Leadership - Generational Differences

Men and Women in Leadership – More Generational Driven

After much research into leadership styles, gender traits and generational issues, we determined that while there are leadership differences between male and female leaders, they are more similar than different from the Baby Boomers to the younger generations.  However, one thing that did become much clearer is that the most noticeable differences in leadership are not gender but generational driven.

The Traditionalists is the oldest generation in the work place today. The most prevalent characteristic of this generation is that the men typically were the leaders and the traditional role of women was to stay home and be the nurturer or if they worked, they were nurses, teachers, majored in the Liberal Arts in college, worked in retail or were in administrative jobs.

Differences do exist between the men and women who are leaders today, primarily due to their life experiences and expectations.  This article will focus on the Baby Boomer, Generation X and Generation Y leaders.  The underlying value systems of the  Baby Boomer generation are the same and as a result they both lead from nearly identical perspectives. 

While these differences originally distinguished male and female leaders, we have seen a merging of these styles into a blend of the best. Many of the traits that were once considered reflective of male leaders are starting to be expressed in a uniquely female approach. Likewise, traits that were once considered strictly female are often seen now in their male counterparts.  A good example of this was Edmund Muskie’s presidential primary campaign which was derailed when vicious articles about his family brought him to tears and ended his opportunity to be elected.  Yet recently the new House Majority Leader openly wept on national TV when discussing some of his most passionate issues with only a few minor repercussions. Today it is not unusual to find male leadership described as “humble” and focused on strengthening their listening and communication skills as well as visibly supporting staff members.  Women are also learning how to rely on their own strengths and, while continuing to listen to all discussions, asking “what’s your point” or “what’s the bottom line”.  As more women move into the “C” level positions and men grasp the value of many female leadership traits, they are collectively coming closer together in what it means to lead from a Baby Boomer perspective.

The generation of managers that are just beginning to emerge as leaders have a very different view of what it means to lead a company.The Gen X members have a very different understanding and expectation of even the most fundamental issues of leadership.

Gen X leaders come from the global perspective of wanting to make lives better, find solutions and opportunities that make society better while also benefitting the organization. They have no bias as to gender and accept leaders whether male or female; leadership is based on the expressed “passion to lead” rather than on expectations or the justification of having earned it.  The legitimacy of their leadership approach is based more on actions that have been taken and the results that have been achieved.  They tend to see the hierarchy of the Baby Boomer command and control as a hindrance and will minimize corporate formalities including offices and titles.  Internally they tend to focus on their career path yet their leadership is focused on finding solutions that have a broader benefit to society while being beneficial to the company. 

Since this is the first generation that “grew-up” with technology, they embrace it as one of the primary solutions to problems and opportunities, as well as the primary means of communication.  The emotions associated with leadership are often expressed through the numerous acronyms and abbreviations used in their technology communications.

While members of the Gen Y generation are already displaying traits that will set them even further apart from the Baby Boomers and separate them from Gen X leaders this population is still too young to provide a comprehensive understanding of their leadership traits.  Their overall focus appears to be on what they can expect to get out of a corporate position and will demand “meaningful” work no matter what position they hold.  Leadership in their view is not given; it must be purposeful and earned and those that have emerged as leaders are passionate about ensuring a tolerance for diversity in any organization they are part of. 

These individuals have been labeled stimulus “junkies” because of the multiple technological programs that have always been part of their lives.  They also tend to be blunt and expressive in their emotions and communication styles, whether the communication is done verbally or through technical means.

Research, while providing concepts and ideas, can be misleading if not validated in the environment in which it was originated.  In order to determine if these findings truly reflected what is going on in the workplace, we questioned some leaders to see if what we had found was reflected in the workplace. 

Almost unanimously those we spoke to emphasize those differentiators between men and women that were once commonly found are disappearing.  Whether due to mentoring, experience or other factors, male and female leaders are addressing issues in a similar fashion.  There was also a consensus that gaining experience and understanding the organization and an industry were critical to leadership; a trait that is consistent with the Baby Boomer generation.  Baby Boomers bring experience and tenure.  When faced with a problem Baby Boomers want to know the root cause before they try to fix it.  It’s important to know what was wrong with how it was done before.  Baby Boomers want to dig in; to understand the problems. Both male and female leaders listen to staff and coworkers ideas, and frequently bring them into discussions about identifying problems and solutions.

