Expert Leadership, Future Workforce and an Autism Diagnosis: What I'm Reading This Week
I had to wear my winter coat on the spring equinox, but I don’t mind at all, because I know warmer weather is on the way. I love the anticipation and the excitement of looking for those early signs of life.
It’s such a great display of keeping the faith, putting in the effort and persisting even when it feels pointless.
Then, when everything suddenly bursts into life, you can’t help but feel renewed, too.
We’re still a bit off from that in Ohio, but I will go for a walk in my winter coat and smile nonetheless. However you’re celebrating, I hope you can take a moment to pause and reflect on the journey you’ve been on and set new goals, too. We have many months to go and much to look forward to.
Until next time, stay safe, be well and be kind!
Expert Leadership
I love reading about leadership, and I love reading archive Harvard Business Review articles; this one is no exception.
Author and psychology professor Art Markman, Ph.D., counters a broad assumption that leadership skills are transferable. We see that play out in society frequently. For example, an executive who has done well at one organization is poached by another organization in trouble. The hope is that by bringing on someone who has successfully righted one ship can do that again.
We see this belief in transferable leadership mindset play out in other ways, too. For example, a top salesperson might be promoted to sales manager with the hope that they will be a force multiplier.
These scenarios don’t always play out, and Markman explains the fairly obvious reason that many frontline workers know but management seems to repeatedly forget. Good leaders need technical or domain expertise.
Markman cites an article that found that hospitals managed by doctors perform better than those managed by people with other backgrounds. Think about Boeing and it’s safety reputation today. Remember when Boeing was run by engineers, before the merger with McDonnell Douglas? It’s a night and day difference.
Effective communication and problem solving are necessary skills for any leader, but an effective leader also needs to understand the problem to evaluate possible solutions.
While it may seem obvious to anyone who’s ever been a frontline employee, I still find Markman’s article a good read. It also made me nostalgic for the days when stories about an entry-level employee working their way up to becoming manager or CEO were more common.
Future Workforce
Today’s employers are still grappling with the admission of Gen Z to the workforce. But what about Generation Alpha and the following generation?
There were 22,250 more births reported in 2024 than in 2023, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But experts aren’t getting their hopes up that the U.S. birth rate is rebounding after a yearslong decline.
Combined with other data, such as the fact that women comprised 58% of all college students in 2020 and women’s labor force participation was about 56% in 2021, it means that workforces are going to be more impacted than ever by women having children. That’s not even touching on the fact that we’re still riding the Silver Tsunami of retiring baby boomers.
Given that childcare costs, which vary widely based on geography and based on a child’s age, can be more than a month’s rent, it seems like it would be very advantageous for employers to develop policies to help new moms afford to stay in the workforce and even have children in the first place. The U.S. is the only developed country without a national paid parental leave policy.
More information from the CDC’s report can be found here.
An Autism Diagnosis
Growing up, I had never heard of autism. Now I know many people and parents of children with autism. The diagnosis has become more controversial and political over the past decade.
I am not going to wade into those waters. Instead, I would like to share one man’s experience about being diagnoses with autism at age 53. Because autism is described on a spectrum, his ability to communicate and navigate an ableist society meant that his diagnosis snuck through the proverbial cracks.
Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of Science and professor of chemistry and medicine at George Washington University, notes that he didn’t think he had autism or even think about getting diagnosed until a psychologist suggested it. While he acknowledges that a later in life testing (and potentially subsequent diagnosis) might not make sense for everyone, he writes that “knowing I’m on the spectrum has improved my life for the better. I’m able to give my co-workers and loved ones context for how to understand and interact with me.”
You may not work with a colleague who is autistic or neurodivergent. But it seems increasingly likely that you do (or will), considering one in 36 children are diagnosed with autism. Or you may and not know it; individuals have every right to not disclose their personal health information to others.
Employers and employes will need to find ways to create psychologically safe, welcoming and inclusive places for those with autism, if they aren’t already.
Read the essay here.
