INsight/ Executives Must Grow

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Manila, 7 August 2025 — What becomes possible when seasoned leaders choose to grow again?

Story

A few years ago, I facilitated a leadership session with a group of senior professionals. These were people with decades of experience—directors, professors, chief engineers. Midway through the session, one of them leaned back and said, “This is the first time in my entire career anyone has asked me to reflect on how I lead.” Many others nodded quietly.

I’ve since seen this pattern across multiple sectors. Executives and senior experts are incredibly skilled in their domains, but very few have ever received meaningful leadership development. Not because they’re unwilling—though some are skeptical—but because it was never built into their path. They grew up in systems that rewarded technical mastery, not reflection or relational leadership.

Meanwhile, a new generation of emerging leaders is asking different questions—about purpose, impact, collaboration, and wholeness. But without mutual recognition and shared development across generations, these values often remain siloed. Older leaders hold power; younger ones hold insight. Without leadership growth at the top, the bridge between generations never forms.

Challenge

We often mistake leadership for seniority, intelligence, or authority. But real leadership is a capacity that must be cultivated—not just once, but continuously. When executives are never offered the space to grow as leaders, they rely on what made them successful in the past: expertise, control, and performance. That may work in stable times, but today’s challenges are anything but stable.

Without leadership development, executive teams become reactive. They may feel isolated from younger colleagues or defensive toward new ideas. Generational divides widen. Strategic initiatives stall—not because of poor planning, but because the people leading them haven’t built the capacity to engage differently, foster trust, or adapt together.

When older leaders stop growing, younger leaders feel unseen—and disengage. The risk isn’t just individual burnout. It’s institutional fragility. We lose continuity, creativity, and the ability to evolve. Cross-generational collaboration doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a leadership practice—and it starts with the willingness to grow, at any age or level.

Question

If you’re in an executive role—or working alongside someone who is—when was the last time leadership development was offered not just to “high potentials,” but to those already at the top? Not technical training, but development that builds inner capacity: to listen, to adapt, to lead through uncertainty?

What would it take to foster cross-generational leadership in your team or organization—not by putting young leaders on panels, but by creating real dialogue and shared development across experience levels?

And most importantly, what becomes possible when seasoned leaders choose to grow again—not to stay relevant, but to stay in relationship with the future? We’d love to hear your response.