![]() Results from another interview study of young leaders show that the professional identity as a leader is constructed through a process of creative imitation, in which emotions play an important role in the performance of the professional identity ( Åkerblom, 2011). It concluded that the best way of helping young leaders to grow into their leadership role is to focus on learning from the challenges, problems and dilemmas already present in the managers’ everyday working lives ( Bolander et al., 2019). One interview study, which followed eight first-time managers over time, concluded that the managers’ work identity was constantly oscillating as the result of an ongoing dialectic between continuity and change, progress and standing-still, knowing and not-knowing and excitement and despair. Before gaining all this experience, it may take some time before a young person can see him- or herself as a leader or manager. This identity grows from the experience in a leadership role of encounters with other people in different social contexts ( Ibarra et al., 2010). ![]() ![]() This makes it important for organizations to create opportunities and support to younger managers just entering the position, as young managers are influential and begin their development as soon as they begin their careers ( Benjamin and O’Reilly, 2011).Īnother challenge as a young leader is that taking on a leadership or managerial role not only involves learning new tasks but also developing an identity as a leader ( Hill, 1992). Thus, findings are mixed and during the past years a more positive trend concerning younger peoples’ propensity to take on a leadership position has also been shown ( Vision, 2018). However, findings are not unambiguous, with one study showing that young managers do indeed want to advance their careers, but on the condition that it is possible to balance working life with private life ( Franzén et al., 2002). For young people, these demands and the challenge of taking on one’s first leadership position coincide with the time in life when many start a family ( Lyons and Kuron, 2014). Female leaders report more such concerns than male leaders ( Björklund et al., 2013 Ipsen and Jensen, 2012 Skakon and Kristensen, 2011). Typical comments concern long hours, high demands and difficulty in finding time for recovery and private life ( Ipsen and Jensen, 2012). Recent studies have noted that leaders today, irrespective of age, experience high demands in working life. The studies show that many in the younger generation do not find the organizational demands and expectations worth fighting for Rorstorm (2005). The full terms of this licence may be seen at Īccording to recent labor polls, young people have shown an increasing reluctance to take on leadership positions, at least in Sweden ( Fjällberg, 2012 Ledarna, 2014). Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Copyright © 2020, Gerry Larsson and Christina Björklund.
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