The Impact Manifesto

How Younger Generations Subvert Ideas of Leadership

Caleb Gipple

• Publisher: New Degree Press
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781637301302
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Personal Success

Leadership has become a buzzword-a term used so often and so broadly that it's nearly lost all meaning.

The Impact Manifesto: How Younger Generations Subvert Ideas of Leadership will teach you how to redefine and reclaim leadership, to challenge the status quo, and to make a difference-no matter how big or how small. In this book, you will hear inspiring stories from everyday leaders like:

• Drew Dudley and his tales of "lollipop leadership"
• Coach Ed Thomas and his selfless service to community after a devastating tornado
• Sebastian Terry and his zero-regrets journey to tackling his "List of 100 Things"

This book speaks to students, young professionals, and those who need to reclaim the role of "leader." After reading the The Impact Manifesto, you'll discover what leadership really means and acquire the tools you need to seize it for yourself!

Part 1

Where We Are Now

Chapter 1

The Leadership Gap

Right now, across the country, our organizations are in a bit of a crisis. No, it’s not a financial crisis, but one centering around an organization’s most valuable resources: it’s people.

As older generations retire from the workforce and millennials and generation Z move on to replace them, a unique challenge arises: thousands of younger workers face the reality of stepping into more senior-level, leadership-based roles. At some point, they will be stepping into higher positions with more responsibility and be in a position to expand on the impact they can make. The time has come, or is fast approaching, for these younger generations to realize their potential and enact everyday leadership to create a meaningful impact in their work.

This critical time period we face is due to a factor called a leadership gap. It can be defined as the disconnect between the amount of leadership needed within an organization and the number of members comfortable enough to consider themselves a leader. This is heavily influenced by hiring managers’ perceived lack of leadership experience, but also from the personal comfort of employees. This gap stems from a core issue of young adults from younger generations not feeling worthy of the label of leader due to its continued over-emphasis. Ultimately, critical leadership skills currently present in organizations are insufficient in meeting the future needs of the organization.

In a recent study from the Center for Creative Leadership, the top culprit for this issue is outdated concepts on leadership.7 Their research found one of the greatest barriers in this area is the disconnect between what individuals believe it means to make a difference and lead compared to what they can do. This misalignment in perspectives disenfranchises young adults from the idea they can actually make a meaningful contribution. The youth of our younger generations don’t feel comfortable calling themselves a leader. It has continuously been engrained in them that to deserve the title of leader, you must either have a position, title or role; we have a large portion of people overlooking their potential for impact as a leader. We must challenge these notions and create a paradigm shift in which younger generations acknowledge this as a fundamental falsehood. As Robin Sharma once said, “Leadership is not about a title or designation. It’s about impact, influence, and inspiration.”

At some point, regardless of where someone is at in their professional or academic career, nearly everyone has experienced an instance, or maybe several, when they could have stepped up to be a leader but didn’t feel it was their place to do so. In that moment, they undermined their own potential and further contributed to this leadership gap.

Where We Are Now

By 2021, millennials (those born between about 1980 and 2000) are forecasted to comprise half of the American workforce, and by 2025, 75 percent of the global workforce. Companies, including Ernst & Young and Accenture, have already reported millennials make up over two-thirds of their entire employee base.

With an increasing portion of younger generations stepping up into both the workforce and positions/roles of influence, there will be noticeable changes. Every generation is faced with unique challenges, requiring different perspectives and solutions. These various sets of issues stem from the difference in upbringing and the cultural factors that molded them into the people they are today. We will notice a difference as younger generations bring these unique perspectives to these positions, especially within leadership roles. Forbes reports as of now, 28 percent of millennials are managers currently across all industries and that number is going to continue to grow.8 As it does, they will transform these roles by bringing fresh perspectives.

This is a natural cycle of older employees being replaced by younger employees; however, this particular transition is going to be distinct. The reason it is unique is because of the challenge the leadership gap possesses. According to a survey from Barna, 43 percent of young adults strongly agree society is facing a crisis of leadership because there are not enough good leaders right now.9

The issue this poses is now, for the first time ever, the majority of the workforce will be made up of younger generations that don’t feel comfortable or secure considering themselves leaders. With this perspective, they have underdeveloped their leadership skills by overlooking opportunities to leave an impact. The repercussions of this could be massive as people miss out on their potential.

We cannot allow this to persist because if it does, it will get to the point no one feels as if they can serve as a leader until they reach a certain checkpoint. When this happens, people will just play it safe and not stretch for greatness within their organizations. They will not reach outside of their comfort zone to try new things or approach their day-to-day life differently. If we continue to make leadership something bigger than us, as long as we make leadership something that is just beyond our reach, as long as we make it about changing the world, we allow ourselves to not expect it from us and our peers every single day.

This is an issue we are going to have to overcome together.

Moving Past “Just”

The first way we overcome the leadership gap issue is eliminating one of the most profound killers of potential that leaves thousands blind to the impact they have on others.

This killer is the word “just.”

“Just” is a tricky word. It singlehandedly can take someone making a difference and make them think less of themselves and the impact they are creating. So often we start creating momentum or create a moment of impact then check ourselves by remembering we are “just a (insert your position).” In doing so, the word “just” has killed countless moments of true leadership and stopped us from recognizing the opportunities to reach our true potential regardless of where we are in life.

My quest to eliminate “just” began of all places at a pub called The Angry Goldfish.

The whole moment was surreal. As I sat and watched those around me, I couldn’t help but get a sense of anxiousness.

A few days earlier, I had gotten the text from a friend that Drew Dudley agreed to meet with us. A personal hero of mine, Drew has been a thought leader on the topic of leadership for years. Before his TEDx Talk “Leading with Lollipops” went viral, he was a professor of leadership at the University of Toronto where he developed and built their leadership development program. Since his talk, he has traveled the world speaking, facilitating trainings, and ultimately empowering thousands of people to redefine leadership within their personal lives.

Both my friend and I were fans of his work, as it shifted our perspectives on leadership. Through sheer luck and a Facebook message, Drew just so happened to be in the state that very week and wanted to meet with us. We jumped at the opportunity and soon found ourselves in a pub called The Angry Goldfish with a bowl of chips and dip, waiting to meet Drew.

After a few minutes of waiting, Drew rolled in with an air of humility about him. As he strolled through, the people around him were generally unaware one of the most popular TEDx speakers passed by them, but my friend and I were buzzing with excitement. What followed next was an amazing two hours filled with stories, Netflix shows to binge watch, and some impactful lessons in leadership.

I was blown away by some of the stories he had to share, and there was one that resonated with me deeply. On top of Drew’s story on “Lollipop Leadership,” he shared additional stories from his travels that brought his concepts to life.

Among his travels, Drew had gotten the opportunity to return to his old high school. While he was visiting, he ran into old teachers and staff members from his time and came across the old custodian. Fond of this custodian, Drew remembered being back in school and receiving the warmest greetings from this person, always feeling like a million bucks afterwards. When he ran into his old custodian, they still remembered Drew’s name and excitedly asked how he was doing.

“I still keep up to date on all that you’re doing,” they shared.

Drew couldn’t help but feel warm after the kindness of the stranger. In that moment, Drew thanked them for the impact they had on him when in school. He expressed how much it meant that they always greeted him and, out of a large school, still took the time to remember students’ names. After Drew recognized them for their impact, they started to laugh.

“Oh, I’m just a custodian.”

That lone phrase stopped Drew in his tracks.

Here was a person who had influenced Dr...

Table of contents

• Introduction. The Power of a Lollipop
• Part 1. Where We Are Now
• Part 2. Tools of Impact
• Part 3. Moving Forward
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix