Leadership Style And Behavior Among Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y

Baby Boomers are self-assured, and independent. They also have a strong work ethic and aren’t afraid of hard work. They prefer structure, a right path of learning to reach their goals. Baby boomers aren’t afraid to put in a hard day of work when it is due. Baby boomers aren’t familiarized with technology. They appreciate a good challenge, and accept a mission to increase their knowledge and push them past their limits. Unlike Baby Boomers, Generation X is familiarized with technology and incorporates it when necessary. Generation X tends to entrepreneurial thinkers and reality driven, and their mentality is will lecture assist them in the real world. These two groups come from a different background and the way they view behavior.

The Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964, and they fall between the ages of 53-71. This generation was subject to the civil rights movements, the Vietnam War and the Cold War, and space travel. Their parents had the highest divorce rate and second marriages in history. “The American Dream” was promised to them as children and they spent their lives pursuing it. As a result some generations see them as being greedy, materialistic and ambitious. This generation believes in working long hours to establish self-worth and identity, they tend to be workaholics and are used to working up to 60 hour work weeks. Working this much caused an imbalance between most work/home life because the workers of this generation were afraid of losing their position at work if they took more time to spend with their families. The preferred work environment for a Baby Boomer is going to be democratic, believe in equal opportunity and be a warm friendly environment. Some pros of the Baby Boomer in the workplace include that they are anxious to please and tend to challenge the status quo. They are mission oriented individuals who will go the extra mile. Some cons of this generation are that they expect everyone to be workaholics like themselves and they don’t like change either after being raised by traditionalists. Some keys to working with these Baby Boomers is understanding how

Generation Y covers people born between the 1980’s and the year 2000, and are sometimes referred to as Gen Y.

Their values were shaped primarily by a rise in civil rights activism Vietnam and inflation. Baby Boomers were cherished by parents that had sacrificed and fought a war for the right to bear them raise them, indulge them. Baby boomers tend to be more optimistic and open to change and are also responsible for the “Me Generation” with its pursuit for personal gratification. Baby Boomers value face time in the office and my not welcome workplace flexibility or work/life balance trends. High levels of responsibility, perks, praise and challenges will motivate this Generation. Furthermore, when understanding Boomers, there’s the issue and added complexity of older Boomers and younger Boomers also known as the First half/Second Half. First halfers are those born in the 1940s. They are more idealistic, more likely to be workaholics and more likely to have put career first, family second. The first halfers’ world view was more affected by the 1950s. The late Bloomers or second halfers tend to feel different about work. They graduated from college and went to work during the Reagan era. They got the first taste of downsizing, large scale layoffs. This makes them more cynical and less gung ho about management than early Boomers. They feel that good work habits and positive mental attitude are not always rewarded and often are not enough to save a job regardless of how well it has been

Most baby boomers grew up watching their traditionalist parents work very hard to make ends meet and take care of the family unit. As a result of their upbringing many boomers have adopted their parent’s strong work ethics; working hard, long hours trying to climb the corporate ladder. Baby boomers still enjoy personal face to face interactions and building rapport with people

Kyles (2005) defines them as competitive, political, hardworking, and nonconformists. “Known for their workaholic ethic, Boomers will do whatever it takes to get the job done and get ahead, and they expect to be rewarded. They outnumber all generations and hold a majority of management-level positions. They are also approaching retirement and are heavily concerned with financial and job security” (Kyles, 2005, p. 54). This group is very hard working and also offers a lot of wisdom that can be beneficial to those of the younger generations.

A generation can be defined as the period, cohort or age of a group of people. Age is seen as the age that the persons were when particular transitions or events in life take place. Period can be defined as the overall experience of a person’s lifetime. Lastly, cohort can be seen as the overall grouping of people who have shared events during their formative years that more than likely contribute to like-minded behavior throughout the duration of their lives. There are currently four generations in United States society: Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X and The Millennials. The silent generation was born between the years of 1930 and 1945. Significant events during this time period include but are not limited to World War II and the Great Depression. The baby boomer generation was born between the years of 1946 and 1964. Significant events for this generation include the substantial growth of the middle class as well as economic prosperity. Generation X is born in the time period of 1965-1979, this generation was brought together by the big energy issue as well as the Vietnam War. Lastly the final generation that is currently in the workforce are the Millennials. This generation was born between the years 1980 and 2001, this group is brought together by the 9/11 terrorist attacks as well as the internet

Generation X faces many issues unique to their generation, technology was advancing, and computer were becoming more affordable and widespread. They faced both social and ecological issues, with advances in medicine that caused the generation before them to live longer, and being the one of the first generations to be effected by student loan debt. Generation Xers are often known for their high level of skepticism and their “what do I get out of this” attitudes. They are considered to be the first generation of “latchkey” kids, or kids without much boundaries. During the 60’s and 70’s divorce rates were at an all-time high, so many of the children of this generation were exposed to large amounts of divorce (Schroer). Which might explain for the high levels of skepticism and freedom they had. It seemed they also didn’t care much for politics sense they had the lowest voting participant rate of any other generation.

In a work environment everybody wants to climb the totem pole. For Millennials, they want to rise to leadership without working too hard for it. They are trying to reach the leadership positions as fast as they can and at times they are unprepared for the position they enter because they have not experienced enough along the way. Where Millennials are too fast to rise to leadership, people considered to be Generation X, who are known for their hard work ethic and experience are often complacent in the workplace. Though they gained their experience (unlike Millennials) by working their way up the chain of command and gradually paying their dues and though they also do not expect to be handed a higher position, like Millennials who feel entitled to higher positions in the workplace, they are also not as motivated as Millennials. (Bresman)

“The number of employees over the age of 55 has increased by 30 percent; however, the number of 25- to 54-year-olds has only increased by 1 percent” (Claire, 2009). In 2008 the eldest of the 77 million baby-boomers turned 62. Estimates are that by the end of the decade about 40 percent of the work force will be eligible to retire. As people begin to reach the age of retirement there may be not be enough new employees to fill the gap (Clare, 2009). Companies need to find ways to attract Boomers and Millennials. Companies that want to attract Boomers and Millennials need to be creative in their culture, HR policies and work environments.

(Tanner, 2011) One very important quality is that they are loyal to their career before their employer. In order to work well with the baby boomers “show them how they can be organizational star, provide them with developmental opportunities, and involve them in operational matters”. (Tanner, 2011) Most of all, whether you are a veteran or any other generation, it is absolutely important to be respectful of your peers and co-workers and patience is your best friend.

Gen X was found to be more team oriented than the Boomers in studies conducted by Karp and Sirias (Arnold, 1998). Having fun on the job is meaningful to this group; which has created a leadership style that sets them apart from the older generations.

GEN Y ( Also called as Millenials):Millennial have grown up with technology and are comfortable with change. They value skill development and enjoy the challenge of new opportunities. Millennial are able to multi task, they want the flexibility to work where and when they want so that they can pursue their outside interests.

The world’s labor force primarily consists of three major generations: the “Baby Boomers,” “Generation X,” and “Generation Y.” The “Baby Boomers” were born during and after the 2nd World War (1940 to 1960). This generation has a legacy of expertise, “old-fashioned” autocratic management, and healthy productivity. “Boomers” are known to work hard, remain loyal to their employers, and receive promotions on the basis of hard work and high skill. Technology was rather limited (Hewitt and Ukpere, 2012).

Each generation has certain characteristics and values with which the members of it can identify. Members of Generation X highly value their job and family time; so they try to find a balance between these two aspects of their lives. Generation X are hardworking people, but they are