 

The Gen X and Ys have passion for the environment and one of their focuses is to be socially responsible.  Gen X and Gen Y also have parents who instilled work ethics in them; the ideal of doing it right.  Their use of technology as a communication tool is as important to them as working in a team environment. 

We looked at web sites from companies that were led by Baby Boomers and Gen X members.  These sites reflected the leadership values seen in their respective generations.  The mission, as stated by the Baby Boomer lead company was focused on making the company better so that it could help make society better.  This, they stated, would be accomplished through a strong work ethic, daily improvement and self-discipline.  On the other site, that of the company lead by Gen X members,mission statements focused on making lives better, maintaining profitability and having fun.  Both of these sites clearly include what is expected of everyone on a daily and on-going basis.  Both are successful companies.  However, the focus from which they make their statement is vastly different

While we began this article with the assumption that a female leader’s style would be very different, what we found instead was that they would have been nearly identical to a male’s leadership style in the Baby Boomer generation.

The male and female Baby Boomers are becoming much more consistent in their leadership approach; how does their leadership style fit with the more open Gen X approach?  Gen X is more open to new ideas, value the use of technology and see their responsibility to advance the greater good. On the down side Gen X are not concerned with “paying their dues” nor do they see the value in maintaining loyalty to any particular company. Because they use technology as the primary means of communication, their ability to form and retain relationships is questionable which most considered a significant problem since building relationships is critical to success. Overall they approach leadership as not a making the right decisions, but more of what’s the best solution. 

In order to take advantage of the best of all leadership styles there must be a conscious effort to tackle the issues that can keep people apart.  One of the most critical things we need to do is open the lines of communication between all generations and listen to what each is saying.  More importantly we need to do so with an understanding that we are coming at the issues from a very different view point, than of the Baby Boomer and Traditionalist generations.  Generation X and Generation Y have to understand the value of older generation experiences. 

And speaking of communication, Baby Boomers need to appreciate and learn how technology can reshape the way we do business, not see it just as a tool to support existing processes.  Gen X and Gen Y need to learn how to develop relationships and understand the value of personal connections.  

Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y need to understand how to manage and motivate people that are not of their generation since for the first time in history four different generations will be working in the same workplace. 

It is not an easy task to change decades-long programs, policies and processes.  If these diverse groups are to work together to lead us into a new business environment in the coming years, they must learn how to overcome these differences.  There is still a long way to go in embracing and building the acceptance of multiple leadership styles that are a critical part of moving companies forward. 

About the Authors (next page)

Barbara Perino, CPCC, ACC  An Executive Coach, I help companies bridge the gap between the generations . bjperino@coachbjp.com

Rebecca Walzak, CQM  A consultant in the area of operational risk management, she is a 30-year veteran in risk management, operations and mortgage servicing environments.  Becky@rjbwalzak.com.

Next Generation Leaders - Barbara Perino and Becky Walzak

The Next Generation

Individuals born after the baby boom of the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s have primarily been divided into two similar but unique groups.  “Gen X” is comprised of those individuals born between 1965 and 1979 and “Gen Y” is made up of those individuals born from 1980 and the end of the 20^th century.  Now, almost fifty years later these individuals are stepping into the leadership roles vacated by retiring baby boomers.

So what can we expect from these leaders?  Will they continue to follow the traditional roles and patterns established by their parents and grandparents or will they change the definition of leadership as we know it.  This article explores the beliefs, expectations and possible leadership trends that are likely to emerge as these generations continue to take on more of these roles.  One thing is certain however, there will be change, as these populations have already made it known that they don’t value the traditions and work styles of those who have come before them. 

