We are at a point where we complain of current leadership styles, from things like micro-management, disregarding employee welfare, disregarding work/life balance, and creating fear and stress. However, analyzing the current leadership status and the generations to come, the leadership styles seem to worsen. Leadership styles come from your experiences. Childhood, parenting, school, and your friends. The young crop of leaders has been brought up in an era of ego. No one can seem to do anything wrong, as parents and teachers focus on strengths and it seems no one can fail. These are triggers of the fixed mindset and ultimately ego. Technology moves this world and certainly is a significant factor in accelerating this worrying leadership trend.
Moreso, empathy is slowly reducing among the young. We are raising a generation that has a decline in empathy and thus putting the globe at risk of the age of ego. Here are some of the reasons why.
A Tiktok Nation
Technology has got us to where our phones are the only things we value. There is also an increase in disconnected and isolated people because of the digital era. It is therefore challenging for this generation to treat others with empathy. A study published in Personality and Social Psychology Review shows that the level of empathy between 1979 and 2009 reduced by 48%, and it is undoubtedly continuing to degrade. People now find life in doing TikTok videos, making Instagram reels, posting pictures, among others. It’s all about “me”. It’s all about selfies. It’s all about image and winning. Which leads to selflessness and ego. Empathy is about others. It’s about walking in the shoes of others, not yourself. We are training our brains to be selfish. The relationship with others over the internet does not match the level of empathy needed in modern leadership.
Self-Obsessed
Leadership is about being selfless and leaving a positive impact on people. However, this era is more about being self-centered. People are all over social media manifesting their self-worth. Instant fame and money are driving selfish behaviors at a very young age. Technology is rubbing their egos that everything revolves around them and no one else. People are all over social media where everyone wants to talk and speak their minds, whereas no one is listening. Just listen to a group of friends talk. Everyone is waiting for their turn to talk and not listening to what others are saying. We’re all turning into conversational narcissists. That’s inhibiting empathetic behaviors.
Lack of Communication Skills
Effective communication is a top leadership skill. Otherwise, how will you impact people? I mean leadership is the act of one person positively influencing another person. If you cannot communicate with other humans effectively, very hard to lead humans! Every human is different in some form or fashion, and if you don’t communicate in an empathetic fashion, people won’t listen. Speak how they want to hear things, not how you want to say things. The leaders of the future lack soft skills such as effective communication relying too heavily on technology to engage others. They have lost the ability to converse, which is a worrying trend. Texting is not a soft skill!
No EQ or Soft Skills
We are creating a more selfish generation who think they are emotionally intelligent but aren’t. One of the major drivers of emotional intelligence is self-awareness and empathy. We spend too much time liking each other’s pictures on Instagram, and less time having open and honest conversations. Self-awareness comes from people telling other people the things they like and dislike. We are spending way too much time talking about the things we like, so when we do hear someone say something they dislike, the brain is trained to ignore it. If you are not self-aware but self-centered, it’s harder to master emotional intelligence and be a great leader.
This is compounded by schools are also not teaching emotional intelligence and soft skills early enough.
Absent Parents
Parents are also great contributors to this worrying trend as they spend just as much time on their devices as their kids do. If you are on the phone, you are not listening. If you are not present you are not listening, and you are not helping your kids and showing them the right behaviors. Parents need to model the right behaviors, and this is not made any easier when their boss is sending them emails at 8 pm. This is no fault of the parents as they are overworked and underpaid.
Conclusion
We need to realize that everyone is happier and healthier if we practice empathy and kindness. These are easy to say but harder to do effectively. We might think we are being empathetic and kind, but in actual fact, unknowingly we are not. Technology and TikTok are not going away, so we have to counter that with parents, schools, and businesses, teaching and demonstrating emotional intelligence.
You can reach out to us for emotionally intelligence-based leadership training through our website.
