by Carey Nieuwhof: As you may have noticed, there’s a bit of tension in the workplace and in the culture these days.
Younger leaders are complaining (a lot) about older leaders (who are often their bosses).
Older leaders are complaining (a lot) about younger leaders.
The ‘Okay, Boomer’ moment happening in our culture right now is just the tip of the iceberg but it crystallizes what young leaders are feeling about older leaders.
I’m one of those older leaders. As a Gen X myself, I’ve been at countless breakfasts and meetings with people my age or older who, about a decade ago, started complaining about younger leaders.
More recently, I’ve heard an equal number of younger leaders (the bulk of my readers are leaders under the age of 40) complain about their bosses and how frustrated they are with older leaders.
It shouldn’t be surprising then that, as revealed by a Gallup study, 70% of US employees are disengaged at work.
So, I decided to do a survey to get more feedback on what’s really going on.
According to the recent Gallup study, 70% of US employees are disengaged at work.Click To Tweet
I Surveyed Over 900 Leaders
I recently survey over 900 leaders about their experiences with the opposite generations at work. Rather than trying to get statistics, I solicited feedback. Attitudes. Stories. Perspectives.
And I did I get an earful from all sides.
I heard from CEOs, entrepreneurs, engineers, pastors, lawyers, office managers, teachers, accountants, project managers, church staff, EAs and many other kinds of leaders.
I asked younger leaders (Gen Z and Millennials) to tell me what frustrates them about older leaders (Gen X and Boomers), and older leaders to tell me what frustrates them about younger leaders (that post comes out next in this series).
To get us started, I asked Millennials and Gen Z respondents to complete this sentence:
My biggest complaint about older leaders at work is…
Well, they told me. Wow.
I mean I knew anecdotally from conversations with leaders that there were challenges. I just had no idea the animosity and frustration ran so deep.
So what’s going on?
Honestly, some of these criticisms hurt. But if you ignore feedback that hurts, you’ll stop growing. Leaders, being willing to hear what’s wrong is a first step toward making things right.
There’s a lot of misunderstanding, tension and miscommunication in the work place. I’ll share some strategies at the end of this post on how to handle that.
Ready to hear the complaints?
Brace yourself. Here we go…
Leaders, being willing to hear what’s wrong is a first step toward making things right. Click To Tweet
#1 They’re Not Open to Change
When you read through the hundreds of responses I got from younger leaders about their bosses, the refrain was almost unanimous.
The #1 complaint about older leaders by younger leaders (by FAR) is that older leaders aren’t open to change.
Here are just a smattering of direct quotes from young leaders about their bosses and older co-workers:
Stuck in their ways with tons of blind spots and no willingness to listen or learn. Which breeds no hope for change.
Not willing to let go of the way things were done 30 years ago, let alone 10.
Most of them what do to do it the way it always been done. I actually heard that from them.
They want everything done the way they did it in the 80’s and 90’s while saying they want innovation and freshness.
They have so much history behind them, they don’t want to try something because they did before and it didn’t work.
Living in the past, as if it were better than the future possibilities.
Change is a dirty word for older leaders.
The #1 complaint about older leaders by younger leaders is that older leaders aren’t open to change. Click To Tweet
To a certain extent, I get it. Older leaders bring a lot of experience and wisdom to the table.
At least I hope I do as a 50+ leader myself. So it’s easy to want to think we know what someone 20 or 30 years our junior doesn’t.
But, you have to admit leaders…things are changing quickly.
Two quick realities about change.
First realize the past has a nostalgia the future never does. You remember the good parts of the past, but tend to minimize the bad parts or how challenging it was.
Change takes as much courage now as it did then. Change may have been easier then because you were younger, but it’s just as important now as it was when you were 23. Maybe even more so. Why?
Because the gap between how quickly you change and you quickly things change is called irrelevance. And things just keep changing faster and faster every year.
Ignore that and you lose out on more than you think.
Guess what young leaders who see older leaders as irrelevant tend to do? They leave.
Which explains a lot of what’s happening these days. If you won’t change, young leaders will find someone who will.
If you won’t change, young leaders will find someone who will. Click To Tweet
#2 Older Leaders Are Inflexible
Again and again, young leaders complained about how inflexible their bosses and older colleagues were. Again, here are some direct quotes from young leaders:
Set in their methods, not flexible in how work gets done.
They refuse to let go of their power/authority/decision-making rights.
On the occasion that they do give up their rights, they are quick to take them back when things don’t go exactly the way they wanted.
Not forward thinking, not engaging the next generation, not adventurous.
Inability to be flexible and understand that a flex schedule, working from home, having informal meetings to discuss ideas are all a benefit to productive work, and that doesn’t mean that I’m not a hard worker or slacking off.
While there’s a lot in these comments, read that last comment again.
There’s a rising tide of young leaders who want a flexible workplace.
For so many reasons, 8-4 doesn’t work anymore in an era of wifi, cloud-based computing and smart phones. In an age where you don’t have to go to the office because the office goes to you, way too many leaders are still living like it’s 1997.
Why do you need to be in at 8 when there’s no need to be?
