Sep 17 2009
The Most Powerful Age Group in Business Today
For most of this year I’ve watched a very interesting trend in business, the changing of the management guard. Or as I call it – The Rise of the Thirty-Somethings.
On the surface you may think that companies are replacing their older managers for purely economic reasons – younger is cheaper. To an extent that is true, but it’s not the whole story.
The main reason this change is taking place is attitude. You see, these thirty something managers and entrepreneurs don’t know what they don’t know and that’s a good thing. This is, in large part, the first time they’ve faced really tough economic times with the capacity to do something about it.
When 9-11 sent the economy into a tailspin, they were still in their twenties and mostly dealing with growing up along with the tough economic times, so the effect was somewhat lost on them. This time however, they have a decade or more of business experience under their belts, energy and best of all, no memory.
The older managers and leaders remember the good old days and are still longing for them. They struggle with the fact that their five year goal of retirement is now ten or fifteen years away. And who can blame them? It’s tough to wake up knowing that their life has become the tale of Sisyphus with that darned rock getting oh-so-close to the top only to roll back down the hill.
Unfortunately, business doesn’t care and makes no concessions for being close. It’s the toughest win/lose game out there and all about productivity. If your head’s not in the game, you lose – simple as that.
So, if you’re a business owner wondering how to energize your company, skew younger. And if you’re a forty to fifty something out there I highly recommend you check your attitude and leave the past behind. If you don’t, you’re bound to become part of it.
Dwain – The BusinessBiker
As always – these are just my thoughts on the matter, I could be wrong. So, if you disagree or simply want to pile on, please do so either here on the BLOG or email me directly at Navigator@BikersGuidetoBusiness.Com I look forward to hearing from you. www.bikersguidetobusiness.com
Stumble it!
These thirtysomethings are what I commonly refer to as thirtysomething MBA punks. I don’t mean to lump all of them in to this catagory, however, here is my observation.
Mommy and Daddy paid for their education, usually partying during the summer instead of getting a summer job and living off the guilt of their parents. Since they have been handed everything, they feel a certain entitlement and as such will take what is not theirs, without any moral or ethical regard to who they hurt or damage along the way since they have the arrogance of feeling they are deserving of it. And God forbid they have to deal with the ignorant semi-skilled or even skilled labor, who are far beneth them(in their own mind). How many jobs have been lost by thousands of people and how many lives have been ruined is insigificant when it comes to making sure they get they bonus at the year’s end or step up the corporate ladder. There is value to the few thirtysomethings that had to work their way through college, getting their hands dirty and understanding where they came from and how it shapes where they are going. It is certainly what I am looking for in a thirtysomething.