Generational Leadership
Let’s do our best to meet others where they are.
Successful safety leadership requires strong interpersonal skills, including the capacity to develop effective working relationships. Various issues can affect the quality of these connections. We are best served by leaving some (e.g., politics, religion) mostly out of the workplace. Others stir our passions but likely do not matter as much as we think they do. And then there is the topic of generational differences, which we would be remiss to ignore given its level of divisiveness in the workplace.
The following jobsite interaction between a baby boomer and a Gen Z employee illustrates the gravity of this issue. To provide context, the Gen Z-er had been working on an overhead line from the bucket when his squeeze-tool’s battery died, prompting him to boom down to retrieve a replacement battery.
Boomer: What are you doing? Why don’t you use the manual squeeze tool?
Gen Z-er: I don’t want to end up like you.
Boomer: What do you mean?
Gen Z-er: Look at you. You’re in pain, you can’t stand up straight, and you walk with a limp.
Boomer: I’d rather be old and in pain than a wimp.
Their conversation briefly demonstrates some of the attitudes that these two generations have about each other – attitudes that can poorly impact TEAM (Together Everyone Accomplishes More) dynamics and culture. Improving our relationships requires us to move beyond unhelpful attitudes, including stereotyping entire groups of people. Assess each person you meet at the individual level, focusing on their strengths. This is one way we can contribute to the professional growth of all employees, regardless of generation.
Frontline Flashback
During a recent Frontline class whose students included a group of baby boomers, one man had this to say about young people in today’s workforce: “That generation is useless. All they do is sit and stare at their phones.” Others in the class appeared to agree.
But the truth is that many of today’s young people have an excellent work ethic and strong skills using basic tools. Meanwhile, every worker over a certain age does not necessarily have that same work ethic or skill set. Why? Because these are individual differences among people of various ages, not the inherent traits of an entire group born during a specific timespan.
Now, this is where it gets even more interesting. When the students from the Frontline class I mentioned earlier took a break later that day, a group of them decided to photograph their activities – because they spent much of their time on their smartphones. As the pictures were being passed around after the class reconvened, one student pointed out that they had heard TikTok videos emanating from two different bathroom stalls during the break. We eventually discovered that roughly 60% of the class had at least two smartphones, one for work and one personal phone, which led to conversation about what was said before the break and how other portions of our class discussion related to this issue.
Leadership Application
One component of our Frontline classes teaches students to choose their leadership styles and strategies based on the tasks to be accomplished, the work environment, and what employees need, earn and deserve. This requires all leaders to forge relationships with each of their TEAM members, making sure to suspend judgment based on an employee’s age or other demographics.
We also advise students that it is potentially problematic to assume others will think and act as they do. Remember, leadership success largely depends on the leader’s ability to adapt and respond well to other people and events.
Generational Leadership Survey
To help us better understand industry perspectives regarding generational differences, we invite you to complete the anonymous survey at https://forms.gle/bbEXHhx1QgXAaQ5q7, which should take less than fifteen minutes. Your valuable responses will help us provide further information and education around this issue.
Survey results will be shared during our November 2 workshop in Glendale, Arizona, one day before the iP Utility Safety Conference & Expo kicks off. Learn more at https://utilitysafetyconference.com/pre-conference-workshops/.
Conclusion
When it comes to generational differences, we can spend our time in ABCDE mode (accusing, blaming, complaining, defending/denying, making excuses), or we can fulfill our purpose as leaders by developing effective solutions to our challenges. The choice is yours. How will you respond?
About the Authors: David McPeak, CUSP, CIT, CHST, CSP, CSSM, is the director of professional development for Utility Business Media’s Incident Prevention Institute (https://ip-institute.com) and the author of “Frontline Leadership – The Hurdle” and “Frontline Incident Prevention – The Hurdle.” He has extensive experience and expertise in leadership, human performance, safety and operations. McPeak is passionate about personal and professional development and believes that intrapersonal and interpersonal skills are key to success. He also is an advanced certified practitioner in DISC, emotional intelligence, the Hartman Value Profile, learning styles and motivators.
Doug Hill, CUSP, is a retired lineworker and safety culture champion with nearly 40 years of utility industry experience. He currently delivers training through the Incident Prevention Institute.
About Frontline Fundamentals: Frontline Fundamentals topics are derived from the Incident Prevention Institute’s popular Frontline training program (https://ip-institute.com/frontline-online/). Frontline covers critical knowledge, skills and abilities for utility leaders and aligns with the Certified Utility Safety Professional exam blueprint.
Webinar: Generational Leadership
November 11, 2026, at 11 a.m. Eastern
Visit https://ip-institute.com/frontline-webinars/ for more information.