A Vacation Snapshot

Last week, while I was in Seattle visiting family, we took the light rail to a Mariners baseball game with my cousin Rick. He’s about to retire from a regional energy firm and is doing his best to onboard a large group of Gen Zs. So on the way to the ballpark when he asked me what I was up to—and I said I was in my third career, helping higher ed leaders build stronger inter-generational teams—he perked up.

Rick said he’s eager to share his experience and support to this Gen Z group, but he’s baffled by what he perceives as a lack of curiosity about the organization and their role in it.

“They just want to know what’s expected,” Rick said. “They want to do their work on their own at home. Interacting with other people seems painful.”

Sound Familiar?

At their age, Rick had just graduated from Annapolis and was serving in the US Navy as an engineer on nuclear submarines. With that in mind, I assumed Rick would have a low tolerance for the challenge of the younger generation.

Mary visits cousin Rick in Annapolis in 1973.

Note to self: I should have done a bit of assumption-checking here and reviewed Gentelligence® Practice #1, Resist Assumptions. Kudos to Rick for being willing to engage in Gentelligence Practice #2, Adjust the Lens: discern the intent behind attitudes and actions of those across generations.

I shared a snippet from my “Generational Diversity and Why It Matters” presentation, which reminds older bosses that younger gens have not grown up in the post-WWII optimism like we did. Gen Z was born in the shadow of 9/11, grew up during the Great Recession, have felt an imminence of school violence, learned to swim in the deep end of social media, and then there was an opioid epidemic and a pandemic, which really messed with their education.

“Maybe,” Rick replied, “working at home feels literally safer than coming into work.”

“Perhaps both physically and mentally safer,” I said. “Surveys show most members of this generation have been or are on some form of anti-anxiety or anti-depression medication. It’s not to be taken lightly —providing mental health benefits at work is essential.”

“So what do we do now?”

Rick asked the question I hear all the time: Now what?

“First, focus on what drives Gen Z. Despite or because of an overwhelming origin story, your recruits want to improve the world. Yes, they chose your field because they can ‘make bank,’ but make sure they hear over and over again how your organization makes the world a better place. And then, let them know where they fit in that process."

I noted cousin Rick hasn’t changed seats, so I continued.

“Next you Strengthen Trust ( which is Gentelligence Practice #3). Flexible work schedules are an excellent indicator that you trust your work teams—and it helps them meet their physical and mental health needs.”

BUT...

I decided to press in a bit here.

“Be adamant about having full-team, face-to-face meetings on a regular basis,” I said. “The more push back you get, the more needed they are. It takes time and practice to master the art of showing up, participating in conversations, being asked for input, learning to listen to perspectives they don’t agree with, and making compromises. Ultimately, multi-generational teams work best when they leverage mutually beneficial knowledge for collaboration (Gentelligence Practice #4).”

We were one stop away from the ballpark.

“You know, the nice thing about this chat is that I don’t feel like I’m suddenly irrelevant,” Rick said. “There are fixes, and I can leave behind new ideas as I head out the door.”

“Something tells me your legacy is a lot bigger than you imagine, Rick.”

Play Ball!

Cousins Rick & Mary go to ballgame 51 years later.