BC Ferries is preparing for the next generation of leaders that will replace its senior executives.
Succession programs exist for 150 positions within BC Ferries. For each position, three junior employees have been designated as potential future candidates.
In addition to receiving mentoring, the candidates’ leadership progress is being tracked.
Some of the candidates have not been told what positions they’re candidates for, or they’re candidates for positions they may not necessarily envision themselves in.
“If you’re going to round somebody out or give them an opportunity to go forward, you sometimes have to push them into directions that they’re not comfortable [with] – to see if they’re willing to lead,” said David Hahn, BC Ferries’ president and CEO, during a recent panel discussion in Vancouver.
Uncomfortable might be an ideal word to describe the economy-wide leadership transition that will accelerate as the boomers finally step aside for a new generation of leaders.
Today’s business leaders are still tying to grasp how to make that a seamless transition.
“The issue of succession planning is very critical to retention,” said Hahn. “If you don’t offer a future, if you can’t map out for people the opportunities, then you do get a falling out.”
Hahn was participating with other business leaders in an “Empowering the Next Generation” discussion hosted recently by the Business Council of British Columbia and Stantec Inc. (NYSE, TSX:STN).
During an introductory presentation, veteran pollster Angus Reid explained how leadership has evolved over three generations.
In the 1950s, leadership was built on authoritarian hierarchies, in which employees strived to please the boss immediately above them – a legacy of Second World War culture.
In the 1970s and 1980s, as women, double-income families, debt-driven consumerism and deregulation rattled societal and economic dynamics, company loyalty and respect for the corporation diminished.
The perks previously associated with being a leader began to decrease.
Reid pointed out that since then it has gotten no easier to be a leader.
The next generation of leaders, he said, is being shaped by the rise of visible minorities, new communication technologies and entrepreneurialism.
With the increasing prominence of social media, mobile phones and corporate transparency and responsibility, leaders can’t afford to ignore prodding from various stakeholders: they must constantly communicate.
“Today, much of leadership is really about the articulation of values,” he said.
And business is no longer a numbers game.
“The expectations associated with leadership in this era are tougher than they have ever been,” said Reid.
In that context, how do today’s leaders develop tomorrow’s?
Mark Andrew, regional vice-president of Fairmont Hotel & Resorts, noted that given the rapid changes in industry, which include the evolution of communication and growth of the green economy, today’s leaders can’t necessarily designate or predict who tomorrow’s leaders will be.
“We certainly want to make sure we enable people or give people the opportunity to lead,” said Andrew, “but the last thing we want to do is tell them how to lead or how to do what I do, because what I do today is already obsolete or certainly will be tomorrow.”
Andrea Pomeroy, a wildlife biologist with Stantec, said that, as a junior member of the company, she isn’t looking for the older generation to step aside.
“Supervisors have been giving me just the right amount of freedom and mentorship to move my career forward,” she said.
“Companies that can challenge us and keep the ball rolling are the companies we will invest our time and energy in.”
Jay Sutton, an up-and-comer with Plutonic Power Corp. (TSX:PCC), who oversaw development of the company’s Toba Montrose Hydroelectric Project, noted that “companies need to have long-term goals that you can relate to. Can you see yourself working there in five, 10 or 15 years?”
Pharmasave CEO Sue Paish is concerned over whether the older generation will get out of the way fast enough and with enough grace to allow new leaders to feel that they have a real opportunity.
She noted that the boomer generation is living longer. And as boomers, they’ll continue to consume.
“We will need to feed this incredible, insatiable consumptive appetite by working longer,” she said.
“[I’m concerned] whether we have the spinal fortitude to evolve our values and thereby the culture of our organizations so we give the younger generation the permission to lead in the way that they need to.”
She added that the upcoming generation of business leaders is driven by a need for personal success, a balanced life and a desire to save the world.
Couple that combination with the increasing speed of technology and communication, and Paish thinks it could be a recipe for burnout.
“When they get to my age, how much gas will be left in the tank?”