I recently attended the NASSCOM India
Leadership Forum in Mumbai. Being amidst the who’s who of the IT
Industry; it gave me a great sense of belonging. I was proud and happy to be
home. I then read an article in a periodic publication which said, “SIGNS of
middle age were obvious at a recent gathering… It was hard to spot anyone close
to India’s median age of 26.” This got me thinking. Does age really matter? The
instant debate that began in my mind was inescapable.
Majority of the successful honchos
present across the country today are from the older lot, falling in the age
group of 50 years and above. But with that age, comes wisdom and abilities to
follow direction, mentor those present around, and lead. One reason that counts
in their favour is the substantial bit of experience that they have garnered
across the years. Such people also tend to be more pragmatic and loyal, and
understand the importance of being team players.
Having said that, looking at it from
a different angle, very recently I read about Google’s Andy Rubin, who had been
heading the company’s Android division, stepped down and was replaced by Sundar
Pichai. Pichai is an IIT Kharagpur alumnus who also heads Google’s Chrome
division.
I accept as true that younger workers
have more energy and are sometimes more creative. But there is a lot they can
only know until they gain considerable experience. Furthermore, these talented
young adults are not merely workers. They are also more likely to be
entrepreneurs, forming the next generation of companies that not only
power metropolitan but also contribute in national growth.
Moreover, a lot of CEOs who are
running successful companies are in their 40s and 70s. Many of them think that
age has little to do with success and leadership. What matters far more is
whether executives see the heart of their career and accomplishments ahead of
them or behind.
So at one end there are the young,
who find themselves intimidated by the more, experienced and the brainy lot
while the newcomers come across as being far smart and faster than veterans
believe they themselves are.
As the industries across the world
prove that with time evolving continuously, the expertise and opportunities are
persistently increasing and hence we see younger CEO’s and MD’s taking over on
the top panel of various big organizations. However, it also shows that the age
of initiation into the ‘CEO group’ is decreasing and that day is not far when
conclaves of experts across industries would see a large group of 20-somethings
taking the lead. And it’s yet to be seen how things fare for all.