Generation X

Generation X is one of the smallest groups of individuals to be designated as a specific generation.  They have been called the “Squeezed out”, the “Overlooked” and the “Sad” generation primarily due to small number comprising their population as well as the delayed impact felt in the work place from this group as many baby boomers haveput-off retirement; thereby preventing them from taking on leadership roles earlier in their careers.

Just as baby boomers view of management and leadership grew out of their life experiences, Gen Xers are the product of the social and physical environment in which they were raised.  This generationof emerging leaders has experienced the significant downsizing of companies, the layoffs of millions of workers from corporations where their parents worked for a lifetime, the reduction of meaningful growth in income and the emergence of technology and outsourcing. They were also the generation that felt the impact of the global economy as they spent playtime sitting in gas lines as their parents waited to buy gas. Fortunately they were also the generation that experienced the inclusion of women and minorities in education and leadership roles; the emergence of environmental issues; the emergence of technology as a major element in the new work environment, and the acceptance of new ideals and beliefs.

Because of these experiences they have an entirely different approach to work, management and leadership.  They no longer value tradition, including the traditional gender roles that populated the workforceof the baby boomers.  Since they lived the down-sizing and layoffs of organizations that were thought to be good companies and witnessed the devastation to families brought on by the failure of companies to be loyal to its employees, they have no company loyalty nor do they expect any back.  The idea of staying with any one company for a lifetime is ludicrous to these individuals and expecting them to stay while they “work their way up the ladder” is totally unrealistic. They have few illusions about a job or the on-going benefits of remaining at a company so that the company can benefit from their knowledge and experience.

This skeptical attitude toward being just an “employee” has manifested itself in several different ways.  This generation looks to belong to an organization that provides it with meaningful work, work that Gen Xers feel is beneficial to them as well as to the organization.  Learning from the “ground up” does not fly with these individuals.  They must be included in an environment that allows them to always be learning new ideas and skills.  In addition they want to have a level of meaningful control over what they do.  They are not satisfied with work where they simply told to “do” something.  They are unhappy with anything less than the ability to have input and some level of meaningful control over their work.Since this level of involvement has most frequently been associated with management in the past, they believe they should step right into this level of involvement. These beliefs are likely to conflict with the more traditional expectations of their baby boomer leaders and result in them being viewed as arrogant and unwilling to spend the time learning what they need to know.

Generation Y

Born between 1980 and the end of the 20^th century, this generation grew up with technology.  They have no concept of what it is like to work without a computer or communicate without social media outlets.  These individuals also value providing organizations with ideas and insight, want to bring value to the organizations and demand meaningful work in a collaborative environment.  However, the members of this generation are also strongly focused on maintaining a strong work-life balance and view the idea of working evenings and week-ends just to meet corporate requirements as inconceivable.  They are obviously very comfortable working with technology and multitask frequently.

This generation is the first to have grown up with the idea of community service and helping others as a mainstay in their lives due to the introduction of community service requirements into graduation standards.  They strongly believe in corporate responsibility and giving and will use their free time to meet corporate obligations in this area.  Working for companies that put their own wealth and benefit above others would be difficult for these individuals.  

In seeking rewards, this generation does not view financial as the top reason or justification for what they chose to do.  They expect that they will be fairly and equally compensated and will be quick to move on if this does not occur.  Instead they tend to value feedback, training and recognition as more important and look for the corporation to provide it as often as they can.  The idea of yearly performance evaluations is not to be tolerated, but expect feedback sessions throughout the year. Once hired into an organization they expect to be moved quickly into an area that values their strengths and can capitalize on their knowledge while giving them the rewards they seek.  

Interestingly, Gen Xers tend to view Gen Y members as “lazy” and unwilling to put in the effort to become integrated into the field of their choice.  One Gen Xer, a social-media marketing manager for an automobile manufacture, was recently asked by a member of the younger generation, how to achieve the same level of responsibility in any organization.  Upon being told that in order to achieve this she would need to spend time with various types of marketing firms, the Gen Y stated that she didn’t want to waste the time but felt she should move right into this type of position based on her education alone. 

