Gen Y and Emotional Intelligence

Does Gen Y lack Emotional Intelligence?  As this article describes, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is “the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.” In other words, EQ is knowing your own personality traits and triggers, and how those impact others around you.

People with higher EQ are often more effective team members and contribute to a more collaborative workplace.For example, Juan may have strong attention to detail. Yet if he constantly asks for every minute detail, his colleagues may think he’s micromanaging them and get frustrated with him, which is not his intent. His intent is to ensure that the team has thought through all the possible problem areas. So Juan has to self-manage his need to know all the details with his team’s need for autonomy. This is EQ in action.

Research on Emotional Intelligence suggests that it is experience related, not age related.  Since age and experience often (but not always) go hand in hand, younger people may be more likely to have lower levels of Emotional Intelligence than older people. But wouldn’t you think that the shared experiences of Gen Y, such as 9/11, the economic crisis, globalization, prevalence of the Internet and increase in travel are of such a dramatic and global nature that they might create greater awareness and a more acute sense of one’s place in the world?

My experience with Gen Y reveals a group that has been emotionally and financially supported, protected and nurtured by its parents. This means that this generation can be incredibly confident.  In my opinion, this confidence combined with the global nature of their shared experiences, means that Gen Y can successfully develop a high EQ.

What do you think?

NextGen Leaders

This AOL article highlights the success of one Gen Y entrepreneur, Farrah Gray. Gray crew up in inner city Chicago and from an early age spotted opportunities and turned them into dollars. He was a millionaire by age 14, which makes him a “NextGenLeader.”

This term refers to the entrepreneurial spirit of GenY and was coined by Carol Sanford, the CEO of InterOctave, a firm specializing in organizational development. We’ve written about GenY entrepreneurs on this blog before. The question everyone seems to be asking is: what makes Gen Y more entrepreneurial that the previous generations?

Many people point to the recession and lack of stable jobs.  College graduates today do not have the same reassurance that their parents did, with the possibility of staying at the same job for their entire career. This is consistent with Farrah Gray’s advice to young people:  “You have to create your own job. You can’t wait to rely on Exxon or Wal-Mart to hire you.”

However, after many interviews with young entrepreneurs, Sanford says that what NextGenLeaders have in common is not necessarily the job market but rather their innate drive and unique visions.  Combine this with Gen Y’s authentic confidence and successful entrepreneurs attaining celebrity status (think Oprah, Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump), perhaps its no wonder that 40% of people aged 18-24 have expressed a desire to be their own boss.

Could it be that the Gen Y entrepreneurial spirit is more a product of social and cultural factors, rather than recent economic ones? What do you think?

Negotiating with the Generations (Part 2)

We’ll continue with our focus on inter-generational negotiation in this post. Read on for Tips #3-5.

Tip #3: Tailor Your Presentation

You might not realize it, but each generation prefers to see presentations differently. And no matter what business you are in, I’m sure PowerPoint is involved. When making a presentation or negotiating, be sure to tailor your presentation style to what each generation prefers. Each generation will respond best to a style they can understand and identify with, so do your best to target your presentation to your audience.

Gen Y likes 1-2 bold graphics with few words.  They prefer to tell the story themselves, and have their presentations be the backdrop. Baby Boomers desire more contextual content and bigger font; they also like handouts. And Gen X responds best to presentations with graphs, data and details.

Choosing the right presentation style for your audience will help win over your colleague and effectively communicate your point during negotiations.

Tip #4: Paint the Right Picture

Each generation desires a different level of engagement with a project. If you are dividing up tasks for a group project, be sure to paint the right picture for each generation. I’ve noticed that Gen Y likes to know and truly understand the macro picture of whatever they are working on; they also prefer to share their opinion about it, if the idea is not originally theirs. It’s important that they know the end goals, so they can be assured their work is contributing to the overall aim.

Gen X prefers to just know their piece of the pie; they don’t want the big picture. “Just tell me what needs to get done and I’ll take care of it”, is their usual reply.

And Boomers are the only generation that wants both the macro and the micro details, at the same time. So when negotiating with each generation, be sure to paint the right picture, in order to be more effective.

Tip #5: Know Your Audience

My final tip to improve your negotiations with other generations is to make sure you know your audience. This will inform how you paint the picture and how you prepare your presentation.

Many people falsely assume that once someone is in the workplace, they have reached a certain education level, show a certain maturity level and utilize similar work ethics, styles and philosophies as everyone else. Instead, think of each generation as a tribe with its own culture, belief system and personality. Doing this will help you negotiate with your target colleague as an individual with unique needs.

Keep in mind the key events that impacted each generation, and know that it colors their beliefs and attitudes.  Armed with this knowledge, you’ll understand their position and expectations better and be able to tailor your negotiation approach to match.