Better young than never: the what, why, and how of leadership for young professionals

It is natural for young professionals to start out following leaders and mentors, and this is the course many prefer. They are content to follow the usual progression, and move into leadership roles of their own later in their careers. That, they think, will be the time to learn how to lead teams to achieve organizational goals. Other young professionals, however, want to start learning leadership early. It can be daunting: Some early-career engineers may not yet have seen leaders in action long enough to understand leadership's challenges. Others may be overawed by the responsibility, and hold back, afraid risk putting themselves forward. Yet learning to lead early in one's career is valuable, even essential, to realizing one's full professional potential. This article will discuss what leadership means, why a young professional should become a leader, and how to get there.