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Emerging Leaders founder Mizell Stewart III
“I follow the philosophy of servant leadership. Is your focus on what you can get for yourself as compared to focusing on helping others?”
Emerging Leaders founder ‘paying it forward’ in new role as leadership trainer, coach
Mizell Stewart III remembers the incident like it happened yesterday, when as a rookie newspaper reporter he approached his editor for feedback on a story he had just finished writing. The editor said he was too busy to help.
“At that instant, I thought ‘Wow, if I ever become a boss, I’m not going to do that to anybody,” he says.
Stewart went on a 35-year newspaper career that included several roles as the boss — as a top newsroom executive in three states and a corporate news executive. Through the years, he saw the good, the bad and the ugly in leaders. He’s taken those experiences to Emerging Leaders, LLC, the firm he founded to provide business consulting, executive coaching and leadership development training for mid-career to senior professionals in the media industry.
Stewart went on a 35-year newspaper career that included several roles as the boss — as a top newsroom executive in three states and a corporate news executive. Through the years, he saw the good, the bad and the ugly in leaders. He’s taken those experiences to Emerging Leaders, LLC, the firm he founded to provide business consulting, executive coaching and leadership development training for mid-career to senior professionals in the media industry.
Stewart says major changes in the work environment make changes in management style essential. The lingering telecommuting effect of the COVID pandemic, an increasingly diverse workforce, and employees’ desire for a life outside work are just three challenges managers now face.
“What employees are demanding from their leaders is very different now than it has been in the past,” he says. “It used to be when you came to work, you didn’t bring your personal business into the workplace. If you were having problems at home, the problems stayed at home. Now it’s not unusual for people to ask for help, to ask for support and flexibility, because of the situation they’re trying to manage at home.
“It doesn’t mean people are asking to do less at work. What they’re asking for is a level of understanding and support so they can perform at their best at work.”
Stewart founded Emerging Leaders in 2016 and took his consulting business full-time when he retired from newspapering and Gannett and the USA TODAY Network in fall 2022 as vice president of news performance/talent and partnerships. He previously was vice president/content of the newspaper division of the E.W. Scripps Company and an editor at the Akron Beacon-Journal, Evansville Courier and Tallahassee Democrat.
Emerging Leaders founder Mizell Stewart III
“I follow the philosophy of servant leadership. Is your focus on what you can get for yourself as compared to focusing on helping others?”
Stewart says major changes in the work environment make changes in management style essential. The lingering telecommuting effect of the COVID pandemic, an increasingly diverse workforce, and employees’ desire for a life outside work are just three challenges managers now face.
“What employees are demanding from their leaders is very different now than it has been in the past,” he says. “It used to be when you came to work, you didn’t bring your personal business into the workplace. If you were having problems at home, the problems stayed at home. Now it’s not unusual for people to ask for help, to ask for support and flexibility, because of the situation they’re trying to manage at home.
“It doesn’t mean people are asking to do less at work. What they’re asking for is a level of understanding and support so they can perform at their best at work.”
He currently is an adjunct leadership faculty member and founding co-director of the Poynter Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media at the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit media center in St. Petersburg, Fla. He is a sought-after speaker and adviser who holds a master’s degree in executive leadership and organizational change from Northern Kentucky University.
Emerging Leaders’ clients include national media organizations and startups in the United States and Canada, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Among his current projects, Stewart is working with a startup news organization on leadership skills training and with another group of managers on a customized program that includes “inclusive leadership training.”
Digital technology has changed the way we do business
Stewart says the advent of digital technology is the most important force in the acceleration of change in organizations. Then throw in the work-from-home aspect where “the office is not a focal point of work activity for a lot of people” and you can face disruption in the newsroom or the boardroom.
“The velocity of change in digital technology has required us to adapt how we manage and set expectations for employee performance, how we balance what we do inside work and what we do outside of work,” he says. “Those lines are more blurred than ever.”
Stewart says it’s important for leadership to set clear expectations of their staff and provide effective feedback in leading their teams. “Our emphasis is on communication, starting with building a relationship with each person on the team, understanding their strengths and aspirations, and working to help them grow.”
Stewart is also a believer that leadership, community service, and paying it forward should go hand in hand. He was impressed at an early age by the wall of plaques at his grandfather’s house honoring the Youngstown policeman’s active volunteer role in the community.
“That left a very powerful impression on me,” he says. “I follow the philosophy of servant leadership. Is your focus on what you can get for yourself as compared to focusing on helping others?”
It’s clear what choice Mizell Stewart III has made. Outside of work, he is active volunteering as a condo association president, a deacon at his church, a board of trustees member at his undergraduate alma mater Bowling Green State University, and as a member of four other board of directors.
“All of our work with Emerging Leaders is born out of a passion to help people grow and provide the kind of support to managers that I was fortunate to have as I was coming up through the ranks of news organizations,” Stewart says. “I believe my role is clear: To pay it forward to help develop and support people who want to lead.”
Emerging Leaders CEO available for training and speaking
Are you looking for a keynote speaker, leadership trainer or panelist for your upcoming event? Emerging Leaders founder and CEO Mizell Stewart III welcomes opportunities to share perspectives on local journalism, digital transformation, organizational change, community leadership and leading during periods of disruption and transition. To discuss your needs, email Mizell at info@emergingleadersllc.com or contact him through the form below.
