How Increasing Positive Leadership across Worker Generations Helps Organizations Thrive

By Susan Cain, Ed.D. and Vincent Pelusso, The Corporate Learning Institute, www.corplearning.com

Leaders in any organization set the pace and expectations for followers. In this economy, we see so many issues occurring because leaders feel the “pinch” of financial demands at work and the “crunch” of employee motivation. How can leaders engage followers in developing positive thinking skills?

Peter Cappelli, author and expert on the changing workforce, says that the old management style of leadership will not be effective in the future. He noted that for the first time, there are currently four generations working today. These are the traditionalists (born before 1946, the baby boomers, born after 1946 until 1965, generation X, born after 1965 until 1982, and Generation Y, born after 1982. The baby boomers currently make up the bulk of the workforce, and they are retiring at a slower rate because of the recession. It is interesting to think about the hand-off’s that are occurring at every organization as traditionalists and baby boomers struggle to gain technical abilities and the Generation X and Y’s struggle to gain expertise and knowledge. How can leaders help to meet the needs of these four generations?

One answer lies in helping leaders understand the motivators for each generation. Baby boomers are (still) after results, and work long hours to achieve them. Generation X and Y are after more work/life balance. A smart leader would see that there is a natural fit between helping traditionalists and baby boomers learn technical skills as they teach generation X and Y their expert knowledge. Cappelli thinks this natural fit of needs calls for a new leadership model. The new model would allow younger leaders from generation X and Y to ask for the knowledge and skills that they need coaching baby boomers and traditionalists on technical skills. This consultative model is similar to the Marines model of mentoring. Younger leaders collaborate with older leaders to transfer their knowledge while they coach technical skill development.

This new model calls for a positive approach to leading others. To help facilitate a positive leadership culture, ChartHouse Learning has developed a series of leadership workshops to help leaders focus on how they can be the leader that others choose to follow. The Fish! For Leaders Series is a useful tool to help leaders create a culture or community of possibilities. The series has four themes, which include workbooks and videos. The four themes are “Be There”, “Choose Your Attitude”, “Who Are You Being?”, and “Play”. According to Harry Geist of ChartHouse Learning, the series is useful in helping leaders understand the impact that they make, and how they show up to others. The series offers much to leaders, and can be purchased at www.charthouse.com.