Generational leadership

For the first time in corporate history, three generations are working together: the baby-boomers (people who are more than 50 years old), the Generation X (people aged between 30 and 50 years old) and the Generation Y (people who are less than 30 years old). Although diversity lies at the heart of modern leadership (Cox, 1994), era is an aspect of leadership that has not received the attention it deserves (Blessed & Thomas, 2002, p.10). We offer to study the contents of generational values [descriptive function] and what leadership to develop to meet those values and generate the common of engagement of all three generations [transformative function]. Our work is based on a triple theoretical background, namely diversity, engagement and leadership. Our qualitative research is exploratory by nature - fifty-three interviews were carried out within private organizations (Whirlpool France, Manoir Industrie and PMC) to specify the nature of the bond of the three generations (i.e. baby-boomers, GenXers and GenYers) with leadership and engagement. At the theoretical level, the qualitative results confirm that the values of the three generations differ. As for management, the identification of leadership values makes it possible to specify how leadership can evolve to support a common engagement amongst the three generations. In conclusion, we formulate some recommendations to lead the various generations