brownbag-feb2011

Brown Bagger

This section is set up to provide a ready-made Brown Bag Session for you to use with employees and/or managers. Use as is, or adapt this information for a general employee group. You may reproduce as many copies as needed.

When Gen X is in Charge Harness the Younger Leadership Style or many years, Baby Boomers have held the reins in most companies, leading Generation X workers in day-to-day activities. However, more and more Boomers are retiring, leaving the leadership reins in many companies up for grabs.

What does this mean for *Gen-Xers?

Namely, that many of them will be moving into leadership positions rapidly. In doing so, though, they’ll not only be leading their fellow Gen-Xers and younger **Millennial workers, they’ll also be leading older workers who are still in the workplace. It’s a leadership transition the likes of which corporate America has never seen. (*Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the baby boom ended. While there are no universally agreed upon time frames, Gen X typically refers to people born between 1965-1980 – while Baby Boomers generally implies those born between 1946 and 1964. **Millennials, also known as Generation Y, usually means people born since 1980.)

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Easing the Transition In order for this to be a successful transition, Boomers need to understand how younger people lead – and how to harness their natural leadership style for the company’s best interests. After all, if these young leaders don’t have the right leadership skills in place, the whole company is affected.

At the same time, today’s managers and supervisors need to remember that business and society in general are changing, so it’s only natural that the leadership style of the next generation will change as well. In other words, Gen-Xers are not going to lead the way Boomers did. They’re working in a different economy and business model, and they have different values and experiences that they bring Febraury 2011

to the table. Therefore, managers and employers need to look at the future leadership of corporate America in a different light.

Whether, as a manager, you’re in the position of grooming Gen-Xers for future leadership roles within your organization or you’re suddenly being managed by a Gen-Xer, the following points will help you understand the younger leadership style, how to harness it, and how it impacts everyone in the company.  Mentoring matters – Gen-Xers are going to require mentoring before they step into a leadership role. Aside from knowledge of how the company runs, they also need to understand what makes people in the different generations tick, and what is going to be most effective in terms of leading various generations. Since many older workers mistakenly believe that Gen-Xers are lazy and don’t know what they’re doing, managers need to help young leaders learn how they can “bring everyone together.”

Therefore, in the mentoring process, be sure to go over people skills, not just business processes. Help new leaders understand what environment Boomers grew up in and what values shape their world. This is important, because as the old saying goes, “You can’t always teach an old dog new tricks.” Gen-X leaders need to keep that in mind in their leadership approach. Truly great leaders know how to balance people and processes for the company’s overall good.  Open dialog is key – Gen-Xers want fast results. They’re focused on getting the job done, and so they rely heavily on technology and multi-tasking. They’re self-starters who prefer a collaborative environment. Boomers, on the other hand, are used to the leader giving a directive and then focusing on that one task until it’s done. Many still do tasks EA Report Brown Bagger 1

Brown Bagger manually, or if they use technology, they don’t use it very effectively.

However, if a Gen-Xer were to start telling their older staff what to do, the young leader would get a lot of resistance. As a result, GenXers need to work on building trust. They need to empower the older worker by complimenting them on their knowledge and experience.

A good approach is to ask an older worker, “How do we want to handle this?” Gen-Xers need to use “we,” rather than “I.” When young leaders are open and ask older workers for their opinions, Gen-Xers demonstrate that they want to understand rather than to be understood. When there is open communication, most people can overcome resistance.  Value their values – Gen-Xers are family oriented and place a high value on work-life balance. As such, they tend to get the job done and leave at 5 p.m. Older workers, on the other hand, believe in working late. In their view, the more hours you put in, the more loyal and productive you are. The moral here is to not be surprised when the new Gen-X leader refuses to put in overtime on a regular basis.

However, even though many Gen-Xers tend to work only eight- or nine-hour days, they still get the job done because they value results rather than hours. Additionally, they grew up with technology and are comfortable using it.

As such, they are always looking for the quickest way to do something.

