The study of demographics is fascinating and when you take it to the subject of generations, it adds another dimension. The National Association of Corporate Directors’, at their final Directorship 20/20 event of the year, featured Chuck Underwood, the founder and principal of The Generational Imperative. He presented an excellent description of each generation class and the reasoning for their attributes. There are five living generations each with distinct sets of core values. These values in turn dictate how they make career, consumer and lifestyle decisions. The formative years, under the age of 18, mold their core values. A generation begins with the age of 18.
The generations and their essence, is applicable only to the U.S. and Canada although you see other countries using the terms. Other countries have different environmental factors that affect the formative years. The five generations as outlined by Chuck are GI or The Great Generation (born between 1901-26), Silent (1927-45), Boomer (1945-64), GenX (1965-81) and Millennials(1982-96).
“In business, generational influences should become a permanent filter,” said Chuck. “We need a generational gear box where we can shift effectively between the generations in the marketplace, workplace and in the board room. Each generation has unique strengths and weaknesses and we need to plan for both. In recent decades our generational strengths have been out of whack. We are now going into a phase where the Silents are retired, Boomers are leading, Y’s are executing and Millennials are enthusiastically learning and want to make a difference. Over the next decade this will be the scenario and it will prove very productive of the U.S.”