With Karen McNamara, generational communication expert. People of different generations communicate differently. Join us for this extremely important conversation on inter-generational communication and how to support relationship building in your business and with your clients when dealing with generation gaps.

Karen will raise issues that you may not have considered, and through her work supports companies and organizations in creating happier, more connected teams, and improved marketing messages, whether you are talking to baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, or Gen Z.

Karen is a Co-founder of Click-Consultants, and a motivational, inspiring and captivating presenter who uses the power of story for learning. A recognized expert on leadership development and generational communication strategies, she has presented on stage in conferences, organizations, academic and non profit settings both stateside and overseas. Whether coaching one to one, speaking virtually or on stage, her strategies have immediate application, make ideas and goals click, and customers succeed. Join us for this conversation on communicating for success in your business.

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Biggest takeaways (or quotes) you don’t want to miss:

• What people get wrong about millennials.
• Where people struggle with multi-generational communication (we have 5 generations that are currently in the work force).
• A strategy for creating strong bonds and connections between multiple generations at your company.

Check out these highlights:

5:00 How Karen and her son got started in working together, and offering workshops and trainings on generational communication.

8:20 What happens around us (between the ages of 8 and 18) informs how we see the world even more than our family.

12:09 What millennials are doing right, how they are being misunderstood, and the ways that millennials are changing the landscape.

19:00 Why there is a bond between Generation Z and Generation I and the Veterans …

35:30 What are businesses doing wrong in communicating with their marketplace when it comes to generational differences?

How to get in touch with Karen

On social media:

www.facebook.com/clickconsultants

www.linkedin.com/in/karenmcnamara

FREE GIFT FOR LISTENERS:

Contact Karen for a free Zoom intro and a discussion of your generational needs. 

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Karen McNamara from Click-consultants is a motivational, inspiring and captivating presenter who uses the power of story for learning. A recognized expert on leadership development and generational communication strategies, she has presented on stage in conferences, organizations, academic and non profit settings both stateside and overseas. Whether coaching one to one, speaking virtually or on stage, her strategies have immediate application, make ideas and goals click, and customers succeed. Her 30 plus years of connecting people will have you laughing, learning and communicating for success.

Learn more about Karen by visiting her website here.

You can also email Karen at karen@click-consultants.com

Imperfect Show Notes

We are happy to offer these imperfect show notes to make this podcast more accessible to those who are hearing impaired or those who prefer reading over listening. While we would love to offer more polished show notes, we are currently offering an automated transcription (which likely includes errors, but hopefully will still deliver great value), below.

GGGB Intro  00:00

Here’s what you get on today’s episode of Guts, Grit & Great Business

Karen McNamara  00:05

So what I do when I talk with them is I say well let’s just talk a little bit about the perspective of where they’re coming from and what happened in the world as they grew up. It’ll help you understand why they’re reacting the way they are they don’t see themselves as disrespectful – they see themselves as asking an important question that’s not necessarily well received by someone that’s been in the business for a lot of years. So you have to learn that maybe I don’t know everything and be open on both both sides. So i do find that once you start having those conversations and you start saying I bet if you did this they would react this way. And it’s like, “well yeah, why?” and I said here’s why and all of a sudden there’s the light bulbs that go off.

GGGB Intro  00:55

The adventure of entrepreneurship and building a life and business you love preferably at the same time is not for the faint of heart.  That’s why Heather Pearce Campbell is bringing you a dose of guts, grit and great business stories that will inspire and motivate you to create what you want in your business and life. Welcome to the Guts, Grit & Great Business podcast where endurance is required. Now, here’s your host, The Legal Website Warrior® Heather Pearce Campbell.

Heather Pearce Campbell  01:27

Welcome! I am Heather Pearce Campbell, The Legal Website Warrior®. I’m an attorney and legal coach based here in Seattle, Washington. I serve and work with entrepreneurs around the world. I am super excited about our guest today – this is going to be a fascinating topic. It’s one that I care a lot about, so welcome to Karen McNamara. She and I recently connected via Linkedin and I was so excited to learn about her work because it is relevant to all of us and particularly in the entrepreneurial small business world as we’re building teams, as we are having to figure out our marketing messages and attracting the right clients and working with people across a wide range of ages. Many of us do. This conversation comes into play for all of us and so Karen, welcome, I’m so happy to have you today.

