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Speaker- Trainer- Consultant
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| November 29, 2010 | Issue No. 15 |
Hi ;
As I began my holiday shopping on Black Friday, I was keenly aware of the wonderful interstate roads that brought me quickly to my local retail mall. We have the Traditionalist generation to thank for these fast-moving roads.
I am excited to share ideas and tips on how to work with a generation that has been coined the Greatest Generation. Because every generation has contributed to society in multiple ways, I was curious to find out why this generation of 52 million, born before 1945, would be singled out as the greatest. So, I began to list their accomplishments and discovered that because they are loyal, diligent, dependable and hard working, they were able to survive a Great Depression, win a world war, build interstates, bridges and dams, raise the largest generation of American children, build a space program, land a man on the moon and create miracle vaccines that eradicated polio, tetanus, tuberculosis and whooping cough!
Lets take a look at how we can communicate more effectively with this productive generation.
Happy Reading!
Diane
P.S. Please email your thoughts about these tips to diane@dianeamundson.com. I would also love to read any questions you would like answered regarding interpersonal communication in future Monday Motivation newsletters. If you know someone who would benefit from these tips, please forward them on or ask them to sign up.
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How to Communicate with Traditionalists: Waste Not Want Not
You know you are a traditionalist if Spam use to be a new, delicious type of meat and not something you received in your email Anonymous Traditionalist
Two years ago I lost my father-in-law, Gene, who was born in 1923 and survived the difficult times that were the 1920's, 30's and 40's. He made it through the Great Depression, the passing of his mother at a young age, living with multiple relatives separate from his siblings, working for the Civilian Conservation Corps as a teen and building airport runways in Asia during World War II.
Gene was a saver. In his retirement years, he enjoyed scrounging around garage sales and finding used pots and pans to give to his children. He also found motor parts for his part time business of rebuilding washers, dryers and lawn mowers. Gene was from a generation that lived on rations during the war and so his philosophy was to use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.
In my early married years, I would arrive at Gene's home to find several frying pans and stew pots set aside for me to take home. At first, I gently refused these items and let him know that we had plenty of these at home and we did not have the space for anymore. Later, I learned to accept these items as gifts from his heart as he new the value of good metal cooking utensils. He would also find an apple or two to give to my young daughters as he knew how difficult it was to have fresh fruit on hand.
Like Gene, so many of this generation are dying at an alarming rate of 30,000 World War II veterans each month. Today the Traditionalists make up less than 7% of the workplace but they are still found at the top of many companies as the CEO and Founder. A partial list of their work assets includes:
- Wealth of experience
- Strong Work ethic
- They find great satisfaction in their work
- Dependable and loyal to company and country
- Concerned more for the common good than for themselves
- Frugality
Tips for communicating more effectively with this generation:
- Ask them to find ways to save money or cut costs
- While training them on technology or new processes go slowly and train one-on-one when possible
- Give them work that will contribute to improving things for those around them
- Respect their attention to formality with dress and language
- Show them respect for their length of service and experience
This generation still has much to offer in today's workplace and next week I will share ways to recruit and retain this valuable generation. |
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Diane Amundson is the owner of Diane Amundson & Associates. She has been training, speaking and consulting for over sixteen years in the areas of leadership, creativity, generational diversity, team building, sales communication, conflict resolution and strategic planning. She has worked with Fortune 500 Companies like General Mills and Pepsi Cola along with numerous school districts in Minnesota and Wisconsin. She has co-authored a book titled Success Strategies: A High Achiever's Guide to Success. She is a member of the National Speakers Association and has served as Adjunct Professor of Organizational Behavior at Winona State University.
She is a Rotarian that has traveled the world on humanitarian projects in Mongolia, India and Brazil.
Her style of speaking is informative and highly interactive.
Diane Amundson & Associates
Phone: (507)452-2232 Fax:(507)452-0090
24456 County Road 9 Winona, MN 55987 |
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