Chances are, we’ve all read about and heard from mid-career managers complaining about the younger generation entering the workforce.
The “don’t want to pay their dues,” and “you can’t pry them away from their PDAs,” and “poor work ethic” laments are in my opinion, lame copouts by managers stuck in their own inflexible ways. There’s good and bad in every generation, it’s just that this one feels different, because it is.
It’s Time to Look Beyond the Hovering Parents and Participation Trophies:
The “glass is half empty” crowd is quick to point out that today’s youngest workers are a product of the “Helicopter Parent” generation, with us hovering over their every move since birth, fighting their battles and cheering them on, win or lose. Others will offer that this is the “Participation Generation,” where endless hordes of children engaged in sporting activities earned trophies just for showing up. First place or fifth place, it didn’t matter, everyone went home with hardware.
You cannot dismiss a generation based on the behaviors and in some cases, slightly aberrant conditioning of the parents. I opt for the “glass is more than half full” view on this technologically savvy generation growing up in a world that is being transformed based on the march of technology. And I’ll throw my support behind a generation that has participated on teams of some sort for as long as they could walk. This is of course, a world increasingly composed of teams and projects, executed by using technology across borders to innovate, execute and compete. Hmmm. Nice training ground.
There are of course those that say that this generation doesn’t know how to lead. Well, although the following story is tinged with parental pride, there are more than a few leadership lessons that we can all learn from in this example. I know that I have.
Reinforcement that the Kids Might Be Alright:
My oldest son came home from his final day of his summer job rather excited at the feedback that he had received on his performance. The statement from the Executive Director of, “You can work here anytime,” was the one that felt good to him. That’s nice for a parent to hear too, but my leadership ears perked up when he started describing some of the more specific feedback.
As a quick caveat, this Eagle Scout and college senior son worked for an organization that sponsors summer camps for children with various developmental and learning challenges. He was assigned a primary child to work with and he multi-tasked in multiple roles as a leader, facilitator, and someone that was able to do whatever needed to get done. While there was a great deal of play involved, it was play with a purpose as he led and participated in activities with his primary child and other groups. Ensuring a positive and safe environment, promoting learning and sportsmanship and leading by example were all key components of the role.
The feedback that warmed my leadership heart included the terms and phrases: adaptability, creativity, ability to multi-task, great use of time and importantly, the ability to form a bond and help lead the child (and broader groups of children). I’ll stop here with specifics in the off chance that my son actually reads this post and questions my commitment to father-son confidentiality. Instead, let’s focus on the relevance of the feedback that he received to leading and succeeding in the emerging world.
4 Core Attributes of Our Future Leaders:
1. Adaptability: While we often struggle with change, this is a generation that has grown up while everything changed (9/11 to ubiquitous internet) to rapid acceleration in the forces driving globalization. Older workers struggle with change and easily see the risks and the negatives. The view from this youthful group is more of expecting change and searching for opportunities and the way forward.
2. Creativity: Given the state of near constant ambiguity that most businesses now wade through, the recognition of the need to be creative…to innovate and to pursue it without regard for convention is a huge plus. Most of us with time under our belts hesitate to delve too far into the unknown, and our hesitation costs us considerably in this fast moving world. A good dose of unencumbered creativity is just what many of our institutions and organizations require to move beyond the muck of this current era.
3. Multi-tasking: this 80’s era phrase should probably be replaced by something like parallelization or a word that describes the ability to engage with many on a variety of topics in real time and keep things moving forward. Watch your son or daughter hold court with a group of friends via the keyboard of their telephone, and you’ll understand that this generation gets how to bridge time and distance with a lot of people on a lot of topics simultaneously. The payoff in the workplace is the ability to process on and juggle many complex activities at light speed. Youth was a training ground for a new reality in terms of speed and work demands.
4. Ability to Bond: interestingly, while this might fly in the face of the more transactional communication described above, it’s my observation that this generation has the ability to identify with and relate to individuals across cultures and ethnicities at a level that earlier generations just can’t comprehend. The ability to accept and leverage diversity in the workforce is of course required, but for so many older workers, it’s been a learned behavior and not something innate. This generation is different in that regard.
The Bottom-Line for Now:
At the risk of being redundant, there’s good and bad in every group and in every generation. I’m not excusing the younger workers that display the behaviors that reinforce the negative stereotypes, but I’m not indicting a generation based on these bad apples. If you’re struggling to gain the benefit of the more youthful workers, I’ll submit that you’re likely a large part of the problem. As a more experienced (read: older) worker and leader, take off your generational blinders and look for the individuals motivated to help take your organization forward. Expect great things, work hard to foster the right working environment, and apply the same tenets of effective leadership that we all know are timeless, and you will be doing your part to secure the future.
Great piece, Art. I agre – the generation entering the workplace today has the potential to be the next great generation in our history for all of the reasons you outlined. I noted that your son is an Eagle Scout. The competencies and commitment required to earn the Eagle will serve him and any other young leader well in the future. One parting thought – many of the things being said about the millenials were also said about the boomers when they entered the workplace. And like you said, that is good and bad.
Thanks Randy, for your thoughtful comment. On this 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts, I’m truly proud of my son and of everyone young man that has the tenacity to stick with scouting through the rank of Eagle. It is truly a lifetime accomplishment that continues to promote and build great values. And yes, you are right. Every generation complains about the one coming behind it. I have the sense that this young one has the potential as you say it, to be the next “great” generation. -Art
I like your post Art,
Older generations are always critical of the younger generations. This new generation will have to be more adaptable then any other, and may also face a lot of unfinished business left by boomers and their parents. The next generation need all the help we can give them, and I don’t believe we have done enough to clean up the mess we are leaving. More boomers need to listen to young people, maybe we would get real about fixing the world we are leaving to them.
Thanks, Bob. As card carrying members of the generation older than the one we are referencing here, I’m in complete agreement. Time for all-hands-on-deck and to embrace the talents of everyone, regardless of age. This same argument works for the younger generation(s) leveraging the experience and collective wisdom of the boomers in their environment as well. -Art
Congrats to my nephew!! AND to the proud parents! We had better love and nurture this younger generation because they will be making the decisions for us when we are very old – HA!
Thanks for this great article, Art. As a member of the Millennial group, I often get tired of hearing that we’re “lazy” or “entitled.” I work very very hard at everything I do– probably to the point of perfectionism– so it is nice to have someone acknowledge that our age bracket CAN be good workers!
Thanks again
Enjoyed your post Art,
One thing I would add from my kids is they are boldly setting out to chase their passion not money. ( wish I would have had the same courage)
In the quest for their passion, they include a balance between family, friends, faith and work. Maybe they will not wake up at 49 years old wishing they would have given more time to what truly matters….
Perhaps watching our generation, even in our many mistakes, will help our children not let the most important spinning plates drop?
Great post
Mark Allen Roberts
Art,
I have always liked your arguments about the young generation workers and leaders. It would be very helpful for us if more experienced leaders, like you would believe in us. I know that we can be very productive because we live in a society that is lead by the “brain power industry”, witch we embraced since we were children. The internet boom and the new technologies that are evolving every day are on our side. We grew up with them.
If you walk down Michigan Ave. you have to be careful not to bump into the individuals that are walking with white headphones on, looking down while texting, chatting on facebook or updating their wall, tweeting, reading and article, watching a movie or a show on their smart-phone.
-talking about multitaskers-
We, the new generation of workers are the ones that you want working for you!