This query and response highlight one of the most significant flaws of the Gen Y population.  Since they have grown up using technology as a primary means of communication, they do not value the more traditional face to face contacts and relationships.  While it is true that technology does allow us to communicate and transmit information quickly, the trust built from dealing with individuals on a personnel level has never been more important.  

Management by and of the next generations

Management of and by this group is very different than what we have come to expect in a corporate environment. While companies have been very focused on using new ideas and practices in preparing their organizations for the future, they have maintained the concept of a singular, mature, male CEO leading the organization. This approach is as antiquated as many of the management styles that they have abandoned and more than likely destructive to any organization that is preparing itself for the future.

Intuitively these generations are not concerned about the corporation, but about their ability to work in a meaningful way. They value learning and monetary security, but not from the corporation but from their own knowledge, contributions and ideas for problem solving.  They are entrepreneurs and see this as a way to create their own security while growing and leaning themselves.  We are all aware of the biggest success stories such as “Facebook” and “Google” but what we haven’t been made aware of is how these individuals are managed to be able to reap the reward for both themselves and the organization. 

One of the most critical changes that needs to be made if an organization is going to benefit from and utilize the talent of its GenX and Gen Y staff, is to incorporate them into the decision making process.  Collaboration is key to these individuals and gender or ethnicity has no impact or part in determining who is chosen to be involved or to lead.  They strongly believe that the person best able to tackle the issue should lead and in keeping with their focus on security, should be paid accordingly.  Companies that fail to give females and minorities these opportunities, or fail to reward them financially will find themselves facing high turnover rates and a significant loss of intellectual information.  These individuals also possess excellent problem-solving skills and are quick to adapt technology as a means to fix problems. However, the fact that they have a deficit of experience in overall management and have not spent time developing an understanding of how “things work” can create unexpected problems for companies that want to rely on these individuals to manage them into the future. 

One model of how this can be accomplished has emerged from many of start-up organizations that have grown at a very rapid pace.  Emerging from these organizations is a new leadership style that has come to be labeled as B-I Leadership. B-I, or bi-generational leadership involves the creation of a CEO team that combines Gen X and Gen Y individuals with older Boomer managers.  This team can collective ensure that a much deeper understanding of the values and goals of these younger generations are embedded in the business and that these emerging leaders can develop an appreciation for fundamental corporate structures. This will allow business practices of the future to be incorporated into the organization while maintaining the underlying foundation of the core business.  IT also allows for ancillary issues, such as compensation, work organization and governance to evolve at the same time. The evolution of this cooperative leadership has been widely adopted in new high- tech start-ups and is gradually beginning to be seen in other industries because it addresses the need to speed up the renewal of American business leadership and ultimately American businesses. 

The Mortgage Industry

The generational values and styles are just as meaningful to the mortgage industry as any other.  In fact, probably more so.  With the on-going repercussions of the mortgage meltdown and the resulting see changes underway, the industry is more than ever in need of a leadership makeover. 

The Gen X and Gen Y individuals already in place in many of the largest mortgage operations are beginning to have an impact on how business will be done in the future.  Because of their familiarity with technology, they have developed numerous programs and approaches to elicit sound operational data that can provide much needed guidance in what products to offer, how they will perform and what impact they will have on the business as a whole.  There can be no more rationalization or decisions by “gut-feel” from executives.  Management that has never learned to analyze data or incorporate it into the decisions they make will find themselves at a disadvantage. 

Examples of this can be seen today.  While servicing functions that have failed to provide the necessary relief for a rapidly deflating housing market, are being examined by regulators and lawmakers, today’s mortgage servicing management met to develop what can be done.  Unfortunately, the individuals involved in this summit were the very same ones who created the problems in the first place.  This lack of foresight into the changing housing market can have a disastrous effect.  Instead it would be better to utilize those individuals that have a new way of developing ideas, collaborating with the necessary associates and forming new approaches to the problems. 

While the promise of these emerging generations is significant, it is important to recognize that there is much to be done to merge these new management concepts with necessary business practices.  How this can be done is the topic of the final article in this series.