59: Seven Principles for Leading People Older Than You, with Bonni Stachowiak

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*. I heard throughout my life that I should always honor those who are older than me and I’ve always been asked to lead them. In this episode, Bonni and I discuss situations where we’ve both been asked to lead people older than us and identify seven principles that can help you do this successfully as well. 1. Everyone is your superior in some way. “In my walks, every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that I learn from him.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson 2. Focus on the right questions instead of the right answers. 3. Befriend people who are older than you are – and younger too. 4. Remember each person will be very young and very old. Movie recommendation: “The curious case of Benjamin Button.” 5. Honoring and leading are not mutually exclusive. 6. Not everyone wants to lead. 7. You are there for a reason. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.