Karen McNamara  02:28

Thank you so much

Heather Pearce Campbell  02:29

Absolutely. So for listeners, let me quickly introduce Karen. So Karen McNamara is a leadership and generational communication expert. She is one of the founders of Click Consultants which utilizes a multi-generational training team to provide customized keynotes and workshops to develop leaders, enhance generational communication, build teams, increase retention, resilience, and create classrooms that increase learning time. I love that and i can’t wait to dig into this because it has so many applications. Examples of her workshops include Develop Leaders, and Novice to Expert, Build High Performance and Diverse Teams, Communicate with and Connect Different Generations, Support Change Resilience and Teach Classrooms Strategies to Regain Teaching Time and Decrease Office Referrals. Karen, I know you also have in your background you’re a motivational, inspiring and captivating presenter – you do a lot of presenting. She also uses the power of story for learning. She’s a recognized expert on leadership development and generational communication strategies. She’s presented on stages in conferences organizations academic and nonprofit settings both stateside and overseas, so whether coaching one to one or speaking virtually or on stage and a lot of virtual right now I assume, her strategies have immediate application, make ideas and goals click, and customers succeed. Her 30 plus years of connecting people will have you laughing, learning, and communicating for success. Karen, I love that. I am just so enamored with your work, i feel like it’s really really important, so i’m super happy to have you here today.

Karen McNamara  04:21

Thank you.

Heather Pearce Campbell  04:23

Absolutely. So talk to me, take the listeners back to how you got started down this path of not only leadership development but specifically your focus on multi-generational communication and multi-generation communication strategies.

Karen McNamara  04:40

Thank you. Yes it actually goes back to bow 2010 okay when my son and i were both in toastmasters together and I was working in leadership development and he was working on his MBA. So he was intrigued by my leadership courses and noticed I did one on generations. So he said, How about if I take a look at that? And I said, Go for it. I’m a boomer, he’s a millennial, I thought this will be interesting. Well, he came back and said, Oh, Ma, you got to put some technology in there. So I let him add it. And then he came back and said, Why don’t we do it together? doing it together. And of course, doing it through a Toastmasters group, they give you lots of feedback. So we were able to tweak it and play with it. And pretty soon people started saying, you know, Hey, can you come talk to us about this? Can you do a workshop on this, and we started doing that. So then my son comes back, and he says, you know, we got to make business out of this. So we did in 2011, we started up an LLC, called click consultants, where we make things click, I love that. And we started speaking for all different types of groups about communication. And generational communication was one of the key areas that got a lot of interest. And to this day still does.

Heather Pearce Campbell  06:19

Yeah, well, I, the part that I love is how that develops. So organically. I mean, I love the piece about your son looking at it and getting it and going. This is important, right? And then, of course, as a mom, to a son myself, he’s quite a bit younger, but just the idea that your son wanted to work with you and saw the value in some of the training that you’d already put together. I mean, it’s just so heartwarming to hear that. And then, for anybody that has worked on a team that’s multigenerational, it’s I think problems become really, really clear. When this piece of you know, the information that we need to lead teams to be honest, successful team is missing. Where do you see in your experience? Where do you see most people going awry? Or especially from right, especially leadership, because when we’re talking about leading and managing a team, I assume that a lot of the tone and the communication is top down? Where do you see people struggling with the multi generational communication?

Karen McNamara  07:25

I think what happens is that people know their own generation, they know what they have experienced. So they tend to look at everything through their own eyes, and not through the eyes of different generations. Uniquely to today, we actually have five generations that are working, often even living or connecting with each other, even volunteering, it’s never happened before. That’s amazing. And what happens is, you learn or you communicate, or you understand the world, through the ideas of what’s happened around you. Course, family, genetics, heritage, play a role. But what we’ve learned is that what happens around us forms our way of looking at the world, even more than our family, for our formative years are between about eight and 18. So if you look at what was going on in the world, during that time frame, that’s why you look at the world differently than someone that was between eight and 18 have a different generation. So when we look at the world, like for example, I’m a boomer so I look at the world through a boomers eyes. If you think about what was going on in my generation, we had just come out of war was a tough time, there had been depression and strife and now the economy was booming. The first person went on the moon, it was exciting. It was a world of opportunity. It was called them the baby boomers for a reason. All kinds of babies were born and we wanted the best for our families. So I look at the world that way. And I it’s all about making things good for the company and for the organization. Now you’ll get someone else that comes in later. For example, one of the big shifts was Generation X. That came after that was about 1962 1980s when they were born. And what happens is that was the time when both parents started working. And the kids were now home by themselves. The latchkey kids.

