The Email That Made Me Rethink Everything
Last month, I received an email that stopped me in my tracks. It was from Lisa, a Gen X manager who’d been listening to the podcast for about six months. She wrote:
“Dr. Batchelder, I need to tell you something. I started listening to your podcast because I was frustrated with my younger employees. I thought you were going to teach me how to fix them. Instead, you made me realize I needed to fix my assumptions.”
She went on to describe how she’d always prided herself on being a fair manager, treating everyone equally. But “equally” meant treating everyone like herself and expecting them to communicate the way she did, motivate themselves the way she did, and define success the way she did.
The wake-up call came when one of her Gen Z employees, David, resigned. In his exit interview, he said, “I never knew if I was doing well. When I asked for feedback, Lisa seemed annoyed. When I suggested improvements, she acted like I was criticizing her. I felt invisible.”
Lisa realized that her “treat everyone equally” approach was actually creating inequality. David needed more frequent feedback and collaborative problem-solving, but she’d interpreted his requests as signs of insecurity and pushiness.
Here’s what got me: Lisa didn’t just change her approach with Gen Z employees. She started checking in with her entire team about their communication and feedback preferences. She discovered that her Millennial project manager also wanted more regular touchpoints, and her Boomer senior associate actually preferred written feedback over verbal discussions.
“It wasn’t about Gen Z,” she wrote. “It was about recognizing that good management means adapting to individuals, not expecting individuals to adapt to me.”
This email reminded me why I started this podcast. It’s not really about generations at all – it’s about creating workplaces where everyone can do their best work.
Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs come when we stop trying to understand “them” and start understanding people.
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