It seems that for ages, the long-held belief was that “youth and inexperience” was generally a negative quality. In the professional world, age often dictated responsibility, inasmuch as top leadership roles were typically held by the oldest, most experienced members of the organization. Logically, this seems to make sense, as those who have the most experience would presumably be more effective leaders due to their greater depth of knowledge. Lately, however, I have noticed a very interesting trend — various organizations, both political and totally apolitical, are embracing younger, less experienced folks by giving them greater responsibility and placing them in top leadership roles. And intriguingly enough, in many of these cases, empowering young leaders appears to be working.
Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin is a brilliant young coach who led the Steelers to a Super Bowl title.
In the sports world, a popular new trend its to hire young coaches with fairly limited experience and put them in the head coach position. One of the finest examples of this is Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who despite being only 37 years old has already accomplished a feat that very few NFL coaches ever achieve — winning the Super Bowl. Indeed, Tomlin became the youngest head coach to ever lead his team to a Super Bowl victory. Earlier in the season, another Pittsburgh franchise, the Penguins, was mired in a miserable slump, at one point . Penguins General Manager Ray Shero took action, firing then head coach Michel Therrien and replacing him with 38 year old . Since Bylsma’s ascension to head coach, the Penguins record has been 15-3-4, an exceptional turnaround that occurred almost immediately after Bylsma’s promotion.
At age 18, Sidney Crosby took the hockey world by storm, and by age 19 Crosby became the youngest captain in the history of the NHL.
This has also held true in terms of leaders in the National Hockey League. Two young and incredibly gifted players, of the Penguins and of the Chicago Blackhawks, recently became the youngest and third youngest captains in NHL history, respectively. Crosby’s success as captain has already been enormous: during the 2006-2007 season, Crosby led the team to the playoffs and the , and in 2007-2008, Crosby led his team to the Stanley Cup finals. Toews has encountered great success as well, with the Blackhawks currently in fourth place in the Western Conference and second in the competitive Central Division.
In the business world, young CEOs have also led their companies to incredible success. Just look at Google, which was founded by two guys in their mid-20s and has since become one of the most recognizable brands and profitable companies in the world. Even Under Armor, now a $281 million company, was founded by a football player who was in college. (Edit: another great example in Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg, age 24). These are but a few examples of the countless successful young CEOs;
Lately, this trend has also been proven true in the political world. Young people like 27 year old are being elected to office — and of course, we can’t forget about President Obama. But equally important is the recognition of who led the successful efforts in electing these people. For Obama, names like (age 25) and even campaign manager David Plouffe (age 40) were instrumental to his electoral success.
So why is there a shift from prefering older, more experienced leaders to younger ones? Perhaps it is because younger generations are more willing to depart from tradition and try new things. This could certainly be argued for the reasons behind the ascension of Tomlin, Bylsma, and others. Or perhaps in other areas, a fundamental shift in media and the importance of technology is taking place, and perhaps it is these millennials and younger folks that best understand how to take advantage of this.
In any case, it is becoming abundantly clear that the positioning of new young leaders in all walks of life is working. While it may not be prudent to entirely eliminate the older, more experienced folks from the leadership roles, it seems safe to say that it would be wise for organizations to position young folks in top level leadership roles as well.
What do you think?
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When I see companies choosing youth over experience, it’s usually because of the bottom line and saving money. That doesn’t mean that it’s a bad thing, but from what I see in the job market, cost is a major deciding factor.
Angela – that’s an interesting argument, but what about the dozens of young CEOs mentioned in the Forbes article? It makes note of many young people who started their own businesss at a young age but nonetheless are very successful and have been accepted despite their age.
I agree that there is an increasing number of young people that are taking on more important roles in all aspects of society. I’ve found that, even if you are young, there is a way to make yourself stand out. By making yourself different and having a skill/knowledge set that is valuable and desirable, you are sometimes able to work around the whole “young and inexperienced” issue. I did an internship last summer that allowed me to work on a global project for the company that I was working for. By showing that I was determined, knowledgeable, and willing to work, I was able to be known as someone who had the capability of doing just about anything.
And I do see Angela’s point that perhaps companies are hiring younger workers in order to save costs, but sometimes, taking a chance can bring you benefits that money cannot buy. Also, the younger generation brings a fresh perspective to the business world, which can be just what a struggling organization needs.