Art – Great point about how we many view each other. It might seem a little extreme, but that is what sets up the bridge – different viewpoints and not being able to meet in the middle. I think you are right that respect can go such a long way – if you have the respect of your boss and your peers, people are going to listen to you over the goober who just spouts off anything at any random moment.

Thanks for reading!

My small off ice staff is split nicely: 30 and under, 40 and older. While I can’t generalize 100%, my peer group seems slower to make decisions, agonize over details, goes over issues over and over again, has personal issues when computers go awry. The younger crowd jumps to conclusions, doesn’t think things through, is always on their cell phones or IM, and are simply loud and boisterous. How the heck are we to get along??

OK, only kidding – I’m describing the two groups through each other’s eyes. It’s certainly a two way street that’s just a bit too narrow to easily pass each with out an occasional bump. OTOH it’s what makes life fun, right?

One last thing to add onto your list; respect. As a boss, I really do respect the intensity and fluidity of youth; of the energy it brings to an office environment. And, I respect that my older staff bring a wealth of experience and seasoning that helps to make for a critical thinking office. The combination of the two sides makes for very interesting days!

I have two initial reactions to your post:

1) Of course, everyone (especially industry vets who have invested the blood, sweat and tears) wants to be appreciated and told how great they are. I think that this sort of flattery can take younger people some of the way to the goal of changing a generational stereotype, but I think what gets you all the way is simply a genuine interest in someone’s work, background, industry, etc. As I’ve commented before, I really do think PR pros as a whole are very happy to help – they just want to know that they’re not wasting their time on people that don’t really care about or aren’t going to act on what they’re saying. Passing information to younger folks is a two-way street: pros impart knowledge, and students ask, listen and learn. The best mentor/mentee relationships are built on this, and the more of them that can be struck between the generations, the better opinion the more senior members of the business will have of the junior ones. One step further: the more genuine interest the younger generation shows in the work and experience of the older generation, the better their impressions of each other will be.

2) As I wrote in #1, this process is a two-way street. This genuine interest needs to go both ways; the onus is also very much on the senior generation to approach and engage the younger folks with an open mind and an open heart, and let the resulting conversation determine their impression of that person.

Thanks for taking this forward!

Wow, great post and equally great comments. I can relate to so many of the points that have been brought up and I’m not even out of college yet. There are definitely a lot of boundaries that have to be overcome before we can truly bridge this gap.

I speak a lot about my summer internship experience and how amazing the people at Ruder Finn Interactive were at being receptive and supportive of my ideas. The person I worked closest with was Yan Shikhvarger. He was always receptive to my ideas and even let me take on projects on my own after seeing that I was capable enough to do so.

A big aspect that I found however is how willing you are to take on such ideas and projects. There are so many bright young professionals that have great ideas and capabilities but that only goes so far. Authority has been drilled into us for as long as we can remember, and I feel as though many young professionals sometimes doubt themselves when it comes to contributing to an idea. Some of the other interns that I worked with only did the tedious tasks that were handed to them and never went out and sought responsibility. They have it embedded in them that because they are younger, their contributions are not equal to that of older professionals, even if the older professionals are open to their ideas.

A big step in bridging the gap is to break this mindset. Younger professionals have to realize that their ideas are just as good as anyone that is older than they are, and older professionals have to encourage them to do so.

There has to be a level of respect for those that are more experienced by younger professionals and respect for a different mentality by older professionals but that shouldn’t establish creative authority. Creative authority shouldn’t exist.

Dave