Can Leaders Bridge the Generational Divide? In this episode of Yuwab, host Saeed Alghafri explores the challenge—and opportunity—of managing multi-generational teams. From Baby Boomers to Gen Z, discover how diverse mindsets can coexist productively when leaders adapt their style and embrace inclusive values. Saeed shares real stories, practical tips, and essential leadership insights for today’s evolving workplace.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Timestamps
Thank you for joining Yuwab. If this episode sparked new ideas for managing your multi-generational team, please share it with your network.
Subscribe and leave a review to help us grow and continue delivering valuable leadership insights.
Until next time, lead with clarity and confidence!
(0:00) The first thing that I got was resistance. You don't want to have a feeling where it's (0:05) really juggling between two different worlds. Honestly, you don't have a choice.
(0:09) You have to basically adapt to what the time is basically giving you today. (0:15) Technology is making our life much more easier and flexible and we need to problem solve. (0:22) You're gonna see people coming knocking your door and saying, who's that kid you hired? (0:26) People really want to be heard and want to be included and want to be respected.
(0:37) Marhaba and how's it going everyone and welcome back to Yuwab. (0:41) I'm your host, Saeed Alghafri. In Yuwab, we always keep it real.
(0:46) If you're here, it tells me that growth, clarity are your priority in life and also work. (0:55) That's why I'm here and I understand your concerns and your frustrations (0:58) because I've been there and I've done it. Today's episode is a good one and I assure you that.
(1:06) It's one of the biggest leadership challenges in the modern workplace. (1:11) You know, it's all about managing people from a different age. (1:14) You know, I remember when I walked into the office when I was 23 years old, (1:19) the first thing that I got was resistance. People were not really accommodating me because (1:23) I was kind of a change, kind of a disruptance to what people used to do. (1:28) So think of a multiple generational team as you've got the baby boomers who are very much (1:34) into processes and then you have the Generation X and Millennials and Generation Z and maybe (1:41) Generation Alpha and Beta and God knows what will come. The reality is you don't want to have a (1:47) feeling where it's really juggling between two different worlds and that's what leaders have (1:53) today.
The challenges when you speak to leaders, they say, oh, it's all about age. But honestly, (2:00) it's all about a mindset and the work style that you need to have and the values in place. (2:06) Now, the good thing is you can navigate through that, but the change should come from you.
(2:13) All right. Why you want to do that? Because you want to really be productive and unstoppable. (2:18) Right.
You feel it's easy, but it's not actually an actual fact. But honestly, you don't have a (2:23) choice. You have to basically adapt to what the time is basically giving you today.
So when you (2:32) look at a multi-generational team, think of it as someone who's bringing really huge experience, (2:39) fresh ideas, really skills that you need currently, because time today is really moving (2:48) very fast. Technology is making our life much more easier and flexible, and we need to problem (2:55) solve. And the faster we problem solve, the better we basically do things at our company or your (3:02) company. Now, don't think of having a multi-generational team as a friction, and that (3:09) will be the case, by the way. You're going to see people coming knocking your door and saying, who's (3:14) that kid you hired? Or maybe someone young coming and telling you, why the hell do you have this guy (3:19) here? He should be retired. But in actual fact, think of it this way.
The people who are seasonal, (3:26) who've been there, they bring experience, they bring hierarchy, and they bring really great (3:31) processes. The millennials, and I'm at the end of that, by the way, they thrive when it's about (3:37) collaboration and purpose. Now, when you look at the current generation, generations that really (3:45) want speed, they want flexibility, and they want constant feedback.
Now, when I talk about these (3:51) behaviors, this tells you that it's important to adapt your leadership style. It's not about having (3:58) a tension between someone who's right and who's wrong. All right? So, reality here is, what you (4:05) need to do is adapt your leadership and adapt your style.
Let me share with you a story. I shared (4:11) with you when I came, when I joined the company. I remember when I joined.
At that time, we were (4:16) faxing requests to quote. Wallahi, I swear to God, I used to stay until 8 p.m., just faxing. That (4:27) process takes four to five hours. And one day, I came to my manager, and I was the young kid, (4:35) and the guys were telling me, yeah, you have to fax, you need to wait for the confirmation, (4:39) for those who knows what fax is. And honestly, I was like, why don't we email that? Because at (4:46) that time, we could have scanned it, and then email it. And in the beginning, and thank God, (4:52) my manager supported me, we did it.
And it worked fantastic. My manager left the office at 4 p.m. I (5:01) also had to leave earlier. See what happens when you have people, I mean, from a different really (5:08) age wise.
