Baruch Commencement 2007
The 47th Baruch College Commencement Ceremony on May 30, 2012, is just one of the many such events being held all over the country. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) project that 1,781,000 students will receive a bachelor’s degree in the college class of 2012. Within the over 1.75 million students, there are leaders waiting to take their place in the generational ladder.
“How do you feel about our next generation of leaders?” According to the results of a survey by Mike Figliuolo at Smart Blogs, there is a significant discrepancy on how people answered three questions about future leaders.
- They’ll be as good as we are: 39.24%
- They’ll be worse leaders than we are: 36.46%
- They’re going to be better leaders than we’ve ever been: 24.30%
As Figliuolo writes, “If you answered the (second) question that way, remember that you’re charged with turning those folks into better leaders than we’ve ever been.”
Question #3 is close to how I feel about future leaders. I am worried about tomorrow’s leaders for a variety of reasons. One reason is that enough attention isn’t being paid to the development of diverse talent, especially in the area of technology. Also, women, who are an estimated 50% of managers, are still being overlooked for executive positions, especially on Wall Street. And cyberspace is gradually replacing reality, disrupting and causing a lack of respect for both private and public spheres.
How do you really feel about future leaders? And why? I would appreciate your comments.
