OPINION
have engineer Henry Royce and financier Charles Rolls, who came together at the ages of 40 and 27 respectively as co-founders of the eponymous Rolls-Royce; then there is Garrett Morgan, who at the age of 56 devised an invention used all across the world – the three-light road traffic system. Galvanise action in everyday performance Let’s ask ourselves today – what do we want to achieve over the next 20 years? In the work that I do, I have often asked budding leaders to write a letter to their future self. It is a common exercise, but if ever there were a time to consider it more seriously, it is now. If we look ahead to 2045, what contribution to society will we be able to say that we have made? How will we have been part of ‘the solution’? Hopefully, we will be in a position to claim that we have been the catalysts and connectors, through more collaborative organisations, of the change for good. Rebecca Robin s is the founder & CEO of Board Trustee and a best-selling author. Robins has two decades of experience in leading businesses across the world, working at the intersection of brand consulting, organisational culture and leadership. She is advisor at Quilt.Ai, heralded by The Economist as an “AI for good pioneers”, as well as both running and teaching leadership programmes at a number of business schools and universities, including Cambridge and Oxford. The author of two books on brands and cultures of excellence,
from how they invest in next-gen development and succession, to their Youth Collective, to how they are connecting the employee experience to the consumer one. As company vice-president Charlie Rubin states: “Brand relevance is about how we connect across generations.” Unlock multigenerational managers The ‘accidental manager’ is still prevalent in many organisations because of the very lack of investment in their careers – contrary to the investment made in deciding to study for an MBA. ‘Accidental’ in the sense of where people are promoted into roles and titles without the training and development to support them. There are wider issues too, where they are not empowered as a result of the limitations of organisational structures. In many respects, we are missing an opportunity to maximise the role of managers in the context of a multigenerational workforce. Managers are one of the horizontal and diagonal threads across an organisation, meaning that this is the moment to look at that role with more mutuality. At the crux of multigenerational teams, managers are one of the pivotal points of bridging gaps and tensions, as well as in maximising talent potential, if we choose to unlock it. Show that innovation knows no bounds Innovation knows no boundaries of age; an MBA is often the catalyst to establishing new businesses, to embarking on that founder journey, which is why we chart a history of entrepreneurs across generations. Two of my favourite business stories revolve around age. First off you
Robins’ third book has just been published by Wiley; Five Generations at Work: How We Win Together for Good is co‑authored with Patrick Dunne, OBE
Ambition • ISSUE 1 • 2025 37
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