Generational notes
From PLN
Generational notes
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Are there meaningful differences between generations? Should leaders focus on generational differences? How do you define a generation, anyway? And do generational differences raise special management/leadership issues?
Leader's Digest
by Leslie Dillon
Young bosses and older direct reports
Have you ever worked for someone much younger than you, or have you supervised someone who’s much older? Then this article’s for you!
The author, Tammy Erikson, describes the importance of having “approbation” for colleagues—approbation being “an expression of warm approval.” Approbation is essential to building a strong relationship “between people of significantly different ages…” And these relationships will become increasingly prevalent as our graying workforce increases.
How can older people work effectively with younger bosses??
- Figure out how the younger boss likes to communicate and do your best to adapt. Younger employees typically interact often, so don’t interpret frequent messages from the younger boss as a lack of trust. A younger boss may use ”less face-to-face communication than an older boss would have. Again,…it’s a generational difference.”
- Go out of your way to signal that you recognize and respect what the younger person brings to the party. Research shows that “lack of respect and a patronizing attitude are the two most annoying and destructive (and unfortunately common) behaviors when older workers interact with younger bosses… Be open to learning new tricks and, most importantly, bring a spirit of approbation--warm approval--to the dialogue.”
How can younger managers work effectively with older staff?
- Ask lots of questions. Avoid “coming in with preconceived notions.” Listen carefully to those in your new group.
- Signal that you recognize and respect the way it’s always been done. Don’t imply “that the old way has no value.” The old ways may need to change—but it’s worth understanding why things were done this way. “Approach any change from the perspective that you will be adding to the strengths of the past…”
- Demonstrate your skills. Don’t try to convince your older staff ”that you have the necessary skills and experience--demonstrate that you do.” And develop relationships with older staff “through a spirit of mutual approbation…respect and shared learning.”
(Tammy Erickson, "On young bosses and older direct reports," Across the Ages, Harvard Business blogs, Mar. 26, 2008.)
What today's leaders can learn from tomorrow's
"Being a leader" isn't a priority among children, according to a recent study of boys and girls ages 8-17. In fact, leadership ranks behind “fitting in,” “making a lot of money” and “helping animals or the environment.” John Baldoni believes that this shouldn't be a cause for alarm though. "Kids are reacting against the label of leader but not the concept of leadership." The next generation demonstrates leadership, and we can learn some lessons from them:
- Be transparent. "Kids are an open book."
- Do the right thing. "Kids know right from wrong."
- Stick up for your peers. "The worst thing a kid can do is squeal on a peer..."
Of course, like adults, kids don't always live up to these virtues.
But there was "encouraging news" in the study: 80% of the children surveyed believed that men or women could lead equally well.
(John Baldoni, "What today's leaders can learn from tomorrow's," Conversation Starter, Harvard Business blogs, Apr. 1, 2008.)
Generational truths
Although the focus usually is on the gap between generations, these different demographic groups also have lots have in common. Greensboro, NC-based Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), a nonprofit, educational institution, notes these similarities:
- Values are often the same. Family is the highest value among all generations.
- People across generations "trust the people they work with directly more than they trust their organizations.”
- People from all generations are uncomfortable with change.
- Feedback is very important. "Everyone wants to know how he or she is doing, and wants to learn how to do it better."
("Generational truths," Inside Training Newsletter, Apr. 19, 2007.)
What’s different about Generation Y and how to adjust
Andrea S. Hershatter, director of the undergraduate business program at Emory University, talks about what sets Generation Y apart in the workplace and how to accommodate them.
Generation Ys care most about authenticity when they’re being recruited. As consumers, too, the “promise of the brand has to match the reality” or they’ll shift preferences. Gen Ys who are unhappy in their first jobs complain not about the amount of work or the day-to-day tasks, but that the culture doesn’t feel meaningful or isn’t conducive to belonging.
An effective technique is to use “millennials to teach other millennials; the ones who emerge as the go-to people are the ones who are already very visible.”
Millennials look up to the older generations. They don’t want us to to try “to think on their level and use their lingo.” It’s artificial.
Millennials strongly dislike ambiguity and risk. So they tend to “seek a lot more direction and clarity from their employers” about tasks, expectations and advancement.
Boomers may have an easier time mentoring millennials than Gen Xers, in part because they may feel paternal about them.
Regarding entitlement, GenYs “don’t feel entitled because they’re special, they feel entitled to have others support them in their efforts to accomplish and achieve.”
(”The college administrator: What’s different about the Ys,” BusinessWeek, Sept. 13, 2007.)
Gen-gen: Notes from Cites & Insights
by Walt Crawford, who uses "gen-gen" as shorthand for what he considers annoying and pointless generalizations about generations.
