Description:
Why do the most experienced leaders drift furthest from the future?
In an era when a 25-year-old intern may understand your customers better than your executive team, the traditional flow of knowledge-from senior to junior-is quietly breaking down. Growing Downward argues that the organizations that survive are the ones that learn to grow in the opposite direction.
Drawing on reverse mentoring programs at GE, Microsoft, P&G, Ford, Huawei, Gucci, Estée Lauder, LEGO, Heineken, and even the U.S. Army, this book shows how pairing senior leaders with younger employees-as teachers, not students-rebuilds the trust, market instinct, and innovation capacity that hierarchy slowly destroys.
You will learn:
- Why the "experience trap" makes successful leaders less valuable over time
- How to hear the real voices that never reach the top of your org chart
- How to give up control without surrendering judgment
- A step-by-step blueprint for launching a reverse mentoring program-from choosing the right mentors to institutionalizing it so it survives leadership changes
- How to measure the return: converting what you learn into what you earn
For CEOs, HR leaders, and managers navigating generational divides and digital disruption, Growing Downward is a practical playbook for keeping your organization young at the soul level.