Generation Gap.

I grew up with my Boomer parents telling stories about coming home from college in the 70s to knock-down-drag-out fights with their parents about the Vietnam War.  The split was caused by a once-in-a-generation divide over trust in government. 

In my coaching conversations, I’m hearing a lot about a new generation gap.  This time, it’s not just about trust in the government, but in the whole social contract, especially in the workplace. 

A million TikTok videos confirm that Gen Z wants some boundaries while Millenials and Gen X-ers just want everyone to do their job.  Everyone seems pretty fed up with each other.

I think that’s the wrong way to think about this…

When I came back from maternity leave with my first kid, I requested to work a reduced week.  I wanted to stay home with my new baby on Fridays.  I had a creative and supportive manager and everyone agreed to the arrangement. 

I loved my Fridays home with my daughter and that first year back, I learned a lesson I wasn’t expecting.  I spent my Friday mornings walking in parks, visiting museums, and dancing with my daughter.  Nearly every Monday, I came back with a HUGE new idea –a program, a way to solve a challenge, an innovation, a better way to operate.  In my first year back as a new mom, I led my team to launch an Assistant Principal Coaching program, a Teaching Fellow initiative, a Master Teacher Residency, and a Management Training for the whole organization.

I was creative, innovative, energized, and extremely organized.  This was because I was both allowing my brain to wander and also being present for the new-most-important-person in my life.  I was fulfilled, leading a meaningful life, and supported at work.

As a manager, I used this lesson to guide me deeply.  When direct reports complained about their workload or hours, I immediately asked what work projects energized them and which ones drained them.  I let them know my firm belief… “If you hate a project, you’ll complain about how many hours it’s taking you at 4pm on a Thursday.  If you love a project, you’ll get up on a Saturday morning to make tweaks to it and you’ll never even tell me you worked on the weekend.” 

So let’s throw out the would-be generation gap and false binary that suggests some people want to work hard while others want work-life balance. 

How can we shift away from talking about workload and boundaries to talking about what energizes us and what drains us? 

Senior leaders, are you giving yourself the space and grace to do the work that energizes YOU?

If you’ve been thinking about how to prioritize work projects and activities that energize you so you can be the leader your team needs, I’d be happy to help.  Please message me if you’d like to talk. 

Here I am, as a new mom AND a Vice President, on one of those precious Fridays.