For BabyBoomers Sometimes It’s Best to “Listen Down”
Recently I attended a conference where I met two young women who had just attended a workshop for millennials. One was a millennial and the other a Gen-Xer . Both expressed concern about the lack of clarity and focus of the panel. The workshop, they said, simply did not speak to them. I asked them about their concerns and found they had some great ideas to what could have been done differently. We then discussed their workplace situation. It seems both faced barriers and constant challenges from baby boomers who were still stuck on how things were done 20 years ago. The boomers, they said, would not even try to . listen to their ideas.
No doubt about it we baby boomers are amazing. I do know and greatly appreciate “AARP” – the American Association for Retired Persons which advocates for us boomers and those older. We have amazing role models that remain relevant across generations . Witness Aretha Franklin, “The Queen of Soul,” with a new comeback album that will “cover” the latest hits. The late Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Brendan Eich (the guy that invented JavaScript) remain tech industry and social icons. Heck we even can claim a U.S. President (Barack Obama). We are leaders of social change, news anchors, business owners, heads of state, corporate giants, authors and we are eternally young to boot. Yet for far too many it has been hard for us to make room for the generations that have come after us. While we have much wisdom and knowledge to pass on, we have become rather stingy and egotistical about it. We jealously guard our turf, not wanting to share. Worst we don’t want to hear fresh ideas from those younger than us. Yes, we will hire “young” presuming that younger means cheaper just so long as our ideals, our wisdom, our knowledge will still dominate. That need, by the way, includes the workplace as well as the simple community event. So where can we start to bridge the information/wisdom/knowledge gap? Let’s just start by listening. Young people have a lot to offer not just in terms of social media or new tech know-how. Many are also quite wise. Frankly, if we #boomers are to really to remain “forever young,” we have to start listening and respecting what we hear from members of generations that follow us. So next time a seemingly overconfident millennial or gen-Xer offers you advice, just listen. It may be the first step in helping you change the world or at least change your life.
Small Biz Boomer 