As a member of Gen X, I find it rather interesting to hear that many corporations and organizational development professionals are worried if my generation will actually step up and fill the void of retiring Traditionalists and Boomers. Yet, if I had a dime for every time I heard we need to cater to the Millennials to meet this void, I'd have a whole lot of dimes. It's not that hard to feel like I am trapped in a bad episode of the Brady Bunch and Gen Xers are cast as the whiny middle child Jan moaning- "Millennials. Millennials. Millennials.
Frankly, it is hard being the dependable and reliable ones. I might come across to my Boomer co-workers as a stick-in-the-mud or the "devil's advocate ; yet, it has been my experience that someone needs to provide a bit of reality and a wake-up call to the indulgent spending ways of the past that has many of my elders facing bankruptcy and foreclosure. After all, are we not seeing this play out right before our eyes with the mortgage crisis and high-risk lending concerns?
Most Gen Xers have been self-reliant and independent based on experience from our early upbringing. Personally, I came from a single parent household where my mother worked a 2nd shift job. I reminded myself to complete my school work and set my own goals in life. I cooked my own meals and did my own laundry. When I entered the job market, I knew how to be resourceful and was not afraid to reach out and find the answers I would need to get the job done. When you have been the master of your own destiny for so long, it instills confidence that many Millennials may at times perceive as aloofness.
I have found that this level of responsibility applies not only to my personal life, but to the organization I work for as well. One of the most important elements of organizational accountability is that you understand your position, responsibilities and how you will be evaluated. I make it a practice to understand what is required in my job performance, clarify my short-term goals with my supervisor and talk about what I would need to progress to the next level within the organization, whether it is a horizontal or vertical move that I envision down the road. I personally take responsibility for my own levels of engagement in the organizations I work for. It is time that we stop placing the entire weight of engagement squarely upon the organizations' shoulders.
For as hard as I am on my parents, I am glad they made me take responsibility for my choices in life; Corporate America NEEDS Gen Xers' strong work ethic and ability to see the big picture. It seems to be hard wired into our nature to seek out the high performers and want to team with these top players. These attributes of my generation have shaped a group of dependable and reliable employees. Don't count us out just yet.
