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I recently saw a great movie called "The Intern." In it, Robert De Niro represents a calming force in hectic eCommerce business environment and the contrast between his style and the harried business owner Anne Hathaway is quite noticeable. It inspired me to write this month's Performance Pointer about the differences between the Millennials and the Boomers, and what they each do best.
All the best,
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3 Vital Career Skills Boomers Are Better At Than Millennials
Each generation certainly brings their own strengths, talents and contribution to the workplace but after studying the inter-generational dynamics in organizations large and small, we have observed the Boomer generation providing a necessary stabilizing factor to the ups and downs of business; in short, Boomers demonstrate skills within the emotional intelligence competency that lend to stronger functional abilities.
Skill One - Coping and Stress Tolerance
Perhaps it's the life experience of the typical Boomer (Vietnam war, recessions, raising families, 9/11, etc), but at this point in life, there is little they haven't seen. As a result, they have a great perspective on setbacks and what is really justified to get upset about. The Millennials have had a combination of protective parents and fewer years as adults so they can be more easily rattled by the unknown. Millennials can benefit by working with Boomers by asking questions to learn about similar experiences they have had and how those scenarios played out. They can watch and learn the ways Boomers cope with uncertainty in the workplace, how they negotiate for time on deadlines, and how they have learned to face difficult situations. Disturbingly, many of the recent mass shootings have been perpetrated by young men struggling with a sense of entitlement and lacking in functional coping skills - things like addressing conflict productively, having empathy (see the world through another's point of view), and being resilient to setbacks. Here is a link to an interesting article on the subject.
Skill Two - Self-Control
We can blame the technological revolution for the reason why all of us have less patience. It's provided us with immediate gratification when we want to watch a TV show we missed earlier in the week, or we want the answer to a question stuck in our heads (thank you, Google). But Boomers have spent the majority of life waiting for the things they wanted. They didn't know the gender of their unborn children until the delivery room; they had to wait for love letters to come in the mail; they waited patiently for a promotion at work. Millennials aren't accustomed to waiting for such things so their clocks are running at a different pace, making it easy to be impatient when things seem to take a long time. Although Boomers can sometimes seem out of pace with the speed of today's workplace, we all have to remember that there is sometimes value in sleeping on things before rushing to judgment or making rash decisions. At times, Boomers fill a vital need to take a more strategic vs reactive approach. Boomers can coach Millennials on better ways to build influence by demonstrating self-management skills.
...read the rest of the article on my blog...
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"Boomers can sometimes seem out of pace with the speed of today's workplace, but we all have to remember that there is sometimes value in sleeping on things before rushing to judgment or making rash decisions."
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