Heather Pearce Campbell  09:54

Yes. My husband is one of those.

Karen McNamara  09:56

Yes. on the computer, learning the company. puter learning the value of family and the importance of doing for your family. And all of a sudden they started saying, oh, wait a minute, why do we have to do things this way? So when they went into an interview, they’d say, Well, I’d like to work this shift, or these hours or these days, because I want to take my kids here, or their enemy is a board meeting, excuse me, wait just a minute. You have to earn your way. This is all about the company, they’re going about you you’re interviewing, I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand what their perspective was, on what’s going on in their world. They were seeing a very different time. And remember, that’s when technology exploded. So they needed to use different strategies, and they wanted to know why. Why should I do it this way? Not because you told me so.

Heather Pearce Campbell  10:58

Right. They’re just not gonna buy into the status quo. Exactly.

Karen McNamara  11:01

And that was really hard for boomers. So I’m the top down and I’m looking at this employee, and I’m saying, No, it doesn’t work that way. You’ve got to pay your dues. If I tell you this, you do. It’s not about you telling me what you need. There’s a different shift. So when you ask the question about why are there challenges, it’s usually because they’re not viewing things through the eyes of the other generation. So that’s when…

Heather Pearce Campbell  11:34

Yes, I know. And I so appreciate all that context. I remember when you and I first connected and we spoke, and I, you know, I was fascinated when you brought up this topic of multi generational communication and leadership development around that. Because one of the thing that you’re one of the things that I see happening in the world, and especially in the conversations around business, is people expressing a lot of irritation about millennials or unit, I mean, some of these young kids that, again, are not putting in the dues, and all of this kind of stuff. And I’m really fascinated about what they’re doing right, and what they’re doing differently even culturally right. And I think our young people are brilliant, I think I mean, obviously, I’m a mom of two small children. So there’s several generations of kids that I am just so happy are coming up, and are going to change the world in the way that they will change the world. And so, you know, when you and I were talking, and we talked about some of the stuff that gets floated out there about millennials, let’s let’s take up that topic. How are millennials currently being misunderstood? Because I feel like this is a hot button in the, you know, whatever in the stratosphere, the things that people communicate about, you see a lot of stuff flying around about millennials, and I think a lot of it is wrong.

Karen McNamara  13:01

I think you’re exactly right. That it is wrong, that it is a perspective, that’s not really true about the millennial generation, because we’re not looking at it through their eyes. Now, if you take for example, both of my kids are millennials. And they’re very different. They’re about as different as night and day. But they shared common experiences. So they share things about the world that are united, for example. They are the first generation that really started caring about their community, community events and giving back, they want to support their community, they want to support causes. And if you’ve got a cause that they are for, you cannot stop them. And yet you hear the comment. They’re lazy, they don’t care. They feel entitled they want to write. So what happens is, it’s because they’re thinking, they’re coming in with the big head, and they’re saying, I want I want, and they feel like, gosh, everything is all about me. Well think again, when I was bringing up my kids, what did we do? We started taking them to all these sports, we started showing them all the things they had all of this this stuff, but they started getting exposed to some bad things. Columbine, they had some some world and some drugs earlier than what we saw. And it was a little different world than what we experienced. So they look at it a little differently. And they look at how they can communicate. But they feel they’ve got the answers. They just went to school, they’re coming into the workforce. My son and this is a true story. Thought that day two of going to his first job he could become CEO because he had all the schooling he knew the topics. He knew everything. thing that was going on. And he tell you the same story, because he had the technology, the experience, he had everything. So he walked in with that attitude. Who was his boss? A bomber? Yeah. And his boss said, Oh, that’s right. You’re coming today. Oh, why don’t you go read these manuals? Well, I find a place for you. Well, you can imagine how that went over. And he had to essentially earn his way and understand the boss’s perspective in order for him then to fit in. Hmm. So his boss said, okay, talk to me. Why is it so hard for us to retain millennials? Why is it so hard for us to keep you folks around? Yep. And my son said, you really want to know? He said, I do. He said, Okay, here’s what you do. You talk to us, and you listen to us. We have ideas. They may sound wild. But hear us out. Try some different things. He said, I recommend you on the company’s dime, connect every person, every millennial with someone else in the company that they don’t know, pay for their lunch, and let them just get to know each other. They will learn from each other. And he said, let me tell you something else. I will tell you that I know everything. But the reality is I don’t. So what I need is a mentor. Hmm, I need someone that has the experience. I have the knowledge of the latest, but I don’t have the experience. Right. So help me with that. You connect me with a mentor. You give me opportunities. And oh, by the way, I need a better computer. Right? Because this one’s not going to cut it. You use it for email, I use it for design. They’re different. So all of a sudden that communication started. That CEO had monthly meetings with the millennials. He let them try things. They set up the luncheons they set up these different charettes. All of it worked very, very well. And the millennial stayed, right? Yes. And the other thing that my son will tell you is he said as a millennial, yeah, I come across as being entitled. We said everybody gets a trophy growing up. Because you know, even if you worked hard to get a trophy, even if you got an F you know, you work hard, so we got to give you something. Whereas my generation, no way. So they come across. So another strategy with this age, give them feedback. Yes, you’re doing a great job. You’ve done a great job. That’ll get them going.

