We’re Not “Future Leaders”, We’re Leading Now.

I’m a linguist. Not professionally. Let’s say I’m an amateur armchair linguist. I get a geeky sense of enjoyment out of analysing lexical choices. 

Right now, I’m struggling with the term ‘future leaders’. I hear it a lot. I’ve been part of future leaders programmes myself. Positioned as a rising star future leader, full of potential. 

But there’s just something about the phrase which, now I’ve stopped to reflect, feels uncomfortable. 

I get the spirit. It’s a term to refer to someone who shows ‘promise’ and is on the right track to being in a fairly senior role (usually in business). Though, it’s the word ‘future’ that jars with me. It says ‘In the making’, ‘unrealised’. It completely overlooks the now.

Is what I’m doing now not leadership enough? In fact, haven’t I been a leader my whole life, in my own way? 

If I look at my life, I’ve been leading since I was a small child: teaching my younger sister how to neatly organise Polly Pockets. Convincing my school friends to organise a cake sale. Stepping up as Captain of the university dance squad. 

Unknowingly, it’s been a lifetime of leadership, it didn’t just happen overnight. There was no milestone, L plates off, future leader one day, actual leader the next. That’s not how it works. It’s a development over time and doesn’t stop. I’m a developing leader, continuing to grow my skills and leadership style. 

Though, it’s taken me a while to realise this. Through school, films, media I was brought up to think of leaders as important senior people, with fancy titles like CEO, Prime Minister or President. This unintentionally influenced a mental model that to be a leader you had to be in a senior role – and I’ve heard many peers have the same reflections. 

Over time, I’ve rewired this perspective and have come to appreciate the role model leaders that I come across day-to-day, in all aspects of life. For instance, operational colleagues who lead by example through being curious and asking questions others haven’t. Family members who show compassion and resilience in problem solving during DIY weddings or domestic emergencies. Even my neighbour, the dog trainer, who every day practices clear, concise communication and consistency, while his pooches look up to him with an unbounded admiration. Just a handful of examples of where people around us are demonstrating leadership skills, living as a leader in their own way, in the present. 

So I’m calling for caution with the term future leaders. We’re all leaders now, if we want to be.

P.s. Oh, and while we’re at it … can we dial down the use of ‘Leaders for Tomorrow’ too.

By Danielle Crompton
vocL Voice