Senior European executives and managers will be the subject of an
investigation into the generational differences among organisational leaders.
The study – Emerging Leaders: Revolution, Evolution or Status Quo – run by
the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) is the second phase of a global
research programme.
Phase one looked at values and behaviour among three generations of managers
and leaders, mainly in the US.
Though some real differences emerged – older people are more likely to be
married and higher up in organisational hierarchies – there were many
similarities.
Almost all the sample in phase one believed they were contributing to society
in their current jobs, trusted their organi- sation to keep its promises and
believed that they would be developed as employees.
However, the younger the respondent the stronger the belief that you should
only stay at an organisation for as long as it was personally useful. Younger
respondents also believed that career advancement within a company was based on
skill at office politics.
The research also revealed that younger managers are also more likely to
express difficulty in working with or managing people from older generations.
CCL project leader Jennifer Deal said: "The findings of phase one
reveal that many deeply held beliefs are based on myths. Values, such as
respect and ambition, seem to be the same across generations, but the way those
values are demonstrated may be very different."
Kim Lafferty, UK manager for CCL, said understanding the generational
differences could help companies and other organisations plan for succession,
retain valued employees and provide the most effective training.
For further details and to participate in the research project, visit the
website. http://eleaders.ccl.org
By Mike Berry
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