Written by: Vickie Sullivan | May 12, 2016
All Great Thought Leaders Follow this Practice
Whew! As usual, the spring meeting of the Women’s Leadership Board (which supports gender equality via Harvard’s Kennedy School) was a whirlwind. What I love most about the meeting: access. I get research and analysis on big questions. I also get on-the-ground perspectives from fellow attendees. Wow.
Watching these visionaries gave me an idea for all of us thought leaders. Giving encouragement and mapping out what could be is a good first step. Everyone does that. What the best thought leaders do, though, is play the role of a scout. They warn us of what lies ahead.
Related: Get Your Ideas Out There
Here’s an example—
The topic: how women’s perspective on work changes over the years. Young new graduates think it’s all blue skies ahead. Mid-career women, however, come to the school roughed up a little. Bias on the ground can knock off the best rose-colored glasses.
The consensus: we do the younger generation a disservice when we don’t acknowledge what obstacles lie ahead. When we give a heads-up, we take away the element of surprise. There’s truth to that old cliché “Forewarned is forearmed.”
As thought leaders, as mentors, we can do this, too. By pointing out the obstacles, we turn what looks insurmountable into a speed bump.
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