“Coaching Skills for
Managing Different
Generations”
Peter Khoury
and Alan Ovson
The Ovson
Communications Group

Part I
Perception
Part II
Generations
Part III
Coaching System
Part IV
Conclusion

Part I
Perception

Perception
“Whilst part of what we perceive comes
through our senses from the object
before us, another part (and it may be
the larger part) always comes out of
our own mind”
William James, Prominent American Psychologist

Addition
Do you See
the Cube?

Guess What?
• There was NO Cube in the previous
slide
• There were only Black Circles with
Patterns in them
• Your mind added the cube

Subtraction
Read this:

Guess What?
• Did you read the second “the”
• There are two “The”s
• Your mind Subtracted one of them

Distortion
Which
square
looks
darker?

Guess What?
• Both squares are exactly the same
shade
• Your mind distorts the information
based on its believes

Assumptions
Who is
this?

Guess What?
•Your mind Makes Assumptions

What you see is NOT what
you get!
• The mind does:
– Addition
– Subtraction
– Distortion
– Assumption
• To reduce additions, subtraction,
distortions and assumptions we need to
study each generation separately

Part II
Generations

Each Generation has a unique
Imprint

Four Generations of Workers
• Veterans (1933­1945); 63­75
• Boomers (1946­1964); 44­62
• Gen X (1965­1980); 28­43
• Gen Y (Millennials) (1981­2000); 8­27

Population
Population By Generation
Gen Y 74
Generations
Gen X 49
Boomers 78
Veterans 48
0 20 40 60 80 100
Population Count (millions)
US Census 2005

Veterans
(1933­1945)

Personal Characteristics Of
Generations
Personal and Lifestyle Characteristics by Generation (adopted from FDU magazine)
Veterans Boomers Gen X Gen Y
(1922­1945) (1946­1964) (1965­1980) (1981­2000)
Core Values Respect for authority Optimism Skepticism Realism
Conformers Involvement Fun Confidence
Discipline Informality Extreme fun
Social
Family Traditional Disintegrating Latch­key kids Merged Families
Nuclear
Education A dream A birth right A way to get there An incredible
expense
Communication Rotary phones Touch­tone phones Cell phone Text
Media Memo Call me anytime Don't call me after Internet
One­on­one work Email
Dealing with Put it away Buy now, pay later Cautious Earn to spend
Money Pay cash Conservative
Save it
FDU Magazine 2005

Boomers
(1946­1964)

Personal Characteristics Of
Generations
Personal and Lifestyle Characteristics by Generation (adopted from FDU magazine)
Veterans Boomers Gen X Gen Y
(1922­1945) (1946­1964) (1965­1980) (1981­2000)
Core Values Respect for authority Optimism Skepticism Realism
Conformers Involvement Fun Confidence
Discipline Informality Extreme fun
Social
Family Traditional Disintegrating Latch­key kids Merged Families
Nuclear
Education A dream A birth right A way to get there An incredible
expense
Communication Rotary phones Touch­tone phones Cell phone Text
Media Memo Call me anytime Don't call me after Internet
One­on­one work Email
Dealing with Put it away Buy now, pay later Cautious Earn to spend
Money Pay cash Conservative
Save it
FDU Magazine 2005

Gen X (Latchkey)
(1965­1980)

Personal Characteristics Of
Generations
Personal and Lifestyle Characteristics by Generation (adopted from FDU magazine)
Veterans Boomers Gen X Gen Y
(1922­1945) (1946­1964) (1965­1980) (1981­2000)
Core Values Respect for authority Optimism Skepticism Realism
Conformers Involvement Fun Confidence
Discipline Informality Extreme fun
Social
Family Traditional Disintegrating Latch­key kids Merged Families
Nuclear
Education A dream A birth right A way to get there An incredible
expense
Communication Rotary phones Touch­tone phones Cell phone Text
Media Memo Call me anytime Don't call me after Internet
One­on­one work Email
Dealing with Put it away Buy now, pay later Cautious Earn to spend
Money Pay cash Conservative
Save it
FDU Magazine 2005

