Leadership in the Conceptual Age

Today, Mark Divine speaks about the challenges we face going into a new age of exponential growth from our rapidly evolving technologically based society. This era, known as The Conceptual Age, calls for a new type of leadership. Divine asserts that veterans have the skills and mindset we need in the leaders of this Conceptual Age.     

Key Takeaways:   The conceptual age is an age of global interdependence and exponential growth. It demands leaders who not only do things right, but also do the right thing for the planet and its inhabitants. Leaders in the conceptual age must develop a radical team focus, where the team itself becomes the leader.   

Leadership Theory had its origins in the military. Over time, as our society evolved, leadership styles shifted from a hierarchical production focused style to a servant-leader style that focused more on the well-being of employees.   

While the servant-leader was crucial in the information age, today our technology continues to grow exponentially and our society has shifted to a global economy,thus we find ourselves in the conceptual age.    

Veterans have the opportunity to play an important role as leaders in our communities. Military training, especially special ops training, instills key skills, such as flexibility, creativity, problem-solving, the ability to see multiple perspectives, and the ability to form teams with a shared vision. 

Our veterans face many challenges upon re-entering civilian life. Trauma is only one small part of the equation. Veterans struggle with the loss of their teams, uniformity, structured lives, and having a mission to focus on. Veterans are a national treasure and should be given a new role, and new missions that utilize their unique skill-set to create teams of individuals that work together seamlessly and efficiently.