HBR Presents.

I'm Muriel Wilkins, and this is Coaching Real Leaders, part of the HBR Presents Network.

I'm a longtime executive coach who works with highly successful leaders who've hit a bump in the road.

My job is to help them get over that bump by clarifying their goals and figuring out a way to reach them.

I typically work with clients over the course of several months, but on this show, we have a one-time coaching meeting, focusing on a

specific leadership challenge they're facing.

Today's guest, we'll call him Chris, for the sake of confidentiality, is a senior executive

at his company who, in his words,

is committed to developing his staff to reach their full potential. But he's been feeling the strain

of fulfilling that goal as he's increasingly leading teams with people two decades, his junior.

The generational gap there is becoming slightly bigger. So suddenly, you know, they don't laugh at your jokes.

You know, they think you're weird. You know, you're the old guy. To still have that relationship

and being able to be a part of the development and the lives of those, you know, the young guys.

You know, sort of just to understand how to do this. How do you get that right?

Chris is a white South African, leading a team comprised primarily of people of color.

I know that I have white privilege. I mean, there's no doubt about that. I'm a native

African-speaking guy. So I'm everything that, that, you know, sort of is what was wrong in our

country. And that sort of adds a lot

complexity in terms of how to engage and how to, you know, sort of get the best out of your team.

So he's struggling with how to engage, motivate, and level up a team that is so different from him.

And this is the question he came with. How do I bridge the gap between me and my team?

We start the coaching conversation by clarifying his why. Why was it so important to Chris that he bridge this gap?

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