Gen Y
(1981­2000)

Personal Characteristics Of
Generations
Personal and Lifestyle Characteristics by Generation (adopted from FDU magazine)
Veterans Boomers Gen X Gen Y
(1922­1945) (1946­1964) (1965­1980) (1981­2000)
Core Values Respect for authority Optimism Skepticism Realism
Conformers Involvement Fun Confidence
Discipline Informality Extreme fun
Social
Family Traditional Disintegrating Latch­key kids Merged Families
Nuclear
Education A dream A birth right A way to get there An incredible
expense
Communication Rotary phones Touch­tone phones Cell phone Text
Media Memo Call me anytime Don't call me after Internet
One­on­one work Email
Dealing with Put it away Buy now, pay later Cautious Earn to spend
Money Pay cash Conservative
Save it
FDU Magazine 2005

Work Characteristics
Generations Workplace Characteristics (adopted from FDU magazine)
Veterans Boomers Gen X Gen Y
(1922­1945) (1946­1964) (1965­1980) (1981­2000)
Work Ethic and Hard Work Workaholics Eliminate the task What's next
Values Respect authority Work efficiently Self­reliance Multitasking
Sacrifice Crusading causes Want structure and Tenacity
Duty before fun Personal fulfillment direction Entrepreneurial
Adhere to rules Desire quality Skeptical Tolerant
Question authority Goal oriented
Wok Is … An obligation An exciting adventure A difficult challenge A means to an end
A contract Fulfillment
Leadership Style Directive Consensual Everyone is the same To be determined
Command­and­Control Collegial Challenge others
Ask Why
Interactive Style Individual Team player Entrepreneur Participative
Loves to have meetings
Communications Formal In Person Direct E­mail
Memo Immediate Voice Mail
Feedback and No news is good news Don't appreciate it Sorry to interrupt Whenever I want it
Rewards Satisfaction in a job Money but how am I doing? at the push of a
well done Title recognition Freedom is the button
best reward Meaningful work
Messages that Your experience is You are valued Do it your way You will work with
Motivate respected you are needed Forget the rules other bright and
creative people
Work and Family Balance what is that? No balance Balance Balance
Life Work to live

Part III
Why Coaching
Skills Now?

A cookie cutter approach to management is
like…

Stop Pushing All The Time

Start EMPoweRing

Factors Influencing Results

Ha
Be bits
Sk havio
Pr ills r
oc
es
s
M
Va ind
Be lu se
M lie es t
ot fs
iv
at
io
n
The EMPoweR® Coaching

New Generations of Workers

Motivating Employees

Finding and Retaining Talent

Assigning Roles and Responsibly

Benefits of Coaching and Mentoring to the Manager
Peace of mind
• Get Things Done Faster
and overcome challenges
• Get More Visibility
• Get More Respect
• Get More Time
• Get More Job Satisfaction
• Reduce your Stress
• Become known as the
developer of people.

“Benefits to the Organization”
• Increase retention
rate
• Improve problem
solving
• Increase the quality
of work
• Empower employees
• Diffuse conflict

5­year long study at Sun
Microsystems for Coaches
Mentors vs Control Group at Sun Microsystems
80%
69%
70%
60%
60%
49%
50%
Mentors
40%
28% Control Group
30%
20% 10%
10% 5%
0%
Increased salary Stayed in the Got promoted
organization

5­year long study at Sun
Microsystems for Mentees
Mentees vs Control Group at Sun Microsystems
80% 72%
70%
60%
49% 50%
50%
Mentees
40%
25% Control Group
30%
20% 10%
10% 5%
0%
Increased salary Stayed in the Got promoted
organization

The EMPoweR® Coaching
model
It’s a Flexible Relational and Systematic
communication and management model to
empower people by Clarifying results and
empowering people to solve problems
• Manager to Manager
• Employee to Manager
• Manager to Employee

Thank You