–Below is a leadership bullet from Tom’s rifle named Shot–
I CAN’T HANDLE IT! I’m getting “down” from all the talk about being too old to perform. (Yes, this blog is still talking about things related to rifles.) In my case, I was broken in two during a native American conflict (read, Indian fight, if you are not given to political correctness). Indeed, from that day, I was retired, and today I hang in a shadow box, reminiscing about former times.
Well, leaders, will you know when you are merely a shadow of your former self? A Wall Street Journal article in the summer of 2024 raised this question: Am I the leader I used to be? That article, citing the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, also said there will be twice as many workers age 75 and older in 2030 as in 2020. And some of them will be leading, or trying to lead. Because cognitive decline is seldom recognized by the leader, replacing oneself requires special succession planning. Some strategies are 1. have a non-family board that gives direct, albeit gentle, feedback; 2. turn over leadership a little at a time; 3. employ artificial intelligence tools to detect mental slippage; and 4. accept different ways of doing things from up-and-coming junior leaders even though former ways have worked well. All this advice goes for blog writers too.