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8 RESPONSES TO "TO LEAD GEN Y, LEAD AS EQUALS"
It is still about outcomes.
Those who reach them successfully live to keep their paychecks and build their careers, while those who don't join the ranks of the unemployed.
Sometimes good outcomes require long hours, and doing things we do not like to do.
They also require those who need to "do" to get things done - not just enabling, communicating, organizing or having a vision.
At some point, workers need to take the responsibility of getting things done without constant praise and justification for why they should do their work. If it is not self-evident enough that getting the work done is the path to getting paid, keeping your job, and building a body of measurable results you were individually responsible for, then they made a poor career choice to begin with.
Good managers are not cheerleaders, they are great selectors of people with the talents and the self-motivation to get their work done.
Many younger workers hide behind the group dynamic because they lack the individual ability to perform, or are afraid of accountability for their outcomes.
It is not draconian to expect that workers reserve their Google Talking, Facebooking, and iPodding for their lunch, break times, or after work hours. It is also not draconian to expect a certain level of professional decorum at work either - not necessarily a shirt and tie, but definitely not bermudas, sandals and an iPod.
You seem to contradict yourself when you suggest that the best leaders recognize the power of individual people, yet later, demand that companies promote collective responsibility instead.
Sure, we all would like to have a pie in the sky life where work is something enjoyable every day. But those who have grown up realize that life can have bumps in the road in our personal as well as our professional life. Employers are not obligated to play the role of surrogate over-protective parents who pick us up every time we fall, or tell us that we shouldn't keep score of the game. There are winners and there are losers. This is an eat what you kill world. And those who can accept these truths and persevere through them are the ones who experience the most success and gratification from their life.
Why? Because they can look back on what they have actually accomplished and be proud of it.
@ Steve, are you contradicting yourself. If it is about outcomes, why are we controlling when people look at their Facebook? People get through high school and college managing their own time, after all.
What I am interested in is not Gen Y as followers. Gen Y are managers already. What are they like as managers? We know they like to collaborate etc. etc. when they are colleagues and subordinates. How do they respond to being in charge and how do they treat other people? Y, X and BB?
Great point Jo. If work is all about output(which it is) why should I be expected to not browse through Facebook for 5 minutes to help clear my mind?
Yes, workers need to take the responsibility of getting things done without constant praise and attention. But managers need to take the responsibility to effectively train and manage their employees so their employees will produce quality work, regardless of what time they are checking their private email or Facebook account. It's a two-way street.
Also, work should be enjoyable every day. Sure, it can be hard or stressful or tiring, but if you don't enjoy your job, or if you have a bad boss, I suggest you find a new one. Life will be a lot more fun.
-Ryan
@Jo, GenY are not leaders in our organization, so I have no experiences in that world to offer you. This is because our culture makes experience and outcomes the criteria to be considered for a position of authority.
As for outcomes, I do not micromanage - i.e., I do not specifically prohibit Facebooking or seek out whether people are doing it. But a lack of good outcomes which requires a manager's intervention usually reveals that frequent distractions of a non-work orientation typically go hand in hand with poor productivity.
Moral of the story - it's about outcomes. If they are good, I have no reason to ask what you do with your time - nor will I. If they are not good, then you put me in a position to find the problem. And one of those problems is usually the three windows you have on your toolbar for Facebook, GoogleTalk and iTunes.
@Ryan, the right people for the job should not need to be told how to be productive. One would hope you are hiring people who know how to be productive from day one.
It is also a bit presumptuous to suggest that employers must manage around the personal desires and behaviors of its employees. The tail should not wag the dog.
BTW, going online for five minutes on your break or during lunch - no problem at all. When you have a deadline pending, well...common sense right?
I think it's interesting that you find Gen X leaders autocratic. I would argue that Xers are just the opposite. In fact, Gen Xers get very frustrated with Millenials because of the amount of direction they require.
I think when most generations enter the workforce (Gen X, too), they make the mistake of thinking that they were the first ones to come up with EVERYTHING.
@ GenerationXpert - I would agree with your comments - we (Gen X) had the same thoughts/ambitions (along with every other generation before us) but we just didn't have blogs to express our opinions... haha
As for just jumping to a new job because you don't like the one you have, I had the same mentality (and flexibility) when I was in my mid twenties - not as easy now that I have two kids and a mortgage... But that doesn't mean I still won't do it - it just takes a lot more planning now.
Thank you, GenerationXpert - I also believe Gen Xers are the opposite of autocratic. Most Gen X'ers experienced the same things Gen Y is going through, but our numbers were always too small to make a difference. Also, try to remember how bad the job market was back then - we really didn't have the luxury of leaving companies when our jobs sucked.
Things are different now, and I don't think Gen X'ers are in any hurry to turn back the clock, just to give those "young upstarts" a taste of the bitter medicine we had to swallow. If anything, we are happy to see those clock-watching boomers finally start to retire and younger workers join the ranks whose ideas are more in line with ours.
Gen Y's do seem to require a lot of hand-holding, but it's not their fault - their helicopter parents and the public school system have trained them to be that way.
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