Get the Book Today
Get your copy of Gen Y Now and start learning how to be a better leader. If you need one copy for yourself or many copies for your team, we can accommodate your needs.
Kids These Days
Written by Buddy Hobart on August 7th, 2009
Recently Herb and I were together at his sister’s house just catching up and hanging out. Herb’s family and his extended family were all there, to include several teenagers.
It was a fun evening with lots of conversation and laughs. What really struck both Herb and I was the amount and quality of the contributions from the teenagers. Their mastery of several of the topics, and their willingness to sit and listen when there was something to learn, was a delight.
Both Herb and I had only one negative about the entire interaction…..neither one of us delivered the “memorable laugh line” of the evening. It was delivered by one of the Gen Y’ers in the crowd! (I admit, we were jealous!)
I remember my youth and how there was still a hint of “be seen and not heard” from the adults. I NEVER remember liking it, and would have loved to have been able to contribute. When I think about the other night, I would be flattering myself to think I could have contributed as much or as well as the Gen Y’ers at the cookout.
Leaders Have Followers
Written by Buddy Hobart on August 5th, 2009
Recently, I was interviewed for a national publication regarding Gen Y. It was obvious the reporter was looking for the negative and his questions really had an anti Gen Y tone. During the conversation he kept challenging my thought process about Gen Y and the need for leaders to adapt their strategy. He seemed to feel it was Gen Y’s responsibility to adapt and not a leader’s.
There was a question I asked, which caused him pause. I asked, “how can you call yourself a leader unless you have followers?” The fact of the matter is…Gen Y comprises 79.5 million potential followers. After a mild debate about all of that, the reporter felt a need to “up the ante” and, obviously frustrated, challenged me about “helicopter parents” (parents who hover over and around their children). He specifically wanted to know if I agreed with parents calling their children’s boss about issues, etc.
To answer his question I first told him a quick story. My mother is now 86 years old. While she has never imposed herself in my work life, she has for all of her 86 years done what she wants to do…..in spite of any of her children’s objections. There were times in my life (and my siblings’) that she did things we did not appreciate. However, and I mean this respectfully and lovingly, we could have no sooner stopped her from doing what she wanted to do than I could jump to the moon. She did what she thought she should do, when she thought she should do it. The reporter then admitted to me that his was a similar experience.
My question then was….why judge the Gen Y employee negatively for an action committed by their parent? Who is to say the Gen Y employee wanted the call made? Isn’t it just as likely the Gen Y employee is mortified and embarrassed? Why are we judging Gen Y differently that we judge ourselves? Truth be told, the situation described is the parent’s issue, not automatically a weakness of the Gen Y employee.
While I am not sure we had a “Gen Y convert” when the call ended, I am sure he thought a bit differently about the subject.
“The Opposite of Evolution is Extinction” – Darwin
Written by Buddy Hobart on August 3rd, 2009
There are several great things I like about being a consultant, and one of the best parts of the job is to learn about many different industries and trends. There is a new trend that we are seeing now that is not at all industry specific or regionalized. It is universal. The recent financial market decline that cost Americans trillions of dollars of net worth has also EXTENDED the work life of millions of Baby Boomers. Folks who had their sights set on retirement in the next 2-5 years have in some cases moved that milestone out as much as 10 more years.
In many ways this explains the expanded curiosity surrounding Gen Y. Millions of managers and business leaders realize they now need to learn more about Gen Y since they will be working with this cohort for many more years than they originally planned. It reminds me of early in my career when desk top computers became a reality. Back then, “short timers” (people planning to retire soon) had a great strategy regarding the computer….IGNORE IT! The thought process was that by the time they were required to learn computer skills, they would be long retired. The feeling was “why waste my time learning about something I’ll never need or use”.
I think the same thought process existed regarding Gen Y. Why waste time and energy learning about something that you won’t use next year? By the time it will be required to know about Gen Y, people thought they would be long retired. That is no longer the reality. Just like folks in the early 1980’s who had 10 or more years of work life left needed to learn computing skills, so now does today’s worker with a 10+ year work horizon need to understand leading and working with Gen Y.
The desk top computer/Gen Y analogy works on several levels. Back then, the computer could be intimidating. In fact, some folks thought why not just leave well enough alone and keep our main frame locked in the special room in the basement. Also, there was a wide spread belief that desk top computers were NOT the wave of the future, and “this too shall pass”.
To some folks Gen Y can be intimidating. After all, here is a person more that 30 years younger than me with an opinion, answers, ideas and goals of their own. Many believe this “attitude” is NOT the wave of the future, and “this too shall pass”. Finally…..and it is true…..some folks would just like to leave well enough alone and keep Gen Y “locked in the basement type jobs”.
Just like personal computers WERE the wave of the future, and businesses could not have succeeded without them, Gen Y is the future. Going forward businesses will not succeed without a solid Gen Y recruiting and retention strategy. Gen Y, in many cases, will hold the key to a business’ economic recovery. History shows that business leaders who adapted the quickest to the changing technology and led a great change process in their organization ultimately created extremely successful companies. Those who believed that “this too shall pass” struggled, or even worse, became extinct.
Like Charles Darwin said, the opposite of evolution is extinction.