Which Leadership Lessons Can You Learn From a Multi-Generational Workforce?

Leading a multi-generational team is a challenge. It's also an opportunity.

It's an opportunity to practice, learn and grow. It's an opportunity to become a better leader and a better driver of your organization's success. And, like most opportunities, it's sometimes difficult to know exactly how much you stand to gain.

It always helps to see where you're headed. Here are some of the lessons that my other clients have learned (and that I learned in my own corporate career) after unlocking the potential of multi-generational teams.

Diversity Works

Diversity helps you succeed. This first lesson is the most important — but it often only comes after some practice and experience leading multi-generational teams.

You must understand how each team member's generational identity interacts with their identity as a worker. You'll need to practice establishing relationships across age groups: mentoring, collaborative teams, and so on.

You'll learn this lesson through personal experience. You'll experience types of success and group coordination you didn't think were possible. You'll see how generational diversity propels an organization forward. It will just take some work to learn exactly how it works for your unique team.

People Are Individuals

People are individuals: It sounds simple. But, when you manage groups of people, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that every member of your team is more than a member of a specific group.

For example, people are more than just their age groups. They're individuals with values and behaviors that are very likely to deviate from their generational norms.

The takeaway here is it's often more effective to think about the individuals that would be attracted to the roles, culture, rewards, and vision that your organization offers.            

Soft Skills Matter

Another leadership lesson you'll get from a generationally diverse team is that soft skills tend to matter more than hard skills. This is true even when it's counterintuitive, such as in technical situations.

Helping people learn to use new technology is a classic example. You would think that hard skills would make the difference — technical knowledge, for example.

As a leader, you need to figure out who has relevant knowledge or skill, who has the most to learn and how to get those people together in an effective manner. To do that, you need to observe, listen and empathize — all of which are soft skills. Your own ability to use the new technology has very little to do with success.

The Team Is the Most Important Group

Leading a multi-generational organization teaches you how important a strong culture is. I don't mean culture in general, but rather the culture you create and embody as a leader.

Culture gives people a sense of what the right thing to do is in any given situation. Everyone has a set of these guidelines. Culture comes from families, countries, education, social groups, and, of course, generational groups.

Your job as a leader is to create another touchstone for your team. The more diverse your organization, the more crucial it is to constantly nurture a strong, clear culture everyone can own. 

Learning the Lessons Yourself

You don't really learn these (or any) leadership lessons by reading a blog post, taking a seminar, or attending a lecture. You learn them by practicing leadership every day and then reflecting back on what you've done. The good news: Once you learn this yourself, you'll never forget what it means to your unique leadership practice. 

How are you establishing relationships across age groups for the betterment of your company?