Young leaders tell pros and cons of being bosses early in their careers

Young people who assume leadership positions at the beginning of their careers face the challenge of having to lead a group of employees, often without even having been part of other teams. The situation is especially common in the world of technology and startups.

Otto Guarnieri, 28, had his first job at his own company, Mais Mu, a startup of healthy supplements and snacks. He and two other colleagues founded the company in 2014, when Otto was 21 years old. From the beginning, he has been the CEO and struggled to be in a leadership position so early.

“What scared me the most was the uncertainty with what was to come. How do I make a general meeting? How do I do strategic planning? Without anyone ever teaching me. How will I raise money without having learned from someone who leads me on that?” he says.

Uncertainty also arises in decision making. “You learn by making mistakes in things that are obvious to someone who already has more experience. So you take more risk and it can go wrong or it can go right,” says Otto.

Another challenge facing young leaders is to demonstrate credibility even with little experience.

Carolina Utimura, 26, is executive director at Eureca, a digital platform that connects early-career candidates with job opportunities, and took over a year ago.

To gain confidence when performing for older people, she created a strategy.

“When I feel this insecurity, I try to fight with study. So, what I’m going to say needs to be well grounded. What is the article? What is the basis? Who is the author? What is the research? I always have to give a speech based on facts and data.”

Despite experiencing this generation gap, Carolina does not see it as a bad thing. She understands that she needs to be humble to listen to the advice of more experienced professionals.

Carolina has the help of a 50-year-old mentor, who helps in her professional development and helps her to deal with challenges.

“With access to all kinds of information due to technology, young people are better prepared than other generations. They arrive thinking they know a lot, but they have the information and not the experience. So, they need to have the humility to learn” , says Caroline Marcon, consultant, executive coach and MBA professor in strategic people management and leadership at FGV (Fundação Getulio Vargas).

Guilherme Kodja, 23, founder and executive director of Môveu, an online custom furniture startup, recognizes that having the guidance of more experienced professionals in the area helped in his professional and personal development.

“I try to get as close as possible to these people and many of them help us to make fewer mistakes, to evolve faster”, he says.

For those aiming for leadership roles, college can be a starting point. That’s how Thiago Avila, 24, founder and executive director of Sigma Cash, a loyalty platform for merchants and digital wallet for consumers, got his first opportunity.

He graduated in business administration at FGV in July this year. During his time at college, he participated in a startup accelerator that helped him in the process of creating his company.

According to him, playing a leading role so soon brought some difficulties, including ensuring that the team is at the same level of motivation and aligned in the productions.

In addition to classes on business management, the university has an environment that allows for the creation of networking.

“You build relationships, you come across more experienced people and professors who can offer mentoring and mentoring. You can leverage this networking for years and make the best use of it to help you develop leadership skills,” says Bruno Andrade, professor of MBA in business leadership and management at the Saint Paul Business School in São Paulo.

A young person does not need to go to business school, for example, to reach a managerial position.

“If I study marketing, I can become a marketing manager. If I study chemical engineering, I can be a laboratory coordinator and manage ten chemists. So, some faculties already bring leadership disciplines because they understand that these people management skills are part of the career of any professional,” says Andrade.