A Fresh Way to Look at Multiple Generations on Your Team
When I read a great book, I pull out five different colored highlighters to keep track of what I gain from the content. One color is for important ideas, another is for good stories, another for statistics or data, another for great quotes and another for action steps. That way, when I return to the book later, I can quickly find helpful takeaways.
My point is that each colored highlighter helps me in a unique way.
Using All Your Highlighters
I’ve concluded this might be a helpful metaphor as we lead. Brock Meyer hosted an event where I spoke for TLC Management in Indiana. Before he introduced me, he pulled out multiple-colored highlighters and suggested that leaders should see their people as highlighters.
❝Leaders should see their people as highlighters.❞—BROCK MEYER |
Many workplaces have five generations serving on the team. They all bring something different to our team. Each one highlights something important and different from the others. We need all of them to gain a holistic perspective on our customer’s realities. We’ve all been shaped by different milestones, tragedies, people, and innovative technology as kids. For example, my Millennial and Gen Z teammates consistently remind me of ideas that would not ordinarily be on my radar screen. The older generations do the same but underscore parallel insights. The fact is, as a leader, I need all these realities highlighted so I don’t miss anything in my decision-making process. During the quarantine in 2020, our team released two new resources to the leaders and educators we serve. As we met virtually to discuss how we’d market one of the offerings, I noticed each teammate added value based on their generation:
The Baby boomers offered to connect with their key contacts to help promote it.
The Gen Xers clarified a unique plan for an email campaign they’d perfected.
The Millennials suggested some creative ideas to reach their demographic.
The Gen Zers explained how we could leverage TikTok and reach a new audience.
It was like different colors on a page, each one helpful in a new and significant way. Instead of only allowing the leaders to weigh in, everyone did from their own unique angle. Poet and teacher June Jordan writes:
❝Our earth is round, and, among other things, that means that you and I can hold completely different points of view and both be right. The difference of our positions will show stars in your window I cannot even imagine. Your sky may burn with light, while mine, at the same moment, spreads beautiful to darkness. Still, we must choose how we separately corner the circling universe of our experience. Once chosen, our cornering will determine the message of any star and darkness we encounter.❞ |
Sounds like different highlighters to me.
Five Colors and Four Words
I’ve said it many times—there are five generations at work today and each brings such different experiences and perspectives with them. To be complete, we need to leverage each one, if for no other reason than to reach “their people.” So how do we get the most out of each one?
Steve Cole is a Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA School of Medicine. As a neuroscientist, he helps us understand what leaders can do to inspire people to perform and collaborate better. From his research, Dr. Cole found four words we can use to prevent others from disengaging and feeling isolated at work. What are those words?
❝I need your help.❞ |
It works both ways—for boss and employee. In a day where it’s easy to drift into a self-sufficient rut, what if we intentionally told our teams we need their unique highlighter to underscore what they see and what they can do to help?
Margaret and Ruth are both living in a retirement village. They’ve each suffered a stroke that left one part of their body immovable. What’s most sad about their stories is that each one had been an accomplished pianist in their younger years. Over time, however, both had given up on ever playing the piano again. Until, one day. A staff person noticed that Margaret was paralyzed on her left side and Ruth on her right side. She asked both ladies to sit down at the piano and had one play melody and the other harmony to a song they knew. Smiles spread across their faces as they realized with the help of the other, they could still make beautiful music.
So can we. Let’s grab those highlighters now.
If you see generational differences on your team, you may be interested in picking up the book, A New Kind of Diversity: Making the Different Generations on Your Team a Competitive Advantage.