Heather Pearce Campbell  17:52

Wrong, who doesn’t need feedback? right? Exactly. I think prior generations probably didn’t feel that they could ask for it or, and this is one of the things that I actually love about our young people, and even my children, right at teeny tiny little ages. I feel like, you know, our younger generations, almost have democracy like born into them, they understand that democracy is really the way that we should all operate that they should have a voice at the table too. And I believe they should, for the very reasons you’re saying the ideas that they bring, right, the the the technology experience that they bring, like they bring a lot of strengths to the table that you know, the rest of us can benefit from. We need to acknowledge that exactly.

Karen McNamara  18:47

And you know, what’s interesting is then the newest generation coming up that the Generation Z or generation I for internet, the ones that were born after 2000. What’s really fascinating is what’s going on in the world today is very similar to what was going on with the veterans. So there’s a unique bond between those two generations, because they’re exposed to the same things. They’re exposed to war, to violence, to uncertainty to dangers to things that the other generations didn’t experience and in such a degree. So there’s this common bond. The difference is technology, with the technology is the difference. But you can connect those two generations and have absolutely phenomenal things go on. The folks in the veterans generation can tell stories to the new generation to their grandkids to their great grandkids about what they did during the flu epidemic. They can tell you what happened after war and how they got through it. They bonded and what an amazing time it was. People say oh, you went through the war. I said, I don’t remember. That way, I remembered a time of bringing family together. I remember at a time when we ate together, we played together, because we had to stick together. Doesn’t that sound like COVID-19? Right? And when you think about it, there’s these these bonds. So when you connect your generations, well, you can build teams that are so dynamic. You give a generation X the tools they need, they can run with it. But the entrepreneurs in that generation, because they were on their own, and they said, We don’t need someone to tell me what to do. Yes, different thing than when you were in the boomers, and it was all about the company. So yeah, we understand that we do really well. And it’s pretty exciting to see it it

Heather Pearce Campbell  20:49

well. It is exciting. And even the sense of independence that comes with you know, it’s it’s interesting, because you hear people say, How are children nowadays are not independent, right? They’re not like, I think of when I grew up, you know, and I was a generation X person, I was at the tail end of that. But I was one of six kids. Like, I feel like we had virtually no oversight. You know, we ran around, I mean, my mom was home, she wasn’t working out of the house, but she was so busy, her hands were full at all times. You know, we literally like my memories of childhood are of my siblings, not really of my parents, right. And so we lived outside, we lived in the fields we lived, doing, you know, climbing trees and doing whatever. But it was a different time, you know, and yet, the young people today have a sense of independence about what they’re capable of, and especially venturing into technology and the online space and entrepreneurial things that didn’t really exist when I was a kid, right. And even though in the 90s, like we went online, some of that started to develop is very different, very, very different. And the part that you said that I particularly love about your kids, right generation, why I think, right is that they have a strong sense of community. Right? It gave me goosebumps, like this desire, like they might show up appearing, entitled, but what I also know which I think in a beautiful way really makes us reconsider what leadership means. If you pay attention to their hearts, and you get buy in on what causes they’re committed to and the mission of your business, the mission of your company, you can have somebody that’s committed to the work, you can have somebody that’s committed to team and like, why shouldn’t we have been do like we should have been doing that all along? Right? It’s not, I don’t feel like it’s a stretch to be doing these things like this is what we should be doing.

