Next Generation Leadership

Everywhere you look, the conversation about leadership feels urgent. Organizations are investing billions in training, coaching, and development—and yet, the “leadership gap” persists.

Let’s start here: an opinion is easy. A point of view is earned.

My father’s family is from a little town in Arkansas called Marianna, about 30 minutes from Memphis. It’s so small. The roads are intermittently paved. The church has no signage, no decadence, holds about 30 people. There are no easily identifiable street names. To visit family I know to look for Clifford’s place (that’s my cousin’s house frame that he intends to build a proper juke joint on),...

Whenever there is social unrest—mass protests, political turmoil, threats to civil rights—we tend to draw a clear line between “what’s happening out there” and what happens within the four walls of our organizations. But that line is imaginary. Our employees don’t leave their values, lived experiences, or fears at the door. And in times of crisis, those emotions become stronger and louder than...