Someone recently asked me, "What are the common interpersonal and generational errors that leaders should avoid when managing a team?". That is a huge question. However, after some thinking, I came up with four challenges that a new leader often faces:

1. Understanding how cultural differences impact a team

2. Using the Golden Rule

3. Learning to lead vs. manage

4. Learning the 80/20 rule

My last blog talked about #1. Let's look at #2 now, Using the Golden Rule.  The Golden Rule says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In other words, treat people the way you would like to be treated.

However, this assumes that everyone has the same motivations, fears and definitions of success, which is not true. While the new leader may be motivated by financial rewards, her employee may be motivated by flex-time, increased paternity leave, or working from home. So it is vital that a new leader takes the time to understand what drives, excites, motivates and challenges every employee; when that happens the manager is applying the Platinum Rule, which says to “Do unto others are they would do unto themselves”. This means “Speak their language” and do what they would like, not what you would like. It's a bit of a mind-shift; however, once complete, this shift will quickly improve employee engagement.

It's important to recognize the challenges a new leader faces, and help them succeed. One of these challenges is taking time to understand what motivates each employee. My next blogs will cover the next challenge, Learning to Lead vs Manage. Stay tuned!

Someone recently asked me, "What are the common interpersonal and generational errors that leaders should avoid when managing a team?". That is a huge question. However, after some thinking, I came up with four challenges that a new leader often faces:

1. Understanding how cultural differences impact a team

2. Using the Golden Rule

3. Learning to lead vs. manage

4. Learning the 80/20 rule

Let's talk about #1, understanding how cultural differences impact a team. Diverse teams bring new ideas, unique perspectives and paradigm shifts to a project. They also can bring disharmony and conflict, if not managed correctly. Diversity can include many things, including generational diversity.

There are currently 4 generations in the workforce, each with their own personality, values and language. It is important to understand the generational differences and leverage each generation’s strengths. Many people ask about Generation Y, or Millennials, born between 1981-2000. Here is some background on them:

-Generally, Gen Y professionals are confident individuals. This stems from growing up in a positive environment with parents and teachers enthusiastically encouraging them to “be all you can be,” and assuring them that they have the potential to do anything they want professionally and personally. Therefore, Gen Y expects a lot from their employers.

-They are fast and savvy on computers. They may look down on older colleagues as luddites in terms of technology, without recognizing the skills that older colleagues have.

-They may not see the value in writing complete, grammatically correct sentences in internal emails.

-They may not have the same respect for office attire as an older colleague; they may also sport piercings and visible tattoos in the office. A general belief is that “the type of clothes I wear to the office will not affect the quality of my work.” Yet, older colleagues may take casual dress as an affront.

-They may address people, especially elders, more casually.

-They may expect to have more time for personal things – like the gym or long lunches.

-They are hard working and dedicated, if they are presented with challenging tasks and a measure of responsibility.

So how do you work with them? Here are some quick tips:

-Engage them as much as possible in an interactive way.

-Give consistent, regular feedback.

-Ask them to help find global practices that could solve a problem.

- Clearly explain expectations around the office. Gen Y are not intentionally disrespectful; they simply come from another “culture.”

-Gen Y works well in teams. Because they work fast, it’s important to have people checking each other’s work to ensure accuracy and next steps.

It's important to recognize the challenges a new leader faces, and help them succeed. One of these challenges will be cultural diversity in all of its forms, not just generationally. My next blogs will cover the next challenge, using the Golden Rule. Stay tuned!



Effectively managing generational differences is not the only solution to poor morale, little collaboration, lack of innovation or high attrition. However, understanding and managing the generational differences will certainly help you improve all of these variables, plus more.

Many people call this a "soft" skill, a skill that's nice to have, but not really important in today's economy. I couldn't disagree more. Consider this:

• 7918 Americans turn 60 every day...that's 330/hour.

• 43% of our current workforce will retire within the next 10-15 years.

• Generation X is now working full-time.

• The oldest Generation Y employee is approximately 28 years old; the youngest is approximately 8 years old. So half of a Generation Y is still waiting in the workplace wings.

So if you are a business owner, and have not yet created a recovery plan for the aging workforce, you need to do so. The workforce will change in 10-15 years. Are you ready?

In addition to a recovery plan, if you haven't started focusing on Generation X and Y as the future of your success, and the success of our nation, you need to do so NOW. They won't wait for you; you need to be ready for them.

Blending generationally diverse strengths, opinions, cultures, perspectives and history will strengthen your team. In my next blogs, I'll go into how you can create a Baby Boomer recovery plan and create a Gen X and Gen Y attraction and retention plan at the same time. I guarantee...you'll be glad you did.

Let's face it. Under pressure, people have been known to say regrettable things about other generations. Things like:

Why do they have to print every email on paper? (about Baby Boomers)
Why are they always online? (about Generation Y)
Why do they have no time to chat? (about Gen X)

And leaders have also been known to say regrettable things about managing generational differences, such as:

We need to:
...conquer the generational differences. (Anne says: I didn't know this was a war.)
...convert generational differences into growth and profit. (Anne says: I didn't realize this was an issue of forced conversion.)
...overcome generational differences. (Anne says: This isn't an insurmountable hurdle.)

There seems to be a pervasive negativity in all these choices, an idea that  generational differences have to be converted, conquered, overcome, and/or capitalized on.  Where’s the sense of joy and possibility that occurs when people work together to create high-performing teams?  Where’s the sense that bridging generation gaps might be fun, exciting, uplifting, groundbreaking, innovative and energizing? This idea got lost in the shuffle, which is a shame.

After my workshops, I've heard people say, 'Now I understand why Jolie does X. She's not trying to be difficult; she just sees the world a little differently than I do." I've also heard, "No wonder Matt acts like that; if I grew up in his decade, I'd act the same way." These insights are priceless to an organization. It's no longer 'us vs. them'; it's 'we'. And 'we' can positively impact the bottom-line much better than 'us vs. then'.

After the ah-ha insight comes the 'now what?' moments. Now that we understand each other, how do we work together to create the team we want to be? There are many ways to do this, none of which include converting others, conquering others or overcoming huge hurdles. Instead it involves using a common language, simple tools and evaluating the process on a regular basis. This takes time, probably more time than a leader wants. Yet it's vitally important. Because when you do, you go from converting to bridging...a much more powerful way to work with the different generations.

Monica O'Brien recently wrote "According to research from Hill & Knowlton, consumers care most about companies that demonstrate honesty and optimism. Obama leveraged this emotional need to win the election, and other smart companies are also using this insight to their advantage. To Gen Y this comes down to being transparent and authentic."

So what does this mean if you're leading a multi-generational team?

• Treat all your employees with respect and honesty. No matter the age, everyone wants to be treated fairly. This means truly listening to an employee, being transparent with the decision-making process, and asking for input and ideas.

• For Gen Y, transparency and understanding the "big picture" are vital to their sense of belonging. They may not agree with your every decision, yet if they understand the big picture, what the decision is, and what the process was, they'll remain loyal to you. This may irritate Boomer bosses, who are used to making a decision with the senior team, and then distributing pieces of the decision to the employees. Boomers may feel that explaining all the details takes too long or that the junior employees don't need to know the details. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. So take some time with your Gen Y employees and be transparent with the information. They'll not only thank you for it; they'll also likely help improve the process for the future!