Karen McNamara  23:04

And we learn from each other. Yeah, as we open up and communicate and find out how we can best communicate, then we can just nothing, the sky’s the limit, nothing really matters, you know, but you do have to figure out how to communicate because you communicate to a veteran and a boomer and a generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z differently. And you need to just talk to him and say, how do you want to connect? If you’re setting up a zoom, or we’re setting up a meeting or we’re setting up a team, you need to talk to the different people and say, how are we going to connect? Is it going to be by phone is going to be by email? Is it going to be by text? Is it being handwritten notes? Are we going to meet together one on one, or a combination thereof? We can think oh, my gosh, I am communicating like crazy. And I’m sending all these emails. And you’re sending them all to a Generation Z. And they’re like, I don’t use email. I use text. Why would I use email? And then you have to understand how you’re going to connect. And you may have to compromise a little bit, not to learn from each other that you know what? This works really well, because now we can document this or whatever. I my grandmother or right or my mother to her grandkids and her great grandkids taught them the value of writing. Because they’re using only technology. That’s all they know. And she used only handwritten notes. Right? That she said, you want to make an impact. You want to get that interview. Here’s what you do. You write them a letter. I’m not talking an email. I’m talking a handwritten letter and you thank them for that time. You are going to stand out hmm and you’ll get the job. They won’t, because you’ve now connected to a different generation. Hmm. How cool is that the bond that happens when you connect those generations, the different generations will go beyond anything else and you’ll get new ideas, your teams will be stronger, your individuals will be stronger, and you learn every single time.

Heather Pearce Campbell  25:23

Well, and this Yeah, this idea that it just takes been a little bit more thoughtful, a little, I mean, for any of us who are married or who have been married, right. And I’ve used this as an example before, like, we all have our own love language. But it does really no good to talk to somebody else in your love language, if it’s not theirs, right. And the thing that we need to care the most about is how the message is received, is it received? Is it received in a way that is meaningful for that person? Right? Little bit the same in work? Is the communication received in a way that’s going to optimize their performance, optimize their contribution to the team, make them feel valued, right? How do we do that? Heather, I

Karen McNamara  26:13

absolutely love that analogy of the love languages. Because the whole idea there is not to speak in your own love language, but to expand theirs. And that’s where it all begins. And then you can partner for just amazing things, and learn from each other. Yes, I mean, my, for example, by my mother was not who’s 93 today and very healthy and independent. And she was not really interested in the computer. Yeah. And my son said, you know, gee, Ma, I think you’d like Facebook, and you’d like the computer. And she said, I’m not interested at all. He said, let me show you something. So he pulls up a picture on Facebook of her grandkids, who are in another state. She’s like, wait a minute, that’s Wait a minute, I can see this layman. How do you give me an account I want on right now. We set it up. And then she got on the phone, and got on the computer and just said, This is so cool. And she’s got all our pictures of her kids. And she got them to set it up where they can move and change. And she said, This is so exciting. She says, Well, what about what about email? Can I do stuff with that, too? He said, Sure. He said, You can send an email to anyone you want. She said you can. He said, sure if you’ve got their address. So what does she do? She writes the president every single day.

Heather Pearce Campbell  27:44

She wants to know, I love your mom, I love your mom. That’s amazing. But it’s you know, the point is not last that when we take the time to slow down and bridge that gap, there can be ways that we all get to use a certain tool for communication or that benefit relationships, whether at work, whether in our personal life, it brings up a funny story. So years ago, I used to go visit my grandma on spring break. And same thing, this technology gap where she she didn’t know how to use a computer. I wanted her to be able to get on email or do whatever she wanted, because she had, you know, grandkids all over the place. And so I said, well, and I knew she loved cards. She’s a car. She’s a card player and had been her whole life, right? So I said, Well, do you want to learn Solitaire on the compute like this will teach you the mouse it will teach you scrolling and clicking right. So that’s what I started with. We got her started on Solitaire. And I had a week with her. And I taught her how to play Solitaire. And it was hilarious because she had jumpy legs at night. And so I’d hear like, I’d hear noises in the night and I’d get up and peek out of the guest bedroom and she be over there. I could see her in the middle of the night playing solitaire on the computer, click click the cards around. But she learned it and it was so fun to see like, okay, she was willing to you know, because I started in a way that felt comfortable for her. But it’s so fun, you know, and then it just goes from there. I think, especially with technology, you know, it’s that fear of just getting over the hump of Can I do it? Can I learn it? But you know, it’s, and I’m sure there’s the reverse of that, right? For some of the younger generations, they’re thinking, you know, a little bit like your son so willingly addressed like, What don’t I know? Will you mentor me around things that I don’t know, right? Because they may come with all the technology skills, but that openness is really wonderful.