Generational conflicts and the library literature
- From The Library Stuff, Cites & Insights 6:6 (Spring 2006)
In a recent Walt at random post, I grumped about “gen-gen”: Generational generalizations, in this case propounded by a Pew speaker. Angel Rivera does it much better, in a post that “started out as a comment and got too long”(2,580 words—yep, that is on the long side for a comment). He’s partially commenting on Mark Lindner’s “More on generations and library literature” (March 7, 2006, …the thoughts are broken…), which in turn is commenting on a C&RL News article about “bridging differences” across generational lines.
Here’s the paragraph in the C&RL News piece that set Lindner off:
- Traditionalists are loyal employees, committed to the institutions for which they work. Baby Boomers are competitive and idealistic, a generation that has been able to focus on themselves. Generations Xers, by contrast, are skeptical and self-reliant. They have seen their parents divorce and institutions fail. Finally, Millenials are technologically savvy, diverse, and have been raised with a global media perspective.
Lindner’s immediate response: “This is some of the most ridiculous pap that I have ever seen in print!” Followed shortly by this paragraph, which I find necessary to quote in full:
- …pretty much every librarian that I know of any age is committed to the institution for which they work. I, a Boomer, have lost almost all of my competitiveness thankfully. Yes, I am idealistic. Probably more so than ever in my life. But then many of my fellow students, from the ages of 23 to closer to 60, are also idealistic. By this point in our nation's history and economy most of the Boomers I know are pretty darn skeptical too. I have a degree in philosophy for cripe's sake; and that is not what made me skeptical. More the other way around. And guess what, I too saw my parents divorce. Mom twice. And I have seen my share of institutions fail. Was I supposedly sleeping while my children grew, or does this stuff just not affect those who have been labeled as being in a different “generation?” I, too, and many my age along with a large quantity of Gen Xers are technologically savvy. I am more diverse than I have ever been in my life thanks to all of the things I have been through, and I am actively working on becoming more diverse. Which when I think about it is a stupid way to state the supposed trait, but I am only responding to what was written. My children are no more diverse than I am. What a ridiculous concept. And for the global media perspective. Please, just give me a break! If we're talking about Americans here then please show me this vaunted global media perspective. Are you really claiming with any seriousness that our current media has a more global perspective than it did when I was raised? Hah! Get out a bit more. Like to another country on a different continent. Consume some of their media and then come back and tell me American media provides a “global perspective.” Been there. Done that. We fail.
I grew up skeptical (my parents helped). I’ve never been competitive enough for my own good, but am pretty self-reliant. I make my living through technology. That makes me...a traditionalist, since I was born in 1945. Or it makes gen-gen a crock.
Rivera’s comment on the C&RL News article: “The overall impression I got from the article is that an unknowing reader would think the generations are just fighting each other with hatchets and axes.” He goes on to dissect the overgeneralizations based on his own experience and personal background. Angel provides considerably more detail; go read it yourself. He’s skeptical, loyal when it’s deserved, idealistic, technologically savvy, and “diverse” as all get out. He’s chronologically a GenXer.
There’s more to both posts, particularly Angel Rivera's article-length commentary. He went to school with Millenials, Boomer,s and other GenXers. “What I found is that they all bring different experiences and ideas to the table. They will all be happy to offer such ideas and share their expertise; they will even lead if given the opportunity or if they find such an opportunity. What they will not do is tolerate closemindedness and lack of insight.”
I’ll close with this comment, with which I agree: “The generations conflict more often than not is just a lure to confrontation. We don’t need confrontation and we don’t need half-baked generalizations…”
"Twentysomething: 7 ways to motivate your millennial"
- from Trends & Quick Takes, Cites & Insights 7:6, June 2007
Ryan Healy posted "Twentysomething: 7 ways to motivate your millennial" at Brazencareerist on April 9, 2007.
The short version: Be spontaneous, give me feedback, ask for feedback, "an optional reward system" (e.g., extra vacation time instead of a raise), keep me in the loop, be my friend, it doesn't hurt to smile.
...I like to poke fun at gen-gen once in a while. Here, I wonder why these practices (generally good ideas, although "friend" can be a little tricky) apply more to so-called millennials than to anyone else?
Related articles
- We got trouble... - an overview for articles on internal difficulties.
- OpenLibrarianship: A framework discussion - Carl Grant discusses generational roles as they relate to the need for libraries to find new ways to relate to be part of their communities, a discussion started in A call for OpenLibrarianship.
- The age of librarians - Wayne Bivens-Tatum discusses generational issues among academic librarians.
- On appearances and legitimacy - Iris Jastram discusses one problem of younger academic librarians: Being taken seriously.
- Career paths - Notes on changes over the course of a career.
