Management Generations

Overview of the Generations

The four generations that will described below are each responsible for a major impact on our current daily lives. The Traditionalists, The Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, and Millennials are all in their own way massively important but each very unique within our workforce and society.

Traditionalist Generation

The traditionalist generation is by far one of the greatest generations. Throughout my life I have never turned down the opportunity to hear and “old war” story or anything coming from an elder from the traditionalist generation. They are a fine example to diminish the phrase “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Sure, they probably don’t have the newest IPhone 7, but they did single handily work to build our countries infrastructure.

Members of the traditionalist generation would be born before 1946, have either fought in or were children during World War II, and grew up during the Great Depression. The remaining members of this generation are more than likely in retirement, but they are still considered one of the wealthiest. Their wealth was a combination of growing up with nothing and having to learn fiscal responsibility at a very young age. An old saying my grandfather has used a thousand times is “A fool and his gold soon part”. This could not be a better example of a traditionalist quote! They strive for quality, comfort, and financial security. We all have a traditionalist relative that has the same exact couch they purchased 40 years ago for an unimaginable price, in mint condition, with no desire to replace it anytime soon.

Social, Political, Economical

Traditionalists not only survived a market crash in 1929 but thrived after words. Not only did they rebuild a nation and structured a global economy but they survived a slew of wars. World War II, the Cold War, and the Korean War all occurred under the traditionalist watch. With the unstable economy after the market crash, along with global conflict taking American lives every day, this generation had begun to lose confidence in its government but never lost pride in America. In 1933 Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as President of the United States and had promised to get our country back on the path of prosperity. His “fireside chats” will be remembered for generations to come because he simply spoke to the people, kept everyone informed and built the trust that our nation needed at the time. The social landscape was very much so a “cookie cutter”’ style. Men were men; these were the days that a man was expected to provide for his family while the wife maintained a nice home for the family. The men grew up on boy scouts, political figures, and the military lifestyle so they understood what it was to “not stick out” and to “mind your father”.

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