Coach them

So talk to them. Mentor them. Coach them.
Be well,
Dwika-ExecuTrain



Managing Generation-Y is Easy
by: Steven

Lets take one more pass at managing millennials or Generation-Y.

In "marketing-speak" I would be classified as a "baby boomer". As a boomer, the people in my demographic grouping shared, by the arbitrary definition used to define boomers, a certain "experience" in our formative years.

And it's true. We shared the Vietnam War, some great rock and roll, (which has now morphed into country-western music) and the birth of "sex, drugs, and rock and roll".

The generation that came before the Baby Boomers experienced World War II. While the generation that came after the baby boomers, Generation-X, experienced unconditional love and being left alone at home while both parents worked.

Point #1
So lets be very clear, there is no doubt that we can make some reasonable generalizations about the people who are born and raised within certain time-frames. This is Point #1. (In fact, I give a 1-hour presentation on exactly this topic... how the generations came to be and what sets them apart.... but that is for a different e-Zine.)

Generations however, are only partially defined by their "underlying" environmental message. They are also defined by a second factor or second message that doesn't exist in all cultures but is beginning to. Here is what I mean.

It is in the genes.
The fact that each generation is defined by the major events in their formative years (adolescent period) is not a result of culture alone, but is actually due to a genetic program that makes it all possible. We are programmed to be highly susceptible to our environment when we are entering puberty. It is a very important period of our development and has been programmed into us for eons to be so. (Just read a little of Joseph Campbell's work to learn more about his topic.)

This programming uses the medium of the culture within which we exist during this formative time in our lives to teach us what we must know in order to survive to be part of our group. The result is influence and it is structured and implemented by our culture, either proactively or passively.

In past periods of civilization, cultures proactively defined this formative cultural milieu within which young people were "formed". Think of Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs. Throughout ancient times, young people "modeled" their parent's lives and the cultures within which they lived molded them to be a continuation of the past. Sons became apprentices to their fathers. Daughters became homemakers like their mothers. Generation after generation continued the same processes over and over. Very little changed from one generation to the next and if it did change, it did so very slowly.

That is one way young people can and are formed into adults. And it is still going on. Just look at certain cultures in Asia, the Middle East, and South America. There are cultures within which the goal is to develop each new generation as a mirror of the past generation. Generation-to-generation change and evolution is not looked upon as a good thing.

In those cultures there are no "millennials". There is no "generational evolution".

The alternative approach.
There is an alternative approach however. That approach is one in which the cultural structure itself is allowed to morph and change on an on-going, nearly constant basis. This is exemplified by the United States as the primary example. Two forces are at work in such an environment. First, the culture is allowed and even urged to evolve based on internal and external forces. The culture is in a constant state of flux and change. Second, a continuation of too much from the past, (i.e., not enough change) is actually discouraged.

In response to this environment we have the parade of baby boomers, Generation-X and Generation-Y.

With the advent of mind-altering drugs, the sexual revolution, and the ability of women to earn a living without a man, the constant questioning of the definition of truth, the epoch of significant evolution from generation-to-generation began. It began with the baby-boomers. Not only did parents expect their children NOT to be like them, (i.e., have a better life, have an education, make your life what you want it to be) their children did everything they could to NOT be like their parents. Slogans such as "Trust no one over the age of 30"; "Sex, drugs, rock and roll"; and kids with long hair were common.

We have now taken this philosophy to the point where we have created an environment where many people actually WANT their children to not be like them and encourage their independence and then are upset with them for NOT being more like them. Go figure.

My first generation gap.
The first time I realized that this was happening was when I was a young man in college. The talk all over the media at the time was about something called "The Generation Gap". What a concept. People were talking about the gap between generations. Way back then.

And for sure I had a generation gap with my father and people of his age. They just didn't "get it". They just "didn't understand". I knew for sure they didn't understand me. I kept thinking, "Wait a minute. Didn't you want me to think on my own? Didn't you want me to be different from you? And now you are upset with me BECAUSE I am different? This does not make any sense."

