Lendlease the leadership machine series. Part Two: old turk, young turk.

Thank you to those who commented on the first article in this series ‘always have a view’. The second installment of the Lend Lease Leadership machine old turk, young turk.

Old turk, young turk

The essence of this concept tapped both the expertise and wisdom of the more mature employees combined with the energy and ideas of the youth.

The approach delivered fast leadership development of the youth while mitigating the risk of inexperience or exuberant behaviour.

• From graduate onwards you were given serious responsibility in dollar terms and client impact
• You felt the full weight of decisions, building the resilience muscle
• You learnt that good decisions had multiple inputs
• You obtained wisdom at lower organisation cost
• Built a new best on the back of the previous best- ensuring continuous improvement

The old turks had the responsibility to pass on the wisdom, develop their team to enable the old turk to move onto greater things. Even in retirement the old turks were consulted on a regular basis in their area of expertise.

This system only works in an environment of utmost mutual respect of the individual and a natural desire to do good. (More on these ideals in future instalements)

You can see how this is part of an effective learning organisation, succession planning and knowledge retention and growth.

Please share your memories of the old turk, young turk in practice!