The opportunity of being a leader in 2026
Leadership is just that, an opportunity. You have likely been promoted because you are good at your usual day job. Maybe you are a lawyer, accountant, project manager or retail sales person. Whatever it is, someone saw something in you and said - I think this person deserves more responsibility. That more responsibility comes with great power. The power to make or break your team, the power to support or defeat the organisation you are working, and the power to break the cycle of well, I had to deal with it so you should too.
This new era of millennial-ish leaders is new. We grew up without mobile phones, staying out on our bikes till 8pm. Our hair went green in the pool because we swan for so long on hot summer days. As we hit the workforce, there was a global recession. As we started to get more senior in our roles, there was a global pandemic. We straightened our hair with the iron and our get ready with me “videos” generally consisted of wiping something blue across our eyelids, putting on some Maybelline mascara, applying glitter - everywhere, and touching up our Donald Trump fake tan and looking hot to trot. We are older than Google. We existed before social media did. We had an emo stage. We went platinum blonde on the tips, at the front or all over. We drank too many vokda cruisers much in a field with strangers and probably got into a car that we shouldn’t have. We have fucking lived. Survived. And, now we are in our thriving era.
The thriving era though requires something that we have not been taught. The leaders, managers and bosses that came before us were leading for a different time. They did not have the tools, resources and access to information that we have now. Information that will help us create positive cultures, stamp out stupid shit like burn out and have happy, productive employees. We don’t lead with fear. We lead with our hearts. We show up as the person that we needed, not the one we got. We are working on changing the landscape of leaders lead.
We are revolting. Who’s with me?
