This past weekend was my annual Rotary District Training & Conference where 500 Rotarians gather to learn and have fun together. In addition to that number, there are about 50 exchange students from across the globe that join in to share their experiences from the past year, display their amazing talents, and fellowship with the us Rotarians. Their participation was significant; in fact you could say they were ubiquitous throughout the weekend.
I talk to business owners and leaders regularly and one of the hot topics is about generations in the workplace. I often hear complaints about “millenials.” The concerns are manifest around how they are tied to technology; are all about instant gratification; and don’t aren’t willing to put in the effort. Funny…many of the same complaints were lobbied against my generation when we were joining the workplace. I have a feeling that history repeats itself.
What business owners and leaders must do is get out of their own way when it comes to developing younger people. Instead of trying to force them to do things in a way that might now be archaic, why not commit to identifying what can be learned from this generation? I’d submit that people are people, no matter their age. We just have different ways that we learned and developed based on when we were born. From what I saw this weekend, we can learn a lot from the “next generation,” but only if we take off the blinders of preconceived notions and arrogance. The new generation might just have the answers we need and all we need to do is use our experience to help them and us succeed faster.
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Quote of the Week:
” Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.”
~ General George Patton
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