Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Jerry Scott. We hope you enjoy Jerry’s wisdom and perspective.
One of the coolest and most interesting things about working at Gibson is the influx of millennials. Having survived the “once in a generation” downturn, we are sourcing talent with gusto to meet the mission of our strategic plan to double the size of our company by 2022.
Given the scarcity of experienced job applicants in our industry, we have engineered our operating process to mainly hire entry level, new college graduates and to teach them our industry and infuse them into our culture. We have hired 11 millennials in the past 6 months and our total workforce has climbed to over 30% in this age group.
Maybe it’s my inclination as a Boomer, but what an absolute delight. They are wicked smart, quick, focused, and eager to learn. They are ambitious for all the right reasons. They breathe technology like air. They care about the community. They care about the company and want more than anything to be part of a growing, dynamic, and innovative organization. And all that is music to our ears. I’m not a grandfather yet but I can sense how empty nesters feel when the grandkids start running around the house. All that energy. All that fun. All that productive capacity!
But I had an interesting experience with a millennial the other day. We were talking about personal development and I said you have to “sharpen the saw”. I saw something in his face that looked familiar. I have a 23 year old daughter (light of my life and more!) and I know what an eye roll looks like. They are most often brought on by dad being a dork and trying mightily to get songs from iTunes to an iPod Classic. Pretty sure I saw a faint hint of an eye roll, though quickly squelched. In one of those moments that freeze in time I realized he had never heard of the expression. He probably thought it was some folksy wisdom from my East Tennessee upbringing. I had a flashback to my 90 year old Mammy spitting snuff in a soup can and cackling about something like “spare the rod and spoil the child”. Good grief.
I was shocked, not because of the eye roll, but because I can’t remember ever meeting anyone in 25 years who had not read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. Published in 1989 it has sold 25 million copies, been translated into 40 languages, and spawned an industry of seminars including certified instructor training. My leadership generation grew up on The 7 Habits. Even the chapter titles have evolved into short hand for fundamental principles in leadership and management.
- Habit 1 – Be Proactive
- Habit 2 – Begin with the End in Mind
- Habit 3 – Put First Things First
- Habit 4 – Think Win/Win
- Habit 5 – Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
- Habit 6 – Synergize
- Habit 7 – Sharpen the Saw
I’m pretty sure I used three of these in my last big department meeting, all along assuming everyone knew exactly what I was talking about.
My first thought was how could a top graduate come out of college today having never read The 7 Habits? Then I said to myself: “Seriously Jerry? Did you read Zig Ziglar in college?” Uh...no. I read Econ text books. Further reflection brought me to consider the ultimate and more substantive question. How do we share a lifetime of learning and wisdom with the next generation?
The 7 Habits kicked off a tidal wave of professional and personal development. Before that it was mainly sales people who were reading, studying, and learning how to win friends and influence people. Covey brought it into the ranks of supervisors and leaders of every type and level. I have a huge stack of my personal favorites. From Good to Great, Emotional Intelligence, and Visionary Business to Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch. And don’t get me started on Tony Robbins’ Personal Power II. Listened to those CDs until they nearly wore out.
It’s not that the millennials aren’t reading and working on personal and professional development. One introduced me to Simon Sinek and another to Joe Calloway. I guess it’s just a new batch of gurus and lessons to learn from them with each generation teaching the other. We’re all sharpening the saw, don’t you see?
I don’t have the answer other than to say that I am going to ponder how to pass on what I have learned. I’m one sixteenth Cherokee Indian so maybe we can gather around a campfire someday. I’ll spit in a can and share stories of the days before cell phones and the internet. When we communicated with employees by posting memos on clip boards in the break room and a Telex machine could send a message across the country after you punch typed it into a long thin strip of paper. And late in the night, I’ll tell them tales of college in the spring when computer programming majors would throw huge stacks of punch cards off dorm roofs to celebrate the end of a semester and the sight of those cards floating in the soft mountain breezes.
What’s The Risk?
The risk is coming up short in the talent war. Some estimates say there could be 5 million unfilled jobs in the United States by 2018. There have always been multiple generations in the workforce. However, for the first time in history you probably can’t win by playing by the old guy rules. My way or the highway won’t work for the new generation.
The Deloitte Millennial Survey found that 78% of millennials are strongly influenced by how innovative a company is when deciding if they want to work there. Almost one in four are asking for a chance to show their leadership skills and 81% believe they should be able to set their own hours. To win we will have to adapt and innovate very quickly. All companies will need keen advisors to help them chart a course in this new reality.
This content was written and shared by guest blogger, Jerry Scott. Connect with Jerry on LinkedIn and Twitter.