Karen McNamara  29:45

It truly is and it works like you say in both directions. And I was teaching nurses on how to chart and do different things when they were oriented and when we switched to electronic charting Yes, that was a huge challenge for me. Because I had to understand how it was going and how it was working. And I’d be glued to teaching it. And then all of a sudden, I’d look at my audience who are now all millennials. And they’re like, asleep. Yeah. And I said, Oh, I’m going too slow, aren’t I? And they said, yeah. And I said, Okay, let’s change the strategy a little bit. How about if I throw out a question? And you tell me how to do it? And I would say, okay, we want to find this in a chart, how would we do it? Well, all of a sudden, they’re all engaged. And they taught me. And I was able to teach them and it worked out really well. So that shift and connecting the millennial with me to show me how to do it was really positive things. So when we would orient new people, we would always connect a millennial and a boomer or an x and a boomer to teach that new technology, because to them, it was intuitive.

Heather Pearce Campbell  30:59

Yeah. Well, I love I mean, I love that that very intentional connecting as well, you mentioned the program that your son recommended right to the CEO of his company, about setting, you know, the newer employees up with somebody who’d been more established in having them have connection conversations, I went to a legal event online a week or two ago. And same thing, it was an all women owned law firm, all women worked there, which is just how it worked out. And that they would do the same thing they would set up like basically, like lunch dates within the company so that people, including staff could get to know each of the attorneys, even the attorneys that they didn’t work with and really create those connections and those bonds, and I feel like just humanizing that process, so that people have a desire. I mean, I, from my perspective, what that would do is increase the desire and willingness for people to figure out okay, how do I best communicate? How do I continue to bond with so and so or colleagues of so and so so that we can all get along and work well together? Sen advises them to really be committed to that process, you know,

Karen McNamara  32:17

like, my son had three very distinct mentors, one for his work as an architect, one for his speaking and one for his fate. And he met with each one of them once a month, go out to lunch, have coffee, or whatever. And he could hardly wait for those meetings. And both came back totally energized, because they learned from each other. And it was just such an enriching opportunity for both. Yeah,

Heather Pearce Campbell  32:48

I love that. So and I’m sure you’ve seen because my next question is, where have you seen? And maybe you haven’t, because I imagine you teach it in such a way that people feel open to the message. But do you see in certain organizations, people at the top being closed off to this topic and just wanting to keep doing things their way and not have to make adjustments for newer younger members of the team? What do you see in the landscape?

Karen McNamara  33:16

I see a little bit of everything, from totally open helped me make this work to Yes, they just gotta get over it and do what I tell them to do.

Heather Pearce Campbell  33:27

That’s right, get in shape. And just,

Karen McNamara  33:30

you know, I’m the boss, they’ve got to learn. It’s that’s just the way it is. That’s business. That’s what life is about. Know what I do when I talk with them. As I say, well, let’s just talk a little bit about the perspective of where they’re coming from, and what happened in the world as they grew up. Right. And I’ll tell them, that may sound strange, but it’ll help you understand why they’re reacting the way they are, they don’t see themselves as disrespectful. They see themselves as asking an important question. And, and if you understand why they’re seeing that, and that they’re just looking at opportunity and ways to make it better. I mean, my son came into work with 10 ways that the company could improve on day one. And he looked because he researched he researched the company, he researched what they were doing, oh, this could be better. Well, that’s not necessarily well received by someone that’s been in the business for a lot of years. So you have to learn that maybe I don’t know everything and be open on both both sides. So I do find that once you start having those conversations, and you start saying, I bet if you did this, they would react this way. Well, yeah, why? And I said, Here’s why. And all of a sudden there’s the light bulbs that go off.

