Leadership Relevance: What's Your Expiration Date?

"Learning is about more than simply acquiring new knowledge and insights; it is also crucial to unlearn old knowledge that has outlived its relevance. Thus, forgetting is probably at least as important as learning.” - Gary Ryan Blair

As consumers we pay great attention to the expiration date on a perishable item – imagine drinking milk two weeks past the "best if used by XX" date.  Leadership skills can also be perishable and we run the risk of becoming irrelevant and ultimately ignored.  The good news is remaining relevant is our decision and within our control.

Relevance is about being in the moment and connected to what is happening around you.  We worry about our relevance during critical career moments, particularly when we stop waiting for the “call” and our next promotion.  This realization can be our decision early or late in our career, as we are satisfied our work and personal needs are being met.  Another scenario is the organization makes the decision for you, sometimes through feedback and often in painful silence, and you watch new opportunities from the sidelines. 

These career plateau situations tap into our desire for significance.  Will I be removed from my important role and assigned “special projects”?  Can I really keep up with technology?  Are my relationship skills no longer valued?  The reality is the risk of perishable skills can occur at any age and the answer is to intentionally reinvent ourselves to sustain a meaningful career.

I recall a situation with one of my own mentors who was approaching retirement. He and I were having a candid discussion regarding my next career move.  He was an excellent teacher and had sponsored me for several promotions.  During our visit he surprised me by saying, “I am not sure I can help you moving forward – my influence is not what it used to be”.  I could hardly believe what I was hearing and left the session feeling rejected.  He encouraged me to reach out to a younger leader who was quickly moving up the corporate ladder.  In the end, his selfless advice proved to be true and he remained relevant as he reinvented our relationship from mentorship to friendship.

Three keys to keeping your leadership reputation fresh and relevant:

Credibility
Experience is a wonderful asset and needs to be nurtured through continuous learning.  Stay current on the changes underway and reinvest in your strengths – we get stronger through resistance not relaxing.  Remaining relevant involves projecting confidence to others through what you know and how well you deliver.

Energy
Invest in your physical and mental well-being.  The pace of the workplace continues to increase and your capacity will be tested.    Develop a regular exercise plan and energize your learning process through new material and relationships.  Energy drives initiativeand initiative drives results.

Relationships
Relationships, like products on the shelf, can get stale.  The individuals who helped you succeed will eventually move on and you will be challenged to invest in a network makeover.  These new contacts will improve your current career, future career, and serve as a resource to mentor the next generation.

Extend your leadership perishable date by regularly investing in what it takes to remain relevant – credibility, energy, and relationships.  When you are a relevant leader people want to do business with you, recommend you to others, and follow you.