Relevance is often an overlooked leadership qualification. Yet it is our relevance that grants us both the permission to speak and a mandate to lead others. Think of it differently: Did you ever meet a leader (yours or another’s) who you dismissed as irrelevant, even before they offered advice or a perspective on your situation? Maybe the person had an outdated, an overly critical or a frozen reference point. The kind of person that seems stuck in an era, time frame, or mind frame. Someone who will dismiss a current agenda, technology or way of working without even examining first why it might be a good idea after all.
It’s quite interesting how the more successful we’ve been in the past, the more we tend to cling on to it, finding it hard to reinvent or update ourselves. Were you a star in the first dot.com era you might wish times had stayed like that. Maybe you even prefer to work with people who also missed that time. If you’ve always loved face-to-face interactions, adjusting to a digital 2021 can be hard yet it seems a necessity. And openly admitting that you find digital meetings a waste of time might deem you irrelevant. Just saying.
The minute we are deemed irrelevant by our teams is the time we’ve lost our true leadership mandate. From that moment on we are merely a boss, an administrative element in their work life. At least until you update yourself to relevance.
It’s easier to stay relevant that to regain it. Daily practice of good habits, occasional leadership training and an open mindset are great places to start. Your age is irrelevant – your relevance is not.
EN 
DA