I started this week off with a great Monday morning high. I had a perfectly toasted, honey wheat K Street Bagel and began to read through the Brazen Careerist email digest. I normally skim the headlines, pick out the ones that I’m really interested in and come back for a full read later on. One story featured in Fortune really got my blood boiling. I have to give writer Nadira Hira some credit, she really knows how to write some eye-catching headlines for her posts on The Gig: ” Gen Yers lack confidence, behave like idiots.”
First, if you haven’t read the story, please take a couple minutes to check it out. That said, let’s pick this thing apart.
Nadira begins by sharing the story of an Xer (Gen X member) who was running late for a meeting and called down to tell the Yers to start without him. Noone answered, so the Xer went down and found seven Yers looking at each other, “unsure of what to do in the presence of ringing phone.”
According to Nadira: “There are a lot of reasons for this behavior, not the least of which might be stupidity, but I think it may have more to do with something that’s been obsessing me lately: confidence. For all the talk of our narcissism and unrealistic expectations, we also seem to lack a certain go-it-alone bravado that’s characterized many great leaders - bravado that just can’t be cultivated when you have a whole universe of parents, coaches, nannies, teammates and Facebook friends ready to rescue you at a moment’s notice.”
Nadira I think you’re a good writer, but on this point, I really couldn’t disagree with you more.
Yes, Yers generally like groups and team environments, but we can handle the responsibility when it is time to step up to the plate. Even if I were to accept the idea that Yers lack confidence when in Xer-dominated environments, anyone in the group knows that Yers aren’t have no trouble being leaders in their own groups. There was most definitely a reason why none of the seven Yers picked that phone up, and I think the most likely answer can be found in the Fast Company story by Made to Stick authors Dan Heath and Chip Heath, “Your Boss is a Monkey: ‘Managing up’ using the tricks of exotic-animal training”.
In this very nice read, the authors argue that by taking an approach with your boss that rewards behavior that you like, you will be able to effectively train your boss to interact with you in that way. Many bosses reward employees for behavior they like and actively punish them for behavior they don’t like, instead of allowing the punishment to be simply missing out on the opportunity for a reward.
Active punishment tends to train employees and knock the leader out of them, at least in Xer-dominated environments. I suspect that those seven Yers had been trained not to answer that phone. They knew what to do but probably had either experienced first hand or heard of potential repercussions for answering that phone in that setting. Sad scenario, but a possible one.
That’s just my take. Any thoughts?
Posted by jaywalk1
Posted by jaywalk1
Posted by jaywalk1
