One sent a voice memo, the other printed the email
Leading Multigenerational Teams
For the first time in history, five generations are working side by side. Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Generation Z. And now, here comes Generation Alpha: 15 and 16 year olds picking up their first casual shifts, starting apprenticeships, and entering the workforce for the very first time.
Each generation is shaped by profoundly different social, economic, and technological realities. Each is carrying different assumptions about work, authority, loyalty, feedback, and purpose.
So, what has changed? People are working longer: the average retirement age in Australia has been rising steadily, with many remaining employed into their late sixties and early seventies. And the youngest are just arriving: Generation Alpha, a term coined by Australian researcher Mark McCrindle, were born from 2010 onwards, are beginning to work. The result is a potential span of working experience exceeding fifty years within a single industry, if not a single organisation.
Each of these five generations was shaped by a different world. Different assumptions about what a manager is for, what loyalty means, whether work should feel meaningful or just pay the bills. Not to mention preferences around communication (and for Alpha, it’s definitely not email, although it’s probably not a phone call either for many generations).
For leaders, these differences can show up in our leadership shadow, which sends constant signals; what we reward, what we prioritise, what we say and what we do. And we're often running on autopilot, shaped by the leadership we experienced ourselves. This can determine what we expect from others, sometimes without realising it.
So how do we respond to the spanning generations? Probably in one of two ways, both of which fall short. The first is treating everyone the same, which sounds fair but isn’t. A 16-year-old and a 62-year-old do not always have the same needs, motivations, or relationship with work. The second is leaning so hard into generational labels that the actual person disappears. Not every Gen Alpha is glued to a screen and not every Boomer is ready to retire.
What works is something in between: treating generational context as useful background and then getting to know the people in front of us.
Research consistently shows that age-diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones on complex problems. So, the real question is: have we built the conditions for that to happen? That means reflecting on who gets heard in our teams. Whose ideas move forward? Whose concerns get priority?
It also means asking more questions in our one-on-ones and team meetings. Being curious and not assuming we already know what someone prefers and how they want to work. And importantly, reflecting on our own assumptions, our behaviour and our leadership shadow.
To navigate this shift, leaders can benefit from staying curious, asking lots of questions, listening without already composing a response. Be interested in the person in front of us, not just the generation they represent. If you are looking ahead to lead the team that spans five generations, click on the link below for helpful tips and questions.
The Multigenerational Leader - tool
At Nudge Leadership, we work with senior leaders and the organisations they lead, unpacking what's personal, what's systemic and how to make change. If this resonates, we'd love to hear from you.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2023). Labour Force Survey.
Deloitte (2023) Global 2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey. deloitte.com
Wegge, J. et al. (2012). 'What Makes Age Diverse Teams Effective? Results from a Six-Year Research Program.' Work
McCrindle & Fell (2021). Generation Alpha. Hachette Australia.
