Commentary

The Inevitability Of Generational Leadership

Are you frustrated with the leadership in your organization? Perhaps it can be explained by which generation they belong to.

A lot has been written about generations: the Baby Boomers, Generation X, Y and now Z. Marketers like these terms, as they help to group together an otherwise diverse slice of the population. It simplifies, much as  “young adults” or “moms” do as a qualifier.

However, as much as the generations are a means to define a group of people, they also apply to the generations of marketers themselves that work across our magnificent industry. And I believe it’s undoubtedly true that your “membership” in a certain generation influences how you think and act.

I have attempted to simplify the generations in an incredibly crude and non-scientific way in the overview below:

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Current leadership in our industry generationally consists mostly of Gen X, with a few Boomers hanging on for dear life. Generation X grew up in the era of disco, punk, MTV, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and the yuppies. There have been studies published stating that some of the uber-materialistic stereotyping of this generation is perhaps exaggerated. But it is no doubt true that their world view was in large part formed by a focus on money and material prosperity. Home ownership, a steady (“good”) job, getting their kids to college are all important values to them.

Decision-making by this crop of industry leaders is therefore motivated by their desire for financial betterment, and their preferred organizational model is an easy-to-understand hierarchy (the pyramid). This means that current trends of flat organizations, open-plan office layouts and constant iteration and pivoting all go against the structures and values they grew up with and thus are comfortable with. Mind you, they are obviously not stupid or ignorant, but there is a big difference between how you would like them to lead versus how they are comfortable leading.

This may also explain why many marketing leaders find it hard to evolve and adapt. And why, when the going gets tough, they default to the tried and tested rather than the untried and uncertain.

Gen X's immediate successors, Generation Y-ers grew up on a diet of big disruptions such as the first Internet bubble, 9/11 and a loss of belief in the promise of a steady job/career, to name just a few.

No wonder, then, that this generation is looking to disrupt. After all, in their minds they believe that what got us to today is sub-optimal and beginning to fail, so there must be a better way. In their world, “better” often means both better for business and better for humanity (real or perceived).

And then there is the future crop of leaders from Gen Z, some of whom have already bypassed all previous generations. Bob Johansen from the Institute of the Future called them the first generation of true digital natives, and recommends reverse-mentoring, of which I am a great believer (just ask my 13-year-old son). We are raising them on a steady diet of immediate everything, instant gratification and constant “newness.”

All generations except Z have to unlearn things related to the kind of marketing they grew up with to fully understand, embrace and successfully lead in today’s new marketing economy.

So if you’re frustrated with your leadership today, mentor them -- or failing that, just remember Joseph Jaffe’s quote: “How do you kill a dinosaur? You don’t. Evolution does.”

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