Heather Pearce Campbell  34:48

So we’ve talked a little bit about the dynamics of multi generational you know, communication and the importance of learning, learning the differences between the genders. asians you know in the context of a workplace talk to me a little bit about what businesses need to learn when it comes to marketing and attracting clients of multiple generations right and especially now that we have some of the younger generations coming on board as consumers in the marketplace now what again back to the question of like what are companies and organizations doing wrong and how do you help them improve it when we’re talking about communicating with the marketplace

Karen McNamara  35:31

great question i think as entrepreneurs and small businesses and even large businesses we need to be aware of how we’re reaching out and how we’re communicating and with your different generations you have to be aware of that when you’re talking to the millennial or the the generation x or even the new generation generation y or z coming z coming up you need to use technology as you’re reaching out you need to have your product something they can pull up online and look at something that they can see something that they will know there’s been research and they can do research because they will and what’s interesting is even the baby boomers who didn’t use the technology will now research they will go like i will go to any company i’m going into and i will research i will look to see who was the competition who’s been working well so you need to have a place in social media online you need to have resources that compare and share your successes for the bummers you need to have data they want to see data for the generation x they also want to see different ways of doing things because that’s what they look at so you want to have technology number one that’s that’s part of the world today and that needs to be part of selling or reaching out about your company then in addition to that you want to think about who’s your audience and what’s what are they most concerned about right now so if i’m working with generation x and they’ve got little kids at home okay i’m gonna start talking about their kids their family their homeschooling the new environment and i’m going to make the connection it’s all about relationship when you’re selling and you’re trying to build your company so don’t rush into give the big sale everybody can pick up on that right away develop a relationship that’s true of all generations but how you approach will vary yes so have your company available for people to look at tell them this is how you can get more information this is what you can do but then talk about you know what’s your biggest issue what do you have oh gosh it’s got to be hard now that you’re home with kids and you’ve got to homeschool and you might get interrupted your kids might come into the room when you’re in the middle of something that can happen if that’s the reality and you start talking and right away you’ve got a connection so you work on the connections with people and find out what’s what’s their issue with a boomer you’re gonna say okay you’re ceo what keeps you up at night now what is your biggest concern if i did nothing else what could i give you that would be the most helpful and then if i can’t provide that i tell him right up front you know what that’s not my area but i know someone who can i’ve got a link for you that will know exactly how to help you with that challenge and i do that and now i’ve got a relationship i’ve got a client for the future so it’s selling in that way as well so it’s about relationship and understanding their perspective from the generations making that connection and making sure that you use technology mm hmm

Heather Pearce Campbell  39:04

No I love that – I love the piece about where you show up, right? What platforms you’re using, what media you’re using, like how the message gets to them, as well as what’s in the message. Who are you talking to how do you coach clients that are talking to multiple generations right are they just using different platforms are they just sending different messages out using the same platforms how do you coach those clients because many of us have clients in multiple generations

Karen McNamara  39:39

first thing i tell them is congratulations you are doing something that many people don’t you have multiple generations and that’s the most effective way to build a powerful team and leapfrog ahead of others in your company what you want to make sure is that the way you combine them multigenerational teams is the best way. So you want to know if if you need someone with technology on your team, make sure you’ve got a generation Y or Z. If you need someone that can problem solve and look at the big picture, you better bring a boomerang because that’s all they love is the big picture in the scope of things. So you want to make sure that your team is combined the right way. Don’t worry about fixing, or making people better working on their challenges, work on their strengths, focus on their strengths. And when you combine, this person loves to do the data, this person hates to do the data, okay, let’s put the person who loves it, doing it. And let’s person that person that hates it, doing what they love. And then all of a sudden, you’ve got your best team, so you know who your people are, number one, understand what they love. Number two, and then combine your teams for effectiveness. And if it’s not the most effective team, change it up, find a way and pose it in a way that is a win win for everybody. Because people love to come to work if it’s something they enjoy.

Heather Pearce Campbell  41:14

We have in this piece that you already mentioned about you know, wanting to make an impact out there work wanting to, you know, improve things like make things better, not only in the company, but in the world. Like who doesn’t want that. And if you read books like Jim Collins Good to Great write about businesses that really achieve greatness, they spend a lot of time on this point that you’re making right now, which is getting the right bonds in the right seats, right. And this is part of just figuring out what are people good at? What are they What are they like doing and not putting them in the wrong seat?

Karen McNamara  41:53

We’ve probably all been there at one point

Heather Pearce Campbell  41:58

for very long.

Karen McNamara  42:02

And then we find ourselves in seats that we never expected. Yeah, just because of what happens we find ourselves in COVID, we find ourselves teaching from home we find ourselves in scenarios not traveling and having to use technology to communicate or connecting the team or or zoom or some other way. And we have to find ways to adjust. And as we’ve watched the world evolve through this COVID time, people are adjusting some very well, some not as well. And if we pull the teams together effectively, we can help people through that we can make people have changed resilience, instead of change avoidance, or change fatigue. Yeah, yeah, yes. And that’s going to come regardless, but we can help them rise zillion through the fatigue.

