My last Insight covered the number 10 myth about Generation Y. The number 11 myth about Generation Y is that they don't respect their elders.
That's not true. They do respect their elders.
Remember, Generation X may have been the great unsupervised generation. We turned the latchkey into a metaphor. But Generation Y is the great over-supervised generation. They've been guided, directed, supported and coached every step of the way by parents teachers and counselors since the day they were born. They love grown-ups.
But respect is not the same thing as deference, to Generation Y. Remember, throughout their lives many Gen Yers have been treated by older, more experienced people with a great deal of respect themselves. Their thoughts, words and actions have been regarded as important. They are used to having mutual, reciprocal relationships with older, more experienced people.
They know you bring a lot to the table but they feel they bring a lot to the table, too.
Bonus Management Tip: Set Clear Ground Rules Up Front
It's very important, when managing GenYers, to establish clear ground rules up front for your management relationship—that goes for all the tangibles like how often you are going to meet one-on-one, how you are going to spell out expectations, how you are going to monitor and measure and document performance, and how rewards are to be earned.
But it is even more important to establish clear ground rules up front when it comes to intangible elements of performance. Often there are no concrete policies to regulate important intangibles like attitude, tone of voice and other subtleties of professionalism in the workplace.
You may need to say, "Whenever you are working with me, on any task, for any period of time, these are MY ground rules." Then lay out your ground rules in no uncertain terms, and make it clear they are deal breakers for you: you can't work with someone who doesn't follow these ground rules.
In my next Insight, I will talk about the number 12 myth about Generation Y.
Created by: Bruce Tulgan, © 2009 RainmakerThinking, Inc. in conjunction with Bruce's free video newsletter that's available at
Rainmakerthinking.com.