It's all about values and targets and what you want to achieve. Let me share with you (5:14) another story. When I became a leader or a C-suite, I remember one young guy did a fantastic job, (5:22) really fantastic.
The savings were amazing. So I called the guy, and I said, you know what, (5:29) good job, man. You did a fantastic job.
Now, his manager heard that. And this guy is very much (5:37) into processes and all this and all that. I know him very well.
So he called me and said, Saeed, (5:42) but that guy did not really follow the process. And I'm like, so what, did he basically deviate (5:50) significantly? He said, no. I said, okay, why don't you go sit down with him, talk to him and (5:57) see how can you reach a compromise. And maybe it's time now we revise our processes. You see how it (6:03) works. I mean, it's all about adapting that.
So the key lesson here is how can you balance between (6:09) two different communication and two different styles at work? Because at the end of the day, (6:15) you want to avoid frustration and you really want to move on with projects. All right. So this is (6:23) basically something that would really aim to have us find a common ground when we basically manage (6:30) such teams.
Now, the idea here is you have to lead, all right, but you don't want to lead in a (6:37) frustration mood because some people really lose their mind. What you need, you need to have a (6:44) really great culture where values are very much accommodating everyone. Because at the end of the (6:51) day, you need to think of these differences as a way that bring you diversity.
It's a strength. (7:00) It's not really a source where you have conflict and all that. And listen, what's underneath that (7:09) really request, whether it's from a young one or it's basically a seasoned employee, (7:14) is really something.
It's a message that really tells us to change or do something. So what (7:21) happens is that when you lead a team, you really need to listen very carefully to their request. (7:30) It may sound as a frustration, right? It may sound as a frustration.
And again, let me give (7:37) you an example to make it simple. When you go into a formal meeting, what happens is that if you have (7:43) a generation that really wants speed and wants flexibility, their response may be very much toned (7:50) in a frustration way. Now, you need to be very much flexible and adaptable when it comes to that.
(7:56) So the more you listen, the more you become better. If you go into that meeting pushing people and (8:03) demanding people and telling them what to do and listen, you have to do these processes, (8:09) you are missing values or skills from that generation, whether it's old, young, mid, (8:15) doesn't matter. At the end of the day, people really want to be heard and want to be included (8:22) and want to be respected.
And that's why it's important to have that flexibility when you have (8:28) to the meeting. And again, as I mentioned, you need to basically adjust the way you (8:33) communicate with people, your leadership, your language should very much be adaptable. (8:40) You know, sometimes most of the people think that, or leaders, when they are demanding, (8:46) they get things done.
But that's not the case. Really, that's not the case. When you demand (8:52) people to say, okay, you know what, screw this guy, I'm going to do whatever he wants or she wants.
(8:57) And again, look for shared values. Something that I like is that when you have a different kind of (9:04) people, they're all there in that specific space because they have a shared values in place or (9:11) purpose or a mission statement. The more you bring that into the team, the less friction (9:19) you're going to have, irrespective of their age or whatever they want, because people want to be (9:26) in that space to have some meaningful work and be respected and also be part of the team. (9:34) Let me share with you another story. I remember I ran this transformation program where I said, (9:42) you know what, let me have a young team. Honestly, what happened is that this young team, (9:50) when they went and they've been coordinating with the people who've been there, not all, (9:55) we're all old.
Again, they've been coordinating and trying to push things because they're really (10:01) fast and flexible. They really couldn't do it. Really.
The young people were like, you know what, (10:07) that's the way it should be done. And the people who were there, they were like, you know what, (10:11) get out. We don't want to do it.
The thing here is that when I looked at basically both views, (10:20) the young people were like, these guys are slow. They don't understand the process. They don't (10:24) want to change and all that.
And the people who've been there, they were like, these guys are really (10:29) rushing stuff. They don't know what they're talking about, et cetera. What I was trying to do is to (10:36) bring the two teams, share the value, share the process, share the mission with them and the (10:43) purpose and why we are doing this project.
And I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to tell you (10:49) that it took really, really worked well from day one. No, it took time. But ultimately, we achieved (10:57) what we want because people have that shared values and they start to collaborate much more (11:03) better. All right. So what I'm going to leave you with now is basically a few steps for you to (11:12) balance on how you can basically have a much more better way to lead different generations.
(11:18) The first thing here is try to basically have a different kind of communication. (11:24) You know, the young people don't really like meetings. That's what I noticed.
Let me share (11:30) with you an example. I remember I was working on a project with a team who's not in the UAE. (11:38) They like abroad.
