Another dose of adversity, please, for the kids’ sake.
Posted On December 23, 2016
Are millennials suffering from a lack of adversity? The question was posed in a headline on AL.com this week, introducing a column by Eddie Vines, a Jefferson County, Alabama district judge whose guest editorial on the website was basically a column-length version of “Get off my lawn.” Most millennials haven’t known want, Vines says, on the level of his parents in the Great Depression. Most millennials have never had to sacrifice like the Greatest Generation. The sky is blue. Water is wet. Every generation thinks the one below it is soft. Fathers who lived through the Revolutionary War probably thought… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Parenting
Kneepads? No way.
Posted On May 12, 2015
I heard from a friend recently whose son turned his knee the size of a grapefruit at the skate park after refusing to wear knee pads because they’d make him “look like a nerd.” And while the parent in me shook his head slowly at the youthful ignorance and vanity, the rest of me understood completely. I wouldn’t have worn knee pads or a helmet as a kid to ride a skateboard, a bicycle or a rocket-powered street luge. No amount of cajoling from my mother would have made a difference. Had she made me put them on before leaving… Read More
Categories: Parenting
Frustrated by a lack of initiative from young employees? Blame the rubric.
Posted On August 12, 2014
One of the recurring themes in my discussions about working with Millennials is that you can’t hold them accountable for what they don’t know they should do. And one of the frequent counterarguments is that they need to think for themselves, show a little initiative. A college professor recently shared this article with me, which may shed some light on how your young employees came to be so dependent on being given very clear expectations: the rubric. If you have school-age children, chances are you’ve seen a rubric – it’s basically a checklist of assignment requirements, including how many points… Read More
Categories: iGen, Parenting
Searching for role models, Millennial women still come up empty
Posted On July 31, 2014
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg made big waves with her book, Lean In. But a recent study of Millennials, conducted by Bentley University’s Center for Women in Business, seems to agree with her assertion of an ambition gap among female workers. According to the study, while nearly 20% of Millennial women seek to emulate women leaders in their companies, another 20% have “no interest in becoming a leader at my current company.” Of course that leaves a good majority floating somewhere in the middle. It’s even more interesting when you apply the assumptions these Millennials are making about the women CFOs… Read More
Categories: Generations, Parenting, Work, Workplace
Overheard at Wendy’s…
Posted On May 22, 2014
Child: May I please have a double cheeseburger, fries, a coke and a vanilla frosty. Mom: And he only wants ketchup on that burger. I’ll have… Child: (sigh) I am 13. Mom: So? Child: So, I can order for myself. Mom: Except you didn’t. You forgot to tell them how you want it. Child: But you don’t have to fix it for me. Mom: (pause) You know, you’re absolutely right. And with that 45-second exchange, faith in the next generation is restored. Perhaps iGen will arrive at the job site with a sense of responsibility and ownership after all (assuming… Read More
Categories: Generation X, iGen, Parenting
Ready or not, here they come…
Posted On May 13, 2014
iGeneration. Yes, they are only just entering their teen years, but if time is flying as fast in your house as it is in mine, you’ll agree that this generation is just around the corner and headed soon to a workplace near you. What are they going to bring the equation? There has not been a lot of research yet on this generation, after all they aren’t even eligible for summer jobs in most states, but there has been an abundance of conversation about the way they are being raised. If the study of the generations has taught me anything,… Read More
Categories: iGen, ParentingHelicopter parents are back, and they are coming to an HR office near you
Posted On September 19, 2013
I’ve posted about this phenomenon before, and talked about it with clients over the years, but still people have a hard time believing it is true. Yes, I’m talking about parents getting all up in their grown children’s employment business. The topic is back thanks to an article in Huffington Post Business “Millennials Now Bring Their Parents along to Job Interviews.” HuffPost is reporting out statistics that say 3% of job seekers have their parents sit in on an interview – a number that seems statistically insignificant until you realize that until a few years ago not only would the… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Parenting, WorkplaceFrom trophy kids to one trick ponies – can youth sports predict the future?
Posted On June 18, 2013
Social commentary about Gen Xers and Millennials frequently point out the somewhat recent phenomena of “participation trophies” in youth sports – there may be a winner, but everyone takes home a trophy just for showing up. When those hyper-celebrated kids began entering the workforce they – and their bosses – were in for a rude awakening. Just showing up simply doesn’t impress. So what might we be able to predict about the next generation in the workforce based on their youth sports tendencies today? The fall-out of the hyper-celebrated child is the hyper-specialized athlete. If everyone is awesome, how is… Read More
Categories: ParentingThe Natural Consequence of Natural Consequences
Posted On May 9, 2013
So here’s an interesting one – at least from my perspective as a parent and as a speaker on generational topics. For 15 years I’ve been working with largely Boomer business leaders who are exasperated with the way younger generations behave in the business world. Time and again, I’ve considered – and occasionally pondered aloud – that the employees who don’t want to pay their dues and expect to be praised for showing up on time were raised with participation trophies and an “as long as you’re happy” mantra by the very people (collectively) who are now their employers and… Read More
Categories: Generations, Parenting, Workplace