Passing on the Baton?

Since 2014, we have been publishing the global study "Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow" (formerly Global Perspectives Barometer – Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow) in cooperation with the St. Gallen Symposium. The study gives top talents and young professionals from over 80 countries a voice and provides insight into the opinions and thoughts of the next generation of leaders. NEW for this year is that we additionally examined the perspective of a select group of "Leaders of Today": 300 top managers from the 2,000 largest publicly traded global companies shared their views with us.

PASSING ON THE BATON?

This year’s report "Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow: Passing on the Baton? Transfer of Decision-making, Priorities and Collaboration Across Generations of Leaders", developed with the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions, explores the views of two generations of leaders on key intergenerational conflicts and identifies common ground for collaboration. For many generations, a common idea has been that children will be better off than their parents. The prospect of a brighter future for one’s offspring, with better education, prosperity and well-being, motivated parents to work hard and often make sacrifices. Yet today, at least on a global scale, this intergenerational "convention" may no longer hold. Financial debts and the looming climate collapse pose serious threats to the next generation’s freedom, health and safety.

The scale of these crises will require cross-generational cooperation, to ensure that the older generation’s legacy will not become a bane but a baton, leaving the next generation sufficient freedom to create a livable future for themselves. What are the chances for successful cooperation? Which challenges should be addressed with the highest priority? And how should the transition of decision power be shaped? 

As in previous years, we interviewed young top talents from the St. Gallen Symposium network. NEW: To reflect this year's focus on cross-generational discourse, we interviewed a select sample of "Leaders of Today": 300 top managers from the 2,000 largest publicly traded companies shared their views with us.

The report paints a differentiated picture, of significant cleavages between generations, as well as common ground, upon which cross-generational collaboration on key challenges could be built.

The Leaders of Today are skeptical that the younger generation is really willing to take more responsibility in business and politics. The Leaders of Tomorrow disagree.

The climate crisis, future of education, and healthcare are common ground in the cross-generational agenda. But Leaders of Tomorrow see additional pressing issues they want to discuss, such as fair distribution of wealth and pension systems.

This year’s Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow Report underlines the need for generations to come together and collaborate on issues where they mutually depend on each other – such as the climate crisis, education and health.