And I'm one of those guys who prefer really a face-to-face meeting. Honestly, (11:42) I prefer that. And I'm sure most, a lot of people prefer that as well.
But the team I was (11:48) preparing with, they didn't like face-to-face meeting. They didn't even like virtual meetings. (11:52) They were like, Said, send us your comments by email.
I struggled a lot. I struggled a lot. And (12:01) honestly, I had to change the way and blend the way on how I should communicate with that team.
(12:08) So instead of having just emails, I mixed it between emails and virtual meeting, sometimes (12:16) even instant messages, because that's something that works when it comes to basically people. (12:23) So try to have a mix between the communication. It's not only face-to-face meeting. It's not always, (12:29) you have to be in the office and we have to do it face-to-face because some people don't like that. (12:32) As long as the work is done, then it's fantastic. Step number two, as a leader, (12:39) look at your team.
You will find people who have experience. You will find people who has (12:44) really that innovation sense coming. So what you need to do is basically let the senior team (12:52) mentor those expertise to that young team.
And also let the young team share their innovation (12:59) when it comes to technology and new approaches. It's just beautiful, man, when you think about it, (13:05) when you have a mix between this and that. And the third thing, and the most important thing is (13:12) set clear expectations, targets and accountability.
You don't want to leave a room where you don't (13:18) tell people what to do, right? You need to tell this person, you need to focus on that. This (13:24) person need to focus on it, set the expectation. Everyone should know that this project needs to (13:30) be done on that specific day.
No negotiation whatsoever after that. All right? Now, (13:40) trust me, what happens is that this, the last step that I mentioned to you, it will happen. People (13:48) will have a conflict, but once you are firm on the expectation, once you have the structure in place, (13:54) then work will basically be moving on in a really great pace. Now, some of the things that I see, (14:03) and I mentioned those, is that, you know, we tend to have that stereotyping by generation. You know, (14:08) not everyone wants to have an unlimited paid overtime. And not all these millennial or boomers (14:16) or whatever you want to call them, are lazy, or they're slow, or old mentality, you know, or, (14:23) you know, I heard some people say that they resist change.
So it's not, try to avoid that (14:29) stereotyping, because not all the people are the same. And honestly, be ready for any frustration, (14:36) be ready for that, because you're going to have misunderstanding coming on. And that's when you (14:41) need to basically step in, check with the team, and then see what's really happening.
Let me share (14:47) with you a story. I remember one time, this is like the first time it happens, like five guys (14:52) came to me and they're like, that guy is really not doing a good job. And I had to bring them in, (14:58) because the five guys were saying something, and this guy was saying something.
So reality is, (15:04) it was very important that these people come together in a room, clear their differences, (15:09) and then move on. So be alert for that. And what I seen currently is that if you are really an (15:16) old generation, you're just going to accommodate the old generation people.
So you're very much (15:21) going to accommodate people on one group, try to avoid that, because you don't want to have a (15:26) dominating team really on the culture. All right, now, just a quick recap. The first thing is when (15:36) comes to leading multi-generational team is understand the real needs behind the request.
(15:42) So understand what exactly is the request behind that from that different generation. Don't really (15:46) push and then speed up your response. Have a multiple communication channels, as we said, (15:54) emails, one-to-one meeting, virtual meetings, etc.
And as a leader, the third thing is try to (16:00) pair between experience and fresh ideas. The fourth thing here is avoid labeling or stereotyping. (16:08) It's very important.
The last thing here is, you know, you will have to have a culture where it's (16:14) adaptable and really inclusive. All right, why this is so important? I'll tell you something. (16:22) It's really the reality here.
You don't have any other option as you age in a company or the (16:29) corporate life. You're going to have people coming because time changes, time change the way we work, (16:35) time change the way we even interact with each other. So reality here is you will have to be (16:41) ready for that.
You have no option, my friend. That's the first thing. Now, why you need to (16:48) basically adapt to that? You ultimately are there in the company because you're going to make great (16:53) results and your financial performance should be the key for your success.
This is basically what (17:00) people indicate. And then you want to have a team where they're thriving and they are basically (17:05) innovating and all that. So you have no other option but to manage and be adaptive when it (17:11) comes to that.
All right. You know, at Yuwab, we believe in making people better. You know, we all (17:20) have great potential ultimately, and we really want to thrive better.
So what I ask you, just (17:28) maybe share this episode. You know what? Someone may need it there. And ultimately, you're going (17:35) to support me as well when it comes to that.
All right. So until next time, keep shining, (17:40) take care of yourself and those who you care about.