The Platinum Rule

One of the top comments I get from managers and leaders I work with is, “Mark, today’s young people don’t have a work ethic”. My response to that is, YES they do, they just don’t have YOURS. If you are going to be an effective leader it means understanding how different generations think, how they communicate, what motivates THEM. Too many of us were brought up with the old Golden Rule mentality – Treat people the way you want to be treated. That is exactly the reason we have so many relationship and communication issues. Not everyone wants the same things as you or me.

In some organizations today we are dealing with three, four and even five generations. And then you factor in the four different personality/behavioral styles of the people in our lives. It’s important to be multi-lingual, and I don’t mean by ethnicity. To effectively lead people you must understand the wants, needs, desires and communication style of each generation and personality style, then speak THEIR language. It means dropping the golden rule and adopting the platinum rule – Treat people the way THEY want to be treated.

Feel free to contact me if you would like to learn more about personality styles or working with different generations. Here are a few helpful links for dealing with Generation Y (born between the years of 1982 and 2000 and are currently ages 7-26)

Managing Generation Y

Managing Generation Y as They Change the Workforce

Communicating with Twentysomethings

A Boomer's Guide to Communicating with Gen X and Gen Y

Gen Y v. Boomers: Generational Differences in Communication

The Platinum Rule