Heather Pearce Campbell  43:01

Well, the thing that is surprisingly refreshing about this conversation that I love, and that I think, you know, for anybody listening, whether you’re building out your own team, you know, whether you’re working with clientele across a variety of generations, is it to me, what I’m hearing is, it’s really about getting back to good business fundamentals and being very thoughtful about it. And also having a people first orientation, which we all should be doing, like that’s the magic of business is if we can have people first orientation, whether it’s building teams, whether it’s working with our clients, we are tuned into who it is we’re talking to, and their experience to optimize things for our business to optimize the experience for them. It’s a win win.

Karen McNamara  43:53

It is it is. And it’s just a matter of how you approach it a little differently for each generation to make that connection, which is ultimately the bottom line. Yeah, yes.

Heather Pearce Campbell  44:05

Well, I love that. I you know, I know that we’ve just like touch the tip of the iceberg in this conversation. We could go so much deeper. But Karen, for folks that are listening in they’re like, Oh gosh, I would really love to connect with you and learn more about your work learn more maybe about your speaking and your you know, presenting to companies or groups. Where do you like to connect?

Karen McNamara  44:30

People can either connect with our website to see what things we’re doing, which would be www dot click, dash consultants, that calm and I know you’ll provide that separately as well. Or they can email and they can email me at Karen at click consultants.com

Heather Pearce Campbell  44:55

perfect and for people listening will provide those links and your content. information in the show notes which you can find at legal website warrior.com. forward slash podcast. That’s, I love that Karen. And I think that, you know, again, for anybody who has ever faced a challenge in this department, I don’t know if you do like, you know, one on one consulting with folks, but I know so many people could benefit from this.

Karen McNamara  45:23

Yes, we do one on one. We do small workshops. We do large workshops. We’ll do keynotes. Any of those combinations based on the need.

Heather Pearce Campbell  45:34

Yeah. Oh, I love that. Well, any final thoughts for our listeners, for folks that are listening that are, you know, growing their businesses that are growing their teams? What Final Thoughts Would you like to leave them with?

Karen McNamara  45:48

I would say that there’s three things to keep in mind. Whenever you’re trying to blend your generations or build an effective team, or reach out to an effective, effectively two different generations, new clients, you need to consider three things. One is communication is critical. You need to talk, communicate, connect in some way. Second, as you need to find a common purpose. If you find a common purpose between your generations, you will have everyone all in. And the third thing is, even though we talk about generations, and how one generation might react one way over another, I would say remember that everybody is an individual. So we don’t treat everyone exactly the same. We want to consider them as an individual. So communicate common purpose, and treat everyone really as an individual are three things that I would leave you with today.

Heather Pearce Campbell  46:54

Well, those are so powerful, the common purpose one I love, because I mean, how many of us and even you just look at what’s happening in the world today. Like it would serve all of us to be more focused on finding a common purpose, even with people that we have very, very different viewpoints from, and then the, you know, staying away from generalizations, right, this last point about the fact that we’re all individuals, I think that’s just so important to remember, and especially in the context of building team, talking with clients or really exploring the experience of the other person. Thank you. I love those takeaway points. I’ve so enjoyed connecting with you, Karen. I will look forward to publishing this episode and sharing it with our listeners. And of course, in the meantime, reach out, I hope that we get the chance to reconnect on this topic and go deeper, I would love to do that. be really fun. And again, if you’re listening, a reminder to go visit the show notes, check out Karen’s company. I love it, check out her consulting company with her son, which I just think is brilliant that you guys work together on this. And you can find those shownotes at legalwebsitewarrior.com/podcast. Thank you, Karen. Take care of yourself. Good luck with all of your online and continued virtual presentations for the time being and hopefully at some point we get to meet in person.

Karen McNamara  48:22

I would love that. Heather, thank you so much for your time. This was wonderful.

Heather Pearce Campbell  48:27

Thank you.

GGGB Outro  48:32

Thank you for joining us today on the Guts, Grit & Great Business podcast. We hope that we’ve added a little fuel to your tank, some coffee to your cup and pep in your step to keep you moving forward in your own great adventures. For key takeaways, links to any resources mentioned in today’s show and more, see the show notes which can be found at legalwebsitewarrior.com/podcast. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and if you enjoyed today’s conversation, please give us some stars and a review on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast so others will find us too. Keep up the great work you are doing in the world and we’ll see you next week.