration and crowd sourc- ing are natural to our emerging young leaders. An open mind to these differ- ences will serve our industry well. Henderson: I’ve always believed that almost everyone does some job function well and that it’s our job as managers to help them figure out what that job is. I’ve also always believed that we must listen to our employees. For example, the de- livery driver may have a great idea about how to improve the delivery process; just listening to him makes him feel like a part of the team and a contributor to the company. Morlan: After working in larger cor- porate settings where responsibilities were addressed by whole departments that specialized in those functions, taking on the ownership and operation of a smaller electrical distributorship was a frightening thing—the debt, the responsi- bility, and the fact that everything done by large public organizations also had to be done in our company but by only one or two individuals could have been over- whelming. My style was to never forget where I was in that scenario and the re- sponsibility I had to our employees, our manufacturers, and our customers and to help ensure that everyone had those same goals at the top of their priority list. Stern: My job is to set an example of the culture I want to see and put resources in place to make others successful because that will translate into the company’s suc- cess. I think that the skills needed for suc- cessful leadership don’t necessarily change from one generation to another, but that the tools used might be different, such as new social media platforms for commu- nication. As a leader, I try to treat every- one as an individual and I don’t see that younger people are motivated differently from how I was at that age. ; Bloom has covered the lighting and electrical products industry for more than 25 years. Reach her at susan.bloom.chester@gmail.com.

MY JOB IS TO SET AN EXAMPLE OF THE CULTURE I WANT TO SEE AND PUT RESOURCES IN PLACE TO MAKE OTHERS SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE THAT WILL TRANSLATE INTO THE COMPANY’S SUCCESS.