Tomorrow on my leadership podcast, I’ll bring on two of my young team members and we’ll talk about how to lead a thriving team with no office, timesheets, or regular in-person meetings. Believe it or not, it works. Amazingly well. (You can subscribe for free to my podcast here. Watch for Episode 306 when it goes live.)
A virtual office or team may not be right for you, but just know this: the future workplace is a flexible workplace.
If you don’t flex your methods, you’ll sacrifice your mission.
The future workplace is a flexible workplace. If you don’t flex your methods, you’ll sacrifice your mission. Click To Tweet
#3 They Think They Know Everything
This was a surprising finding on both sides. Young leaders think older leaders are arrogant. Older leaders think young leaders are full of themselves (more on that in the next post).
Here’s what young leaders wrote about older leaders:
Their way is the ONLY way.
They rarely understand what I’m saying.
A lack of curiosity — they’ve figured a lot out already.
They mention my age a ton. They’ll make off-handed comments about me being young. Though they have more experience than I do, they think they know more about social media than I do. There’s not an acknowledgment of areas where I have expertise where they don’t.
They don’t ask good questions or hear all the voices in the room.
Pride is a problem for so many of us in leadership.
Note to self: Older leaders, if you think you know all the answers, don’t be surprised if the next generation stops asking questions and simply leaves.
Older leaders, if you think you know all the answers, don’t be surprised if the next generation stops asking questions and simply leaves. Click To Tweet
#4. Too Many Rules
Ah rules. Chances are you didn’t like them when you were a young leader.
The next generation feels the same way.
Here’s what young leaders said about their bosses:
They’re more concerned with policy than people.
They are hesitant to make changes and try out new ideas. They are led more by policy and procedure than by passion.
Develops and mandates policy to manage exceptions.
Their rigidness on older rules . i.e. Tattoos in the work place.
I’m not against all rules or guidelines. You need to have a few parameters.
But here’s what’s true: Rules are often a substitute for real leadership and open conversations. They’re also a substitute for trust.
Rules are often a substitute for real leadership and open conversations. They’re also a substitute for trust. Click To Tweet
More and more organizations are moving to flex hours, flexible holidays (pick your own vacations), and outcomes-based leadership. In other words, they’re dropping old rules.
Regardless of where you land on that (I keep rules to an absolute minimum, or have none), just know that a high rules organization is usually a low trust organization.
And a high-trust workplace is a healthy workplace.
A high rules organization is usually a low trust organization. Click To Tweet
#5 Too Slow
A final complaint about older leaders is that older leaders are too slow. Again, some direct feedback from younger leaders:
They are slow. Slow to change. Slow to adopt new technology.
They are slow to make decisions
Always feeling like older leaders are moving (not literally physically moving) too slow, and that younger leaders are expected to slow down to match them.
If you’re worried about being too slow as a leader, surround yourself with younger leaders and give them permission to lead and experiment.
The best older leaders don’t restrain the next generation, they release them.
The best older leaders don’t restrain the next generation, they release them.Click To Tweet
What Should You Do About This?
I am a fan of all four generations currently in the workplace, this is far more fixable than you think.
As you’ll see in the next post, older leaders complain that younger leaders are lazy, entitled and think they know everything.
Here’s what’s true: so much of the misunderstanding between the generations in the workplace is about how we work, not whether we work. The solution is not to clear house and get rid of older leaders, or frustrate younger leaders so badly they leave or start their own thing (which more and more are doing, by the way).
I’ll be sharing a lot of new content on how to lead and manager better in your company, church or organization over the next few weeks.
And I have a brand new course launching Wednesday called the High Impact Workplace: How to Lead and Motivate High Capacity Leaders in a Changing World.
Introducing The High Impact Workplace (and My Free Coaching Guide)
There’s a talent war going on for the best leaders, a generational divide at work, and, according to Gallup, 70% of all workers are disengaged at work (meaning that they show up and only do the bare minimum.)
The High Impact Workplace will give you the edge you need to create the best team you can moving forward in an age where 8-4 doesn’t work anymore (just ask any young leader about that).
You can join the waitlist here, and get my free Coaching Guide called The 5 Questions Every Great Manager Asks.
Enrolment opens Wednesday, December 4th. And in the course I’ll give you the exact strategies you need to:
Attract and keep high capacity leaders who would otherwise start their own businesses.
Identify and leverage the currency that motivates young leaders.
Navigate flexible work arrangements that result in deeper productivity.
Master the 5 questions every great manager asks their team for deeper engagement.
Discover how to create workplace environments that multiple generations can thrive in.
Learn how to keep your company or organization relevant to the next generation of leaders.
Sign up for the waitlist, get the free coaching guide, and you won’t miss a thing.
What Are You Seeing?
Well, I know this is a loaded post. The goal is to be helpful. If you don’t see the problem, you can’t fix the problem.
And remember, older leaders have just as many complaints about younger leaders, which we’ll get to in the next post. So play nice.
The goal is to get us all working together well to move the mission forward.
So with that in mind, anything else you see or want to add that can help us create workplaces that have a much higher impact?
Scroll down and leave a comment!
The post 5 Things Younger Leaders Can’t Stand About Older Leaders appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.
Source: 5 Things Younger Leaders Can’t Stand About Older Leaders