Making generalizations about generations is always going to require painting with some broad brushstrokes –– but I have noticed some trends about managers lately that seem to be holding true across many of the businesses I work with. It’s been especially interesting to see how these trends are impacting (and in some cases forming!) the shifts in the world of work we’re experiencing now.

Here’s what I’m seeing:

Boomers

The good: Managers in this age cohort have a wealth of lived experience, and you just can’t get the same depth and breadth of know-how with any other cohort. They’ve been through multiple recessions, they’ve seen the ups and downs of business, and they can often see things others can’t because they’ve worked through similar situations before.

The bad: While this is certainly not universal, I’ve seen that a number of boomer managers have a hard time relating to their workforce. (This is certainly not a one-way street, I also see that younger cohorts have a hard time relating to their older managers as well.) They have a tendency to be so far up that they forget what it’s like to be down in the weeds, and they can neglect communicating with their workforce, since they forget that not everybody has the same lived experience they do, and may need things spelled out in different ways.

My tip for boomer managers: Lead with empathy. This is good advice for any manager, but I especially recommend it to my managers in this age cohort, because empathy unlocks the key to that relationship with your workforce. While you have lots of experience, the people you work with do too, even if it’s not as deep or broad as yours.

Gen X-ers

The good: Gen X-ers are the sandwich generation, squeezed in between the two larger cohorts of the boomers and the millennials, which means that they have good insight into those around them. They tend to see the strengths and weaknesses of both cohorts, and are able to easily navigate whatever team they happen to be working with. 

The bad: Again, this is far from a universal, but some Gen-X-ers seem to have one foot out the door. We’re all aging, and it can be tempting to stop learning, or to try and ride out those last couple of years. This can also lead them to favor stability over change, which means that they can unintentionally hamper good ideas by naysaying them before really considering whether that’s in the best interests of the team.

My tip for Gen-X managers: Be present, and curious. My favorite quote from Ted Lasso (which actually originated with Walt Whitman) is “Stay curious, not judgmental.” Lean into that strength you have of fitting in with different age cohorts, and be willing to give new ideas a try, even if they seem like they might be impractical on first viewing.

Millennials

The good: Millennials have the widest-spread growth mindset of any of the cohorts I’ve seen. I’ve had many come through my Manager Training Series and they have this burning curiosity and desire to grow that aligns well with where they’re at in their career trajectory. They’ve got a lot of momentum, and they bring that to their workforces as well.

The bad: Yet again, this isn’t true of every millennial manager I see, but I do see that some of them can have a tendency to get into responsibility silos. As in “this and only this is my responsibility, and I will not engage with things beyond my direct responsibility.” While it’s great to know your boundaries, teams and workplaces aren’t perfectly clear-cut in terms of responsibilities, and sometimes you need someone to step up and take responsibility if it’s presented.

My tip for millennial managers: Watch out for a tendency to hyper-individuate. Absolutely respect yourself, and respect your boundaries, and also recognize that the nature of reality in which you are working is that you are part of a team. Marry that momentum you so naturally bring to things with the ability to lead and work as part of a team, and you’ll see so much change.

What does this mean for the world of work overall?

I think the main thing we can all take away from this is that the world of work is becoming more complex, and not just in the way that people talk about when they write about the VUCA world of work. 

We’re now working with an unprecedented mix of generations in the workplace (I didn’t even get to Gen Z, they’re just starting out in their manager journey!) and that means that the core things that always make for good management are more important than ever: curiosity. Good listening. Teamwork. Kindness. And empathy.

The more you’re able to lead with those things in your management, the smaller the generational divides become, and the more you’re able to pull on everybody’s strengths.

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Imagine with me for a minute what it would be like going through life, or even a day, using only your non-dominate hand to write with during your daily activities. Sure, we don’t write as much as we use to, but the exercise remains relevant. Think about this, you’re making your to-do list for the day, taking notes during a meeting, editing a report, writing a note to your partner, creating your grocery shopping list and you can only use your non-dominate hand. What would it be like? People report that it is “difficult”, “not as easy”, “I really have to think when I write with my other hand”, “it doesn’t come naturally”, and “my handwriting is horrible”. This is precisely what it is like when at work you focus predominately on overcoming your weaknesses. Now, imagine using your dominant hand for those daily handwriting activities. It feels “natural”, “easy” and people report, “I’m good at this”. This is the same feeling you get when you focus on and capitalize on your strengths. Things come easy, natural and you’re good at them. Using strengths-based leadership is like creating a certain Zen in the workplace. It’s how things are meant to be. You and your team are working “in the zone”!  

In Q4 of 2015, I invested in Gallup’s Strength-Based Leadership materials for trainers/consultants.

About Strengths-Based Leadership

Nearly a decade ago, Gallup unveiled the results of a landmark 30-year research project that ignited a global conversation on the topic of strengths. More than 7 million people have since taken Gallup's StrengthsFinder assessment, which forms the core of several books on this topic, including the #1 international bestseller StrengthsFinder 2.0.

In recent years, while continuing to learn more about strengths, Gallup scientists have also been examining decades of data on the topic of leadership.

(SOURCE: www.strengths.gallup.com)

Gallup has 50+ years of researching that has given me a deeper knowledge base so that I could train and facilitate more strengths-based programs with my clients. I believe in this approach, and the results it delivers, thus using Gallup’s tools has become a focus of my practice. Did you know that leaders who focus on their teams’ strengths increase the chances that their team is engaged eight-fold?

Strengths at Work

In January I conducted a Strengths is Our Superpower ™ training for a client. The 24 participants began the training by taking the StrengthsFinder Assessment to identify their top 5 strengths. Based on what they learned they participated in a fun exercise to show the benefits of knowing and using their team’s strengths. Strengths is Our Superpower is built to help participants gain a deeper understanding of their top 5 strengths.

Participants worked in teams to build a structure out of uncooked spaghetti, string, tape and a marshmallow. The goal is to build the tallest freestanding structure using only the supplies provided. Teams were given time to plan as a group how they would build prior to actually executing the construction of this structure. Then they had 10 minutes to build. Some teams building process or execution didn’t go according to plan and they had to adjust their plan on the fly. Teams that leveraged their members’ strengths proactively had better and quicker results than those that did not take this information into account or only considered their strengths reactively after initially experiencing failure.

Team Strengths Grid

Beyond understanding strengths individually, having a strengths grid for the overall organization, can be a powerful tool. At the recent client training, we mapped everyone’s top 5 strengths, to show where employees had similar and different strengths. For this client, executing is what they do. It’s not surprising then, that many of the strengths fell within the executing domain. It makes sense. For leadership teams, having a strengths grid ensures alignment between people resources and current business goals. Looking to the future the strengths grid is a tool to understand any gaps in your organization’s skill set in order to more effectively recruit and hire in a purposeful manner for the future.

Knowing and understanding your individual and organizational strengths is a super power.