If you are smart and want your company to survive and thrive, hire your boomers to mentor your Gen-Xers, and your Gen-Xers to mentor your Gen-Yers. Unless your company has energy, vision, wisdom, and heart, your company is not even worthy to survive.
Competence is not about race or gender or age or employment status. It is about vision. Heart. Wisdom, Courage. And the kind of love a soldier might have for fellow soldiers and for country--not the pathetic, self-indulging crap people have tried to pass off as love since the 1960s. Sorry if that offends some people, but it needs to be said.
If I may be permitted to refer to the Bible as an example, if you have ever heard about the so-called "Armor of God", you may have heard that we fight not with flesh and blood. That means we're not supposed to be enemies of each other. We should have shared vision, shared goals, common interest in the success of the company. Then four enemies are named which have a lot to do with concepts, beliefs, principles, and things that rule us in wicked and cruel ways, and those are our enemies, though I have to admit I have not understood that part of it well. But, then it starts naming the armor with the belt of truth. Some way that keeps our pants up. There is no sense in basing any of our work on lies. Sometimes the truth is hard to face and sometimes people feel a need to present it properly rather than going to either extreme whether that be candy coating the truth or telling it in a cruel and blunt fashion without concern for the people who must bear the pain of hearing it. There is nothing good to be found in lies whether they are excuses of cowardice, or attempts to swindle or an attempt to back-stab another person before they back-stab you or whether the lie promotes a false hope, or worse, an unnecessary destruction of a beneficial and reasonable hope. The second armor is the breastplate of righteousness. It covers our heart. It is a commitment to living right, walking in love and integrity. Is this all too "religious" for you all? I hope not. I would think all this would be true whether you believe in God or not. The third armor speaks of our feet being shod with the gospel of peace. The word "gospel" may be seen as unique to Christianity, but the idea is that we walk in peace and good will toward one another. Be careful when you begin to tear another person down. War in the workplace is not a good thing. So, now we have truth, righteousness, and peace. But, in the day of Ahab when fiery arrows were shot at the enemy igniting everything they hit, one enemy soldier launched an arrow that went down through a crack in Ahab's armor and it pierced his heart. So, the next piece of armor is the shield of faith which the Bible promises will quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. It is vital that employees believe in what they are doing. It is not enough to come to work just to "do a job". Fiery darts of doubt may creep in. Suppose your company's product was nothing but garbage and you had to sell to potential customers putting your own integrity on the line to do it. Suppose you had doubt. It would be better if you were to refuse to sell the product unless you could be forthright about the shortcomings of the product. That does not mean every product you sell has to be perfect. But, if you can sell the product honestly based on the value it would bring to your customer and your customer would be happy with both the pros and cons of the product, then you will sleep better at night and feel better looking at yourself in the mirror knowing you have done what is right by both your employee and your customers or clients. Another thing one person pointed out about the shield of faith is that when a whole army interlocks their shields, they can be more effective in protecting each other. You may have noticed this in news photos of riot police. A team working together as a unit where everyone has that shield of faith is a better team than one where all but one or two carry that shield.
Next is the helmet of salvation. Probably sounds religious, but it's practical too when you think of protecting your mind. Worry weakens people mentally.
Stress can affect your memory and ability to think efficiently and effectively. Get a little exercise. Eat well. Get enough sleep. It's OK to put in a little extra time at the office but remember your family and your health and give yourself a break, and your performance at work will improve as well. Protect your mind. Stay clear from any kind of drug and alcohol abuse. You need every brain cell you have!
And last sounds really religious, but it's the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God in the Bible. But, in the secular world, we hear "The pen is mightier than the sword." And among the armor named, this sword is the only offensive weapon listed. The rest are defensive. How vital is communication to a company? To a marriage? To a family? Learn communication skills, and learn them extremely well. Conciseness is good, but it isn't everything. But, neither is verbosity. If you learn to listen, the words you speak will have ten times the impact. Learn to listen actively. Don't assume you understand or already know. Ask. "Do I understand correctly that you are saying...?" Let them tell you whether you understood them before you comment on why you agree or disagree. Learn to use that sword of communication effectively as though every word were your last. Use words sparingly, but communicate lavishly.
Now that you have all the armor on and you're ready to go to battle, who are your enemies now? Your company's competition? Your coworkers? Your HR department? Others who want the promotion you're seeking? Or is your enemy your mindset? Concepts? Principles? Beliefs? Character problems? Excuses? What is holding back your success? Your team's success? Morale problems are tied to beliefs, hope or the lack thereof, attitudes, trust, frustration, feelings of futility. You may feel that if you barge in with smiles like Mary Sunshine you'll be received like someone who had just gone to a conference how to become the new village idiot. If you are going to start life with a better attitude, count the costs and plan for the adversity and then launch into it with a vitality and confidence to change your world, and you will. You will succeed no matter how many people call you foolish to try. Measure your successes in small pieces of the whole puzzle. Celebrate small victories and that will help you drive through to completing your grand success in life--your legacy.