Well, that process never stopped. It's still going on. In the "western" world at least, each generation does the best it can to distinguish itself from the previous generation. And it does so in the most obvious way it can.

(And in fact, even in cultures within which generation-to-generation change is accepted, it is not well received if the change is considered to be "too rapid". This is happening in the United States in many areas including in relation to Generation-Y. If change is too rapid or too radical we consider it wrong but if change is too slow or does not happen we also think something is wrong. This constant "cultural tension" is not to be considered bad. It is the way culture moves forward. The danger comes from a culture that tilts to one extreme or the other.)

Half a shaved head and spiked purple hair.
In fact, I was listening to NPR a couple of nights ago on a drive home and a young woman was being interviewed about a book she wrote about "nerds". She is a very successful, famous, and award winning author about "geeks" and "nerds". You know, the kids who like technology and shy away from being the most popular in favor of learning about and doing what they love. She sounded very articulate, obviously smart, and obviously a good writer. She was probably in her late twenties. She talked about being a geek and nerd in high school and about the fact that in high school she shaved one side of her head and the other side was covered in spiked, purple hair. How different is that?

If we had seen her walking down the street would we have criticized her for her looks or would we have said, "Wow, I'll bet she is an award winning author."

(When I was in college, my distinguishing characteristic was hair over my ears!)

The point is we, as a culture, create our children. Usually unknowingly. We create the environment that shapes them. If we fail to understand how we contributed and contribute to their way of being and then criticize who they have become, we not only criticize ourselves along with them, but we send a message that doesn't honor who they have attempted to become in their effort to fulfill our request of them.

We all had/have our stuff!
Sure Generation-Y people have their quirks. We all do.

As managers of Generation-Y people, we can do one of two things. We can either criticize them for being who they are, or we can embrace their energy, their idiosyncrasies, and figure out ways to integrate them into the present and the future. Because just as we became the future, for sure, they are the future as well. They are no more difficult to manage than we boomers where to the veterans of WWII.

How to manage
Those of you who are managers and who are struggling with how to manage Generation-Y employees, I can almost guess what is going on. You find them impatient for advancement, arrogant, and willing to stand up to you.

So what. Deal with it. This is not a personal attack against you (in 99% of the cases). It is just how they move through the world. Treat it just as any other personal, idiosyncratic behavior from any other employee.

In many cases what is upsetting is not that these people are impatient, arrogant, or personally strong, but rather that they are so young AND impatient, arrogant, and personally strong.

So talk to them. Mentor them. Coach them.

The Shocker
Here is a shocker. I believe that the degree to which a manager is upset with the behavior of Generation-Y is the degree to which the manager does not stand on firm footing regarding his or her own beliefs about management, leadership, and motivation. The manager's "upset" response to Generation-Y is about the manager, not about the Generation-Y employee.

And you cannot say "Well, Steven, you do not have any personal experience with Generation-Y."

One of the things I dislike is the "so-called authorities" who speak, not from first hand experience, but from observation and third hand anecdotes. If that were the case here, you would not hear a word from me. But I teach Generation-Y students every year. I lead Generation-Y professionals in organizations. I will build a high-performance team with Generation-Y people any day of the week.

And I will build high-performance teams of Generation-X and Baby-Boomers as well. Because when you understand how to motivate people it ultimately becomes immaterial what generation they belong to.

It is as if you are driving from San Francisco to New York City. Each generation wants to successfully drive from San Francisco to New York City but each generation wants to take a different route. When you understand that each generation wants to successfully make the trip, the route they want to take becomes secondary.

As a manager, when you understand that your Generation-Y employees want to get to the same destination that other generations wanted and still want to get to, but that they want to get there via a different route with different stops and rest points, you begin to focus on helping them get to where they want to go instead of trying to make them take the route of past generations. In some cases they will pass through the same "towns" you did. And in some cases they will stop at the same "rest stops" as previous generations. And in some cases they will not. Take the journey with them. Be their navigator as they drive the path called their "professional life" and experience the places they may take you that you never thought existed.

Be well,
Steven