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The 3 Mandatory Elements of an Intergenerational Business Culture (as Seen in Politics)

Peter Kozodoy logo Posted Wednesday February 01st, 2017 The 3 Mandatory Elements of an Intergenerational Business Culture (as Seen in Politics)

This article originally appeared in The Huffington Post. If you like this article,

Given that I speak and write on honesty, transparency and authenticity within the millennial generation, I’ve been asked a lot about the election. While millennials have clearly indicated their dedication to authenticity in the workplace, the millennial view on authenticity in politics has been slightly warped by the system itself, which avoids authenticity so much that there is barely a basis for comparison.

The most frequent question I’ve received has been, “Why didn’t Trump’s version of honesty, transparency and authenticity persuade millennials to vote for him, when millennials are all about those values?” To be clear, only Gen Xers and Baby Boomers have asked me this, and the answer gets at the very heart of the generational divide of our time. The debate also teaches us a lot about intergenerational core values — both in business and in politics.

As Karl Moore put in his Forbes article, authenticity is the way to a millennial’s heart. His definitions of authenticity in general (including being self-aware, genuine and mission-driven) have interesting connotations for the political arena. To that end, here are my political translations of three essential, millennial core values: honesty, transparency and authenticity. A politician who embraces all three of these values would be:

  • Honest about the way the political game is played (and willing to openly discuss it)
  • Honest about the facts, not the story
  • Transparent about political gamesmanship
  • Transparent about personal/professional achievements
  • Authentic to the core values of community and country (from the local to the world stage)
  • Authentic to personal beliefs and goals

It seems both Trump and Clinton come up short based on these six simplified, but essential definitions. So, how did one win over the other? To help explain the election results, in a recent op-ed by the New York Times, the editorial board argued that Trump emerged victorious because he exploited the public’s desire to hear the story they wanted to hear, instead of the facts that were true.

From my millennial perspective, I believe this is an oversimplification of Trump’s victory. People have been persuaded by “the story they want to hear” for thousands of years. To assign this great human tendency to Trump misrepresents the generations of people older than millennials who voted for a middle ground in honesty, transparency and authenticity. In other words, I believe every generation wanted the same three values in this election, just in more or less compromising ways.

Millennials adhere more stringently to those three values than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, which left them vehemently averse to both candidates. And, since neither candidate achieved millennial-worthy status, millennials did the next best thing: They voted for the candidate who would most preserve human rights, international peace and environmental protection (doesn’t that sound millennial?). Fortunately for Clinton, that particular battleground was an easy win. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to convince older generations to continue to sacrifice their political system.

However, and fortunately for the business community, this election shows us that it is possible to satisfy the desires of every generation in the workplace. Below are the three mandatory elements of an intergenerational business culture:

  • Honesty: Leaders must not only communicate data honestly throughout the organization, but they must also address the realities of today’s business climate. Sugarcoating reality to make it more palatable, sticking to “the way things always were,” or saying one thing and doing another no longer fly.
  • Transparency: Transparency is important, not with proprietary information or executive compensation packages, per se, but certainly with the vision, mission and operating principles of the business. Should employees know all your financials? No. But they should have a sense that they are being well taken care of and that there are guiding principles that prevent greed, malice or cheating. Everyone should know what the rules are and be held by them, from the newest hire to the CEO.
  • Authenticity: This includes both an adherence to the brand’s identity and an appreciation of each individual’s ability to bring his/her own uniqueness to the organization. The organization’s vision and goals should fit in with each employee’s vision and goals. When all is in alignment, that’s when the magic happens.

    • There are two interesting facets of these three elements: First, they’re universal to every generation. Second, they’re all already within us. It takes putting on a strict, corporate “hat” to make leaders act dishonestly and inauthentically. Therefore, all we have to do is strip ourselves of that mentality and be our true selves. Just imagine if every organization and institution adopted these three principles. Society would look very different, indeed.

    We must say one thing about Trump: He is unabashedly himself. Perhaps Hillary was, too, in her continued support of the political system as it stands. That will have to remain one of life’s little mysteries. In any case, it appears that in business and in politics, honesty is still the best policy.

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