As I have often said, I have been fortunate throughout my career. When I started APCO nearly 30 years ago, I had little more than a vision and the courage to pursue it. Nothing quite like APCO had ever really existed before, and starting a business from scratch is especially challenging. Like any person starting down a new path, I needed guidance to help me address things I had never encountered. Fortunately, I have never been afraid to ask for help, and many senior professionals from the Greatest Generation were willing to help me and serve as mentors when I reached out. I learned a lot from being exposed to their thinking and their experience over the years.
This is one of the many reasons why I have always valued mentoring as a core priority at APCO. Professional development is an important element for any company, especially for firms dependent on human capital. To build a firm like APCO, you have to continually go out and seek the best and brightest. Cultivating and retaining young professionals and growing them into senior business leaders is the secret to success in any professional services organization. Now, nearly 30 years after I founded the company, I can see how well this investment has paid off. Most of APCO’s senior leaders have been with the firm for many years, and I can see an even greater generation rising within the company. They carry with them not only the skills they developed over the years, but also the culture, which is the glue to our future.
This is one of the reasons why it is so important for Baby Boomer business leaders to mentor Millennials, who will soon account for nearly half of all employees worldwide. With this generation comes not only a set of new skills for a new age, but also a set of values important to the future of the world. Millennials and Baby Boomers are not the vastly different groups that we often see portrayed in public. Though differences are certainly there, both are determined generations that are constantly seeking to learn. Both generations also grew up in a time of great change and transition. They had values different from the generation before, and brought a new energy and passion to the workplace as well as new demands to society. We have a lot to learn from each other. Being trained as a teacher, I have a special appreciation for this.
Baby Boomers have adapted, sometimes more slowly than desired, to the changing technologies and cultures of the world in order to continue succeeding in their careers, rather than being phased out; and they have no intention of quietly retiring any time soon. They are dependent upon the knowledge that Millennials bring to work, especially that special “chip” in their DNA that makes them digital natives. Likewise, Millennials are constantly seeking out new information to maintain their adaptive advantage, while proving the value of their unique insights, and they show no indication of meekly staying out of the limelight. What they lack is experience. Successful leaders will capitalize on these commonalities and mutual needs to mentor this younger generation while inspiring older workers.
Mentoring is not a formal process, and it does not happen in regularly scheduled times. Like most relationships in life, it has to be authentic and organically grown. It has to grow out of mutual respect. While the beginning might feel awkward, soon a natural rhythm and comfort can be found. To me, mentoring is a constant process involving everything from showing an employee the edits you made to their document, to convening regular lunch and learn sessions with junior staff, to taking more junior people along to meetings and inviting them to brainstorm at senior level meetings.
There also has to be receptivity for the older generations to listen and learn from their younger colleagues. As CEO, I formed a “CEO Council” to ensure that younger employees always have access and an opportunity to interact with APCO’s CEO, and I have the benefit of their thinking and good ideas. Some of the best new ideas in the firm have come from these sessions. At APCO, programs like this help to reinforce our more collegial culture that makes make working across borders, offices and generations more seamless.
With age, we become more comfortable with who we are and what we have accomplished. Boomers have learned a lot through our successes and failures, and we have much to impart to Millennials. We were an optimistic generation that had some hard life lessons. Similarly, Millennials are coming of age in challenging conditions, and they are constantly innovating to make their mark on the world. There is much they can teach us. By being more collegial and candid with Millennials, we can encourage them to make the best choices for themselves, and in turn we can learn a great deal by better understanding their values and aspirations. Indeed, doing this might produce the greatest generation of leaders the world has ever seen.
Margery Kraus is the founder and CEO of APCO Worldwide.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's September/October 2013 print edition.
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How Boomers Can Mentor Millennials
September 10, 2013
As I have often said, I have been fortunate throughout my career. When I started APCO nearly 30 years ago, I had little more than a vision and the courage to pursue it. Nothing quite like APCO had ever really existed before, and starting a business from scratch is especially challenging. Like any person starting down a new path, I needed guidance to help me address things I had never encountered. Fortunately, I have never been afraid to ask for help, and many senior professionals from the Greatest Generation were willing to help me and serve as mentors when I reached out. I learned a lot from being exposed to their thinking and their experience over the years.
This is one of the many reasons why I have always valued mentoring as a core priority at APCO. Professional development is an important element for any company, especially for firms dependent on human capital. To build a firm like APCO, you have to continually go out and seek the best and brightest. Cultivating and retaining young professionals and growing them into senior business leaders is the secret to success in any professional services organization. Now, nearly 30 years after I founded the company, I can see how well this investment has paid off. Most of APCO’s senior leaders have been with the firm for many years, and I can see an even greater generation rising within the company. They carry with them not only the skills they developed over the years, but also the culture, which is the glue to our future.
This is one of the reasons why it is so important for Baby Boomer business leaders to mentor Millennials, who will soon account for nearly half of all employees worldwide. With this generation comes not only a set of new skills for a new age, but also a set of values important to the future of the world. Millennials and Baby Boomers are not the vastly different groups that we often see portrayed in public. Though differences are certainly there, both are determined generations that are constantly seeking to learn. Both generations also grew up in a time of great change and transition. They had values different from the generation before, and brought a new energy and passion to the workplace as well as new demands to society. We have a lot to learn from each other. Being trained as a teacher, I have a special appreciation for this.
Baby Boomers have adapted, sometimes more slowly than desired, to the changing technologies and cultures of the world in order to continue succeeding in their careers, rather than being phased out; and they have no intention of quietly retiring any time soon. They are dependent upon the knowledge that Millennials bring to work, especially that special “chip” in their DNA that makes them digital natives. Likewise, Millennials are constantly seeking out new information to maintain their adaptive advantage, while proving the value of their unique insights, and they show no indication of meekly staying out of the limelight. What they lack is experience. Successful leaders will capitalize on these commonalities and mutual needs to mentor this younger generation while inspiring older workers.
Mentoring is not a formal process, and it does not happen in regularly scheduled times. Like most relationships in life, it has to be authentic and organically grown. It has to grow out of mutual respect. While the beginning might feel awkward, soon a natural rhythm and comfort can be found. To me, mentoring is a constant process involving everything from showing an employee the edits you made to their document, to convening regular lunch and learn sessions with junior staff, to taking more junior people along to meetings and inviting them to brainstorm at senior level meetings.
There also has to be receptivity for the older generations to listen and learn from their younger colleagues. As CEO, I formed a “CEO Council” to ensure that younger employees always have access and an opportunity to interact with APCO’s CEO, and I have the benefit of their thinking and good ideas. Some of the best new ideas in the firm have come from these sessions. At APCO, programs like this help to reinforce our more collegial culture that makes make working across borders, offices and generations more seamless.
With age, we become more comfortable with who we are and what we have accomplished. Boomers have learned a lot through our successes and failures, and we have much to impart to Millennials. We were an optimistic generation that had some hard life lessons. Similarly, Millennials are coming of age in challenging conditions, and they are constantly innovating to make their mark on the world. There is much they can teach us. By being more collegial and candid with Millennials, we can encourage them to make the best choices for themselves, and in turn we can learn a great deal by better understanding their values and aspirations. Indeed, doing this might produce the greatest generation of leaders the world has ever seen.
Margery Kraus is the founder and CEO of APCO Worldwide.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's September/October 2013 print edition.
