Overview

Let's face it. There are people in this world who were silly enough to not be born at the same time as you. Some of them are so young they may still need help tying their shoes. Some of them are so old they may have crossed spears with the dinosaurs. If only there were a way to make everyone on the planet act and think exactly like you…

However, since that is both impossible and a truly terrible idea, it might be better to learn how to work with people from different backgrounds, time periods, and perspectives - which is why we've created Overcoming Generational Differences. Designed for anyone who works with people they didn't graduate from high school with (which is pretty much everyone), Overcoming Generational Differences is unique among generational training series in that it focuses on the ways our attitudes and behaviors evolve as we age and gain experience, rather than defining everyone based on the decade they were born in. The tendency to assume that we're creating completely new types of people every 15 years or so (and that each new “generation” is entirely different from every other) is a huge barrier to generational harmony. Overcoming Generational Differences introduces a simpler and more accurate way of understanding the key drivers that motivate workers of every age.

Fundamentally, different people have different attitudes about some of the biggest issues in the workplace - loyalty, career advancement, change, and others - and those differing attitudes are what cause generational tensions. Overcoming Generational Differences will help you understand what those issues are, why some people think about those issues differently than you do, and the value of those differing approaches (both theirs and yours). Which means that by the time you're finished with this series, you'll have a better understanding and appreciation of the people you work with than you ever thought possible - and you'll do it all without having to suffer through the “Millennials are this way, and Baby Boomers are that way” argument that you've certainly had to suffer through before.

So get ready to enjoy Overcoming Generational Differences. Another training course from The Jeff Havens Company, where we provide serious solutions in a seriously funny way.

Learning Objectives

• Re-framing the generational questions in terms of age and experience, rather than based on a person's birth year
• Developing a solid understanding of how loyalty develops, and why people at different points in their careers have very different notions of what loyalty means and requires
• Understanding the natural pace of career advancement, and how it differs from the natural pace of technological advancement
• Articulating the effect that age and experience have on our attitude towards change, and the different benefits that result from both cautious and risk-taking personalities
• Recognizing that our collective similarities are significantly greater than our various differences, but those differences are critical elements of any organization's overall success