Healthy Organisational Culture: Culture of Succession
Core principle:
- Succession and intergenerational collaboration are critical for organisational health.
- Conflicts between generations are common but manageable when addressed intentionally.
Model for Healthy Generational Relationships: Responsibilities, Needs, Fears
1. Responsibilities/Roles:
- Younger generation: Executes daily work, ministry, and action.
- Older generation: Focuses on mentoring, coaching, nurturing, and guiding the next generation.
- Both generations are engaged and essential; roles differ, but are complementary.
2. Needs:
- Older generation: Relevance, inclusion, care, honour, and meaningful engagement.
- Younger generation: Empowerment, trust, freedom to act, encouragement, guidance, accountability, and access to the older generation’s networks.
3. Fears:
- Older generation: Fear of losing legacy, spiritual heritage, relevance, or identity.
- Younger generation: Fear of lack of trust, restricted freedom, failure, or being blocked from responsibility.
Key Practices:
- Address responsibilities, needs, and fears for both generations.
- Facilitate transparent, honest dialogue across generations.
- Encourage mutual understanding by seeing things from the other generation’s perspective.
- Properly managing these dynamics ensures effective leadership succession and collaboration.