“Baby Boomers are immigrants…

…to the world that Gen X and Yers are born into.”

This quote is from the January issue of FastCompany.com addressing the recent leadership changes at Google. In the article, the author uses the leadership arrangement at the search company as an example of a phenomenon he calls “…B-I Leadership—Bi-Generational, Boomer, Gen-X, Gen-Y management.” It also provides a great backdrop for a topic every leader today must understand – generational diversity.

As we look at today’s business landscape we see four generations (and a fifth around the corner) in the workplace. It is in understanding how each generation has a different view of the world and each communicates in unique ways that makes managing the different generations a challenge for today’s leaders. While the Traditionalist (those 65 years old and over) continue in the workforce, their numbers are dwindling, especially as the economy recovers. And while you may have already heard of Generation Z (those just turning 18 years old) they are only now beginning to enter the workforce. For purposes of this commentary, which is Part 1 of a two-part series, we will focus on the other three generations - Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y.

Baby Boomers are the generation represented by those who are now between 47 and 65 years old. As a generation, they were influenced by the Cold War, the civil Rights Movement and the gaffe’s they saw in government such as the Nixon Watergate scandal. As a result, these roughly 76M people value hard work to get ahead, competition, teamwork and face-to-face communications.

The next generation, Generation X is defined as those who are now between 30 and 46 years old. As a generation they were influenced by recessions and high unemployment to the point where they came to value entrepreneurship and creativity. These approximately 46M people also value having greater access to information and feedback than their predecessors.

Generation Y, or Millenials as they are sometimes referred, are between 19 and 29 years old. This is the largest generation of the three totaling just over 80M people by some estimates. Their major influences were technology and growing up with “helicopter parents” a term used to describe parents who managed their every move growing up hovering over them like helicopters. Consequently, as a generation, they value positive reinforcement (lots of it), structure, technology and autonomy.

These generalizations of each generation are just that – generalizations. Leaders must avoid casting too wide a shadow over each demographic themselves lest they become an ineffective leader. However, perceptions prevail in the business (for-profit and non-profit) environment and leaders must deal with them as well. For instance, in recent studies, 63% of Baby Boomers feel “younger people” do not have as strong a work ethic as they do. Additionally, 32% of Generation X believes the “younger generation” lacks a good work ethic, which is a problem. Finally, 13% of Generation Y say the difference in work ethics across generations is a problem.

With this level of disparity in the workplace, leaders must understand what each generation brings to the organization. They must also know how to bridge the gaps between them to achieve the organization’s desired results. How might your own generational perceptions impact your ability to build these bridges?

Lead Well.