Currently, in companies from various segments, it is increasingly common to have teams formed by members of different ages, which can have its advantages and disadvantages. However, sometimes, this age difference can cause a gap between people, and it is up to the leadership to correct this issue, which usually starts when the leader themselves cannot handle all generations.
It is understandable that a leader of a certain age may have more ‘affinity’ with people close to their age group, but this cannot become a reason for differentiation. For example, if I am an older leader, will I only consider what older employees say and ignore the younger ones? And the same goes for younger leaders who do not listen to older employees.
We know that being a good leader is not an easy task and also does not happen overnight, it is part of a process and can be time-consuming. The manager placed in this position needs to be prepared for it and willing to improve every day, making improvements in their behavior to develop a suitable conduct for the position they hold. And often, it is necessary to abandon behaviors that no longer make sense.
After all, a good leader requires some essential skills that are developed over time, such as active listening, being fair and impartial in day-to-day decisions, learning to delegate tasks, and knowing how to make employees feel they have a safe space in the workplace, where they can share ideas, express doubts, and even provide constructive criticism.
The fact is that acting in this way is already a big challenge for many, which increases as the company has people of various age groups in the team. And why could this be a challenge? When we have people of different ages, we need to adapt our way of communication and treatment so that each group can understand the message being conveyed correctly.
I see many negative comments about Generation Z, for example, people aged 14 to 28. However, are they really this ‘terror of managers,’ as they are being classified by various articles I have read, or are the leaders not knowing how to deal with them? Because from the moment we have people from other generations working alongside us, it is essential to provide proper guidance.
In this sense, I believe that OKRs – Objectives and Key Results – can help leaders be good for all generations, because if we are seeking to achieve results through ambitious goals, it does not matter the age of the person speaking, as long as hypotheses and data are raised, so that later identify which ones were found to be true and validated and which ones were not.
In this way, the tool encourages teamwork and also encourages each collaborator to perform their role in the best possible way, making it easier for people of different age groups to work together to deliver better results, forming a more powerful multigenerational team.