Rather than view Gen-Xers negatively for going home every day at quitting time, see if older workers on staff can learn a faster way to do something from the Gen-X leader. Look at the measurable results that Gen-Xers produce and understand the processes they use to achieve them. You might even learn a process fast enough that everyone can go home at 5 p.m.!  Focus on retention – In terms of retention, companies face two main challenges: 1) Older workers will leave, believing that younger employees have no idea how to lead; and 2) Gen-Xers will leave, feeling that no 2 EA Report Brown Bagger

one at the company is taking them or their leadership position seriously. Therefore, as the leadership transition emerges, companies need a retention program in place for both younger and older generations so they can keep the expertise in house and have future leaders, too.

Remember that Boomers have the knowledge; they went through a lot of trial and error.

Gen-Xers need these people as mentors. If turnover gets too high from either segment, you’ll lose a lot of knowledge and many future leaders, and the company will suffer. That’s why the current leadership needs to understand what will keep people on board.

For example, older workers tend to like monetary incentives, while younger workers tend to prefer time off. The more perks you can give people to stay with you, the stronger the company will be in the future.  The next generation…and beyond – Managers must remember that they can’t change people. Instead, they must focus on what they can do to bring understanding to the workplace. When you concentrate on harnessing everyone’s strengths – especially Gen-Xers’ skills – you are helping the company successfully navigate the upcoming leadership transition. As one generation passes the reins to the next, everyone in your organization will realize that we can all learn something from one another, regardless of age.

The following are additional recommendations on how to improve cross-generational communication and understanding in the workplace and, in turn, ease the transition from one generation of leaders to the next.  Offer individual recognition – Make sure that Gen-Xers are spotlighted individually for jobs well done. Whenever possible, place them in situations where they can shine. One Baby Boomer says that she makes it a point to reward her Gen-X teammates in ways that are significant to them.

“It’s very simple,” she states. “Whenever one of the members has a good idea or has helped us out of a jam, I send a brief email to everyone outlining what the Gen-Xer has done.

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The team is stronger for these efforts, and the Gen-Xer is happier for being recognized.

Besides, I am not foolish. That Gen-Xer could be my boss next year.”  Establish “meritocracy” – The MerriamWebster online dictionary defines “meritocracy” as “a system in which the talented are chosen and moved ahead based on their achievement.” Notice that there’s no mention of whom they know, how they schmooze, or how long they’ve been with the company. GenXers have little patience with organizational politics, especially patronage. Nothing will turn a Gen-Xer off faster than to see someone receive a promotion that wasn't based on merit.

The old saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know, that counts,” drives Gen-X cynicism. The better course of action is to award promotions, raises, and other discretionary perks on merit alone.  Apply Donald Trump-style training – Gen-Xers expect to be trusted to do their jobs without having to run to their managers for decisions or permission to use their judgment to solve problems.

One owner of a small manufacturing company, who is planning to retire, is grooming a Gen-Xer to take over. To facilitate this process, he uses what he calls the “Donald Trump Apprentice” approach, where he assigns apprentices tasks and then lets them sink or swim. He meets with this protégé every Friday to discuss the upcoming week, then heads for the golf course and doesn’t come back until the next Friday. The Gen-Xer is to call him only if the place burns down or someone dies. Otherwise, she’s on her own.

Every Friday, he applauds her for the things she did well and holds her brutally accountable for her mistakes.

Business guru Tom Peters called this the “White Knuckle” approach to leadership training. He said, “You don’t really have a grasp of what leadership is like until you experience the white-knuckled terror of being totally responsible for what you are leading.” Many Gen-Xers embrace this approach to their career development. By the way, this project went so well that the business owner planned to extend his golfing hiatuses to one month!

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Brown Bagger  Get rid of stupid rules – In spending lots of time alone as latchkey children, Gen-Xers were forced to create their own rules. As a result, they have little tolerance for rules that make no sense to them.

