This is our second installment in a four-part series answering the question, “If a generation had a personality, what would it be?”
Feeling judged and deprived by their Veteran parents, Boomers instigated a host of movements to increase individual freedoms. They have a strong work ethic, are driven to succeed, want to please, and are relationship experts. They prize fairness and individual rights, personal growth, freedom of expression, and the human side of business. They don’t mind being in the limelight to support a social justice cause. They are motivated internally for goals when they can have ownership, receive recognition, and feel needed. They work well in casual, participatory environments so long as they know what’s expected.
Boomers are sensitive to feedback and uncomfortable with conflict. They may put process ahead of results in their quest for consensus. Boomers are sometimes perceived as self-centered while they continue searching for ways to have a more comfortable life than their parents had. Boomers have the largest credit card debt of any generation, are the most stressed generation in history, and have more motorcycles than any other age group.
Boomers have more compassion for the Rebel character strengths because they’ve been through it and can remember feeling confined and judged by their Persister parents, teachers, and leaders.
Boomers have a unique leadership role. They are the bridge between the old and new. They understand the need to break free and rebel, yet also wish they’d been more responsible and prudent growing up. They are being called on as mentors, coaches, and guides for Gen-X and Gen-Y, neither of whom have much experience in cross-generational leadership. Yet, they must cultivate a new set of skills to connect with and motivate newer generations or they will not be taken seriously.
Next month, we move on to Gen-X (born between 1981-2000). What kind of children did the Boomers produce? With the explosion of the computer, and the internet revolution, what new skills will Gen-X manifest? Are they ready to be our next leaders?
Read the introduction to this series
Veterans: Our Connection to the Past
Generation X: The Emergence of External Motivation
