Overcoming Generational Differences in the Workplace, with Kelly Riggs, Episode #15

You’ve heard of the generational divide in our culture. Are you aware of the acute divide that exists in the workplace? In public, outside of the home, most people tend to spend time with people in their own generation, but the workplace is different. How do you overcome these generational differences? On this episode of #SellingWithSocial my guest is Kelly Riggs. Kelly is an author, speaker, and business performance coach for executives and companies throughout the United States and Canada. He is the founder of the Business Locker Room. He has worked with companies in a wide variety of industries, ranging from startups to Fortune 500 businesses. His upcoming third book, to be released in January 2018, is entitled Counter Mentor Leadership: How to Unlock the Potential of the 4-Generation Workplace. He is co-writing the book with his Millennial son, Robby Riggs. Kelly brings his unique and helpful insights from writing with his son to today’s episode. Grab a pen and paper so you don’t miss anything!

Adapting to a changing demographic

One of the hardest things for people to do is to change. We don’t like change, we love predictability, routine, and security. Change brings chaos, different paradigms, and risk. But we know that death is inevitable for people or institutions that fail to adapt to a changing environment. On paper, the business world knows this truth. Yet, there are sectors where change moves slower than others. What is the status of your business? Have you embraced the changing demographics? Is your company positioned to effectively market to and service the “Millennial” generation? This episode with Kelly is a gut check for business leaders everywhere, don’t miss it!

Generational Differences

When you have multiple generations all interfacing in the same workplace you are likely to face generational conflict. Do you understand what this type of conflict looks like? Kelly wrote a book with his son, Robby about people from different generations interacting in the workplace. There are great benefits to this situation but there are also drawbacks. Understanding the differences in their expectations is key. Millennials typically expect to receive respect and give respect once it has been earned. Boomers typically demand respect and expect it because of their title or status. These different expectations often cause conflict. The wise business leader navigates these differences with effective communication skills. Find out what steps you can take to tackle these differences on this episode of #SellingWithSocial.

Pick the right people for sales leadership

How do you discern that someone is the “Right person” for leadership in your organization? Is your primary metric job performance? Does every competent or high performing individual qualify for leadership or is there more to it? Business and sales expert, Kelly encourages business leaders to look for one crucial marker before considering someone for a sales leadership position. Is the prospective leader aware of others around them? Do they see the big picture? Do they go out of their way to serve and help others? If they are good performers but lack any of those wider scope qualities, don’t promote them to a higher position. When you promote someone into leadership, you are holding them up as an example and you are empowering them to teach others to take on their qualities. Make sure you are encouraging the right qualities in the right people for leadership. This is just scratching the surface – listen to this episode of #SellingWithSocial to learn more!

Do you understand your employee’s “Why?”

What motivates and inspires you? That’s an easy question for most people to answer. Here’s a harder question, what motivates and inspires your employees? Do you know what drives them? Taking the time to sit down and understand the passions and goals of your team members can go a long way toward cultivating loyalty and encouraging top performance. My guest, Kelly has built a career on helping businesses understand this key strategy. His tips and insights might be just the piece you need to launch into the next level of success. Make sure to tune into this episode of #SellingWithSocial to hear Kelly go in depth with this concept and much more!

Outline of This Episode

• [1:30] My introduction of Kelly Riggs.
• [5:00] One thing you wouldn’t know about Kelly from his social media profiles.
• [7:20] Kelly talks about the book he wrote with his son.
• [9:20] Why did Kelly write his book?
• [11:20] The challenges between the generations in business.
• [14:40] Why isn’t Kelly’s book another boring leadership book?
• [16:30] One of the biggest differences between Boomers and Millennials.
• [19:30] Kelly talks about the hiring process.  
• [21:30] Generational conflict.
• [26:00] How to successfully promote someone into a leadership role.
• [31:50] Inspiring your team.
• [37:00] Understanding your employee’s “Why.”
• [41:30] Advice from Kelly on how to be a coach that others want to follow.
• [48:00] How to connect with Kelly.

Resources Mentioned

• Kelly’s podcast: CounterMentors
• Kelly’s blog: bizlockerroom.com/blog
• Kelly’s Twitter page: twitter.com/KellyRiggs
• Kelly’s LinkedIn page: linkedin.com/in/kriggs
• BOOK: Start with Why
• BOOK: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
• SalesForce

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