One manager pulled his team of Gen-Xers into a room, put a copy of the three-inch-thick policy and procedure manual on the table, and ordered them to figure out how to cut its weight and volume by half.

Four hours later, they’d trimmed the book by 60%. The manager said his team was delighted and one person even told him, “This is the most fun I’ve had at work since I started here.”  Beware of hovering – No one likes to feel like they’re being micromanaged, but given their degree of latchkey independence, GenXers are especially sensitive to it.  The bottom line – Gen-Xers are not loyal for loyalty’s sake – but they can be very loyal if the company meets their needs. They will not work long hours just because the company wants them to – but they will work long hours if they understand the need and can expect some time-off later for their efforts. They prefer working on their own to working in a team – but they are team players if the other members of the team do their part to meet a goal.

They won’t schmooze their way to a better job – but they will seek better jobs on the basis of their abilities. They get bored easily – but they will be engaged if you challenge them, remain flexible, keep things moving, and recognize their achievements.

(Editor’s note: See page 4 for additional recommendations from Gen-Xers about making meetings more efficient.)

Sources: Anne Houlihan, president of Satori Seal, and founder of Golden Key Leadership, where she helps improve management techniques, empower employees to be decision-makers, bridge the generation gap, and overcome adversity. For more information, visit www.goldenkeyleadership.com; and Larry and Meagan Johnson, a father-daughter team who are noted public speakers on the subjects of generations in the workplace, building productive corporate cultures, and other management challenges. They are also co-authors of Generations Inc. – From Boomers to Linksters, Managing the Conflict between Generations at Work.

To find out more, check out www.johnsontraininggroup.com.

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Brown Bagger H A N D O U T Keep Things Moving Running More Efficient Meetings en-Xers often turn their noses up at team meetings because they consider them bottlenecks that delay, rather than accelerate, decision making. Place a red action button on the conference table. If it looks like the meeting is starting to drag and go off course, anyone can hit the action button, which rings a loud bell, which gets everyone back on task! Consider these additional strategies:

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5 Determine the purpose. Gen-Xers are quick to judge something as stupid if it wastes time.

Holding a meeting every Friday afternoon just because it’s Friday is stupid to a Gen-Xer. However, having a clear purpose for the meeting that contributes to success is smart.

5 Consider alternatives to meetings. Can the purpose of the meeting be accomplished through a less time-consuming method, such as email, Twitter, or audio- or video-conferencing?

That will depend on the nature of the meeting, but the bottom line is this: having meetings just for the sake of holding meetings will drive Gen-Xers crazy.

approaches, people start talking faster. They’ll come to the point quicker and digress less.

5 Stick to the agenda. This will help keep the meeting from getting off track. Each item on the agenda should describe who’s responsible for presenting the issue, what they expect to accomplish (decision, solution, or just information, etc.), and how long they expect to take – e.g. 2 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.

5 Assign responsibilities. This ties in closely to the previous point. Gen-Xers like to know what they are responsible for. If a meeting ends and it isn’t clear who’s going to do what and by when, Gen-Xers will often assume that it’s someone else’s responsibility. When they’re asked later why they didn’t complete the task, they’ll blame you for not clarifying that they were supposed to do it.

5 Start on time. How often have you arrived at a meeting at the scheduled time only to have it start 15 minutes late? The problem with starting meetings late is that they tend to run late. It also insults the people who made an effort to get there on time and rewards the people who were tardy.

Start them on time, even if people are missing.

When people learn that a 2 p.m. meeting really starts at 2, they’ll learn to be punctual!

5 End on time. How often have you attended a meeting that was scheduled to end at 3 p.m., only to have it drag on to 4 or even later? Like the previous example, stick to it! If you do, a “magical thing” will begin to occur. As the ending time Source: Larry and Meagan Johnson, co-authors of Generations Inc. – From Boomers to Linksters, Managing the Conflict between Generations at Work. To find out more, check out www.johnsontraininggroup.com.

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