How Today’s Top Culture Leaders Are Building the Next Generation of Leadership

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As posted on RollingStone / Culture Council
December 23, 2025
Thomas Andersen, BTA Cannabis CPA Tax, featured as a member of the RollingStone Culture Council’s Expert Panel

Companies that thrive and grow for decades know that leadership development requires intentional effort long before someone steps into a title. Planning ahead for the next generation of leadership through mentorship, skill-building and internal support is critical, not only for individual careers but also for the long-term health of a business.

To help, Rolling Stone Culture Council members share how they approach nurturing future leaders within their organizations. Here’s why they believe these approaches work and the impact they’ve had on both their teams and the companies they’re building.

Bring Them Into Rooms Where Priorities Are Shaped

I develop future leaders by bringing them into the rooms where priorities are shaped — not just where tasks are carried out. I encourage them to see the considerations and values that inform decisions. Over time, this cultivates leaders who think with clarity, act with confidence and contribute to a culture where responsibility is shared and leadership can grow. – Nisaa Jetha, Impact for SDGs

Encourage Learning and a Drive to Improve

Leadership is rarely born; it’s developed through learning and a drive to improve. We value leaders who lead from the front, embrace mistakes as lessons and strive for growth, not for recognition, but for themselves. True leadership is progress in motion, shaped by effort and the will to be better. With this approach, some of our leaders learn to be bulletproof and irreplaceable. – Timothy Salmon, CatFace

Give Them Real Responsibility and Support Them

My approach is simple: Give people real responsibility, support them when they take big swings and make sure they always understand the “why” behind what we’re doing. When someone shows curiosity or initiative, I like to give them room to run. Maybe it’s leading a project, owning a problem or making a call that actually matters. I stay close enough to coach them, but not steer the wheel for them. – Ben Kruger, Event Tickets Center

Embrace Their Curiosity and Truly Listen to Them

Future leaders will be curious, and our job is to embrace that curiosity, not silence it. The more we listen, learn and engage in two-way conversations, and invite others to add their points of view, the stronger our teams, businesses, industries and, ultimately, our world, will become. – Marissa Andrada, Marissa Andrada

Talk Through Why You Do What You Do and How You Make Decisions

My approach for developing leaders is to expose staff to different experiences and different challenges. I also believe that mirroring is important. I talk through why I do what I do and how I come to various conclusions. This ensures that my team understands the thought process behind decisions and hopefully prepares them to make sound and strategic decisions. – Jennifer R. Farmer, Spotlight PR LLC

Invite Them to Do More Than They’ve Done Before

Developing future leaders means inviting people to do more than they have done before, then walking alongside them so they can succeed in that new endeavor. A good rightsizing tool is to look for opportunities that make a future leader feel excited and scared in roughly equal measure. Once they succeed, they can help someone behind them succeed, too, which is the definition of a leader. – Jed Brewer, Good Loud Media

Promote From Within

I promote from within, giving employees the chance to grow into leadership roles. It builds pride in one’s work, a sense of ownership and perspective and appreciation for accountability. Fostering promotion from within the ranks encourages and prepares future leaders through cross-training and teamwork, preparing staff to lead peers whom they have both grown to know and respect. – Thomas Andersen, BTA Cannabis CPA Tax

Give Them Ownership Tied to Cultural Values

My approach to developing future leaders starts with ownership through purpose. I give emerging leaders real responsibility early, tied to clear cultural values — not just KPIs. Mentorship focuses on curiosity, ethics and resilience. The impact? They grow from task-doers into mission-drivers, and the business gains a culture that scales itself through trust and vision. – Sudhir Gupta, The Facticerie

Allow Them to Be Seen and Heard

Bring them in. Visibility creates understanding, and direct experience is truly the best teacher. Being seen and heard accelerates both confidence and capability, more than any handbook or textbook could possibly offer. Never underestimate the power of presence. – Zech Francis, BeatBox Beverages

Set Clear Boundaries With Roles and Expectations

I develop my leaders by giving them a comfortable workplace to say no and set boundaries with roles and expectations. Each owns a small client book, blocks two daily deep-work hours, defends priorities in a weekly meeting and presents a “lunch and learn” quarterly to peers. The results are clearer judgment, fewer fires and steadier growth. – Sonia Singh, Center of Inner Transformations

The Rolling Stone Culture Council – an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives.