Oh the Gen Y stereotypes. Every now and then they come back out. But lately there has been a refreshing realization to many of them…..not everyone fits stereotypes! Yes, yes- everyone thinks they understand this fact but in reality all of us use stereotypes in situations where we have limited experiences. When your interactions have to start somewhere you may as well use the collective experiences of your peers (aka stereotypes).
HBR (yes, twice now) gives us this review of “Millenials” (a term which we need to make disappear from vocabulary) and that you probably don’t know what you think you do. Which makes sense because every person is a unique and special butterfly who should be given their own chance to fly. (Sorry, even I’m offended by that sentence I just wrote but it serves the stereotype purpose and may actually drive someone to comment disparagingly toward me!)
As with every single generation that has come before us and will come after us, we will ultimately be judged as both individuals and a generation. But now we begin the phase of our evaluation where people are realizing the individual aspects of many of us.
But what does this have to do with the title of the post? Well, the point is you should always be looking to reevaluate what you know to be true. Just because someone has 25 years of past success does not mean they have another 5. And just because someone is only a couple years out of college doesn’t mean they can’t be leaders in their area 5 years from now. Understanding this distinction and where people are in their individual trajectories will tell you where you should be investing your time in developing a team.
25 years of experience has immense value, but it may be that the value and focus needs to be directed at mentoring the younger folks on the team. Teaching them to become a 25 year professional in an industry and giving them a path can be invaluable.
As an aside, I have been personally very fortunate of many colleagues that have taken me under their guidance and taught me how to be better and what I needed to do to grow. Without their decades of experience and mentorship I wouldn’t be here now in the position I’m in. To all of you, you are the reason for this post because I know it to be true and I know it can work and I’ve seen and experienced the value it can give to an organization. Thanks.