what’s right. He could’ve walked away from the first Death Star
battle with all his money, but instead he came back and helped
Skywalker evade Darth Vader. He loves the Millennium Falcon,
but he let his frenemy Lando Calrissian borrow it for the final
fight against the second Death Star. And, of course, he went to try
and save his son, even though he knew it could be his end.
Leadership is meaningless without morality. Modern work-ers
(read: Millennials and Generation Xers) want to follow people
who inspire them and who want to make a difference in the world.
People want the security of knowing that they work for a good per-son.
A defining characteristic of many Millennials is the ability to
discern the morality of the people and the company they work for.
leadership
Leaders who find their Light Side/Dark Side alignment to be
a bit muddy have some work to do. It’s not all about profit any-more.
Social responsibility is a key part of running a successful
organization and recruiting top talent. These leaders can look for
ways to broaden their horizon and engage with the community
and employees.
Human resources can look into running charitable programs
for the organization, from sponsoring local charities to engaging in
fun runs to supporting individual employees in their own charity
work. The C-suite can ensure that the overall mission of the orga-nization
is altruistic, perhaps by offering reduced or free services
to people in need or by participating in industry-wide research.
Leaders who are already on the Light Side are most of the way
there and can look for ways to make their morals more evident in
their performance. They can continue to support their organiza-tions’
altruistic endeavours and make sure they don’t put too much
distance between themselves and their employees.
With the global business landscape forever changed by the
Great Recession and Millennials taking their place as the domi-nant
generation, the last vestiges of the Old Republic have been
swept away. But this isn’t the time for the Empire or the First
Order. It’s the dawn of a new hope for organizations by embracing
their Rebel Leader. n
David Solot, Ph.D. is an analytics product manager at Caliper.
HAN SOLO LETS EVERYONE
AROUND HIM KNOW THAT
HE CAN GET THE JOB DONE
NO MATTER HOW HARD
IT SEEMS, AND THEN HE
FOLLOWS THROUGH.
buzzfuss / 123RF Stock Photo
Alden Ehrenreich, who
plays the part of Han
Solo, at the premiere of
Solo: A Star Wars Story in
May 2018
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ JUNE 2018 ❚ 27
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