India’s start-up and entrepreneurship ecosystem is at a peak. With plenty of funding, better infrastructure, widespread digital awareness, and changing perceptions of entrepreneurship many people are entering the fray, and a solid 14 per cent of the 18–34 age group to be involved in some form of entrepreneurial activity. Start-ups, by definition, grow quickly. And if you are a leader, you would have faced or will face very soon, the problem of establishing an enterprise. In the early days of the journey, a great vision can take you far, but as you build out your business, you will rely more and more on other talent, many of whom may be older and more experienced. Among the clients we serve, we see that while founders may be young (80 per cent of founders today launch their start-ups before hitting the age of 30), their heads of businesses or functions are experienced professionals brought in from the industry with the mandate of putting in place systems that support scale.
Managing a team of veterans can feel overwhelming and unfamiliar. But here is how we can make it better.
Mutual respect is key
Avoid the trap of falling into one of these two ends of the spectrum: On the one hand, feeling of under-confidence akin to “Will I be taken seriously?”, and on the other, arrogance that brings the energy of “I’ve reached this position at such a young age—I’m better at innovation.”
Taking the route of confidence to think that—I know where this organisation needs to be, and people’s experience of what to do and how to do it will help me get there—is the best bet. It ensures that you don’t step on anyone’s toes and the more experienced bunch knows what you want to do with your company. It develops mutual respect for each other’s contribution, so no one feels their opinion is being disregarded.
Play to your strengths
No one knows everything—not you, and neither the more experienced folks. But they can have strengths that you don’t. Taking direction from their area of expertise to address the organisation’s challenges will help everyone build effective strategies. Establishing the said expertise early on can build a system of who needs to be approached for what kind of problems. In this way, everyone’s opinions are welcomed.
Taco Bell’s CEO Sean Tresvant says the great advice he got upon becoming CEO is “Don’t try to be a black belt in everything.” Because he came from a marketing background, he says he recognised this was his strength and the team should reach out to others for everything else.
Recognise the power dynamics
Given the various age groups that come from varied life experiences, it is inevitable for certain power dynamics to come into play. This is true of any organisation, not just one with young managers and CEOs, but this adds another layer of complexity. Having personal and social awareness is helpful in such situations; to figure out who is perceived as having power, how they harness the power, and who is getting affected by it the most. Analyse who is being the dominant voice in a room, who is able to sway the decisions in their own direction, and who are the ones not able to speak at all.
Working with a skilled workforce means that people will question choices and come up with their own perspectives. They will not necessarily follow you just because you said something should be so. Because of this, a large part of your role as a leader is syndicating decisions and figuring out how to get everyone to contribute what they can. This means a lot of conversations!
Address biases directly
Individual identities such as gender, caste, class, religion, and much more lead to inherent biases that take prominence and affect the communication of the team. Shivani Poddar and Tanvi Malik, co-founders of FabAlley have spoken about the challenges they faced while recruiting when they were 25 years old. “Most often, we were interviewing men who asked us about our background and age. People wouldn’t meet us; they thought we were two girls doing this as a fun thing,” they shared in an interview.
Looking for signs of biases during hiring, ensuring including those that have been historically marginalised, training, and power mapping exercises can specifically be effective in navigating situations as stated by Shivani and Tanvi, and beyond. Instate clear diversity and inclusion policies that protect your employees from being discriminated against, creating a safe space for them to share biases if any occur.
Craft a strong and shared work ethic
Baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z, all have different ways of working. While baby boomers might value traditional corporate culture, Millennials and Gen Z prefer flexible working environments and work-life balance. Neither is a bad thing. The work ethic you establish for your organisation needs to flow from what you want to achieve. Purpose (and the growth stage your organisation is at) is an important guiding light for making choices about flexi-time, attire, autonomy, working hours, performance management, the onboarding process, and more. Figure out which values you’d like to establish for your organisation, with consultation with your team, to create a structure and policies unique to your company’s preferences. A strong work ethic goes a long way to dissolving barriers brought about by age and experience and can be a powerful uniting factor.
The average age of CEOs in India is currently 57, and this is fast changing as CEOs and CXOs are getting younger. But building an enterprise is definitely going to require participation from people across different experience vintages. If you want your organization to be the next Google or Meta, or at least something in that mold, this is a key dynamic that must be unpacked and leveraged.