By Bobby Manning
First, thanks for the GREAT work you did to bring about Gentegration: Connecting Leaders Across Generations. I read it cover-to-cover. So helpful!
Honor the past
Overview of generations.
Loved reading generational impact through the eyes of a brother of color.
"People of all generations are drawn to organizations where they see themselves represented in leadership." p. 88 Amen and amen. I said the same things to Spanish River and LBC relative to who us in leadership; your insights are helping me apply that generationally as well as to ethnicity.
The "emerging" have "emerged." Yes. Good stuff and a very healthy reminder for this boomer.
Gen X as the bridge. This was really helpful. You and my oldest are the same age, and he very much lives on the border of GenX and Millennial and has that unique bridge-building capability -- as do you.
Gex X as bilingual - yes. I saw that at SRC and you have me thinking about how to better utilize that at LBC. Erin, with whom you have been interacting, is a millennial who does that well too.
Let me know when your book hits the streets. I think it would be a great read and group discussion for our Board of Trustees/Corporation Board. In fact, it would be great to have you come and address a group or two here at LBC. We'll work on that post-graduation.
Your focus on speed of engagement for engaging millennials has me thinking about how we engage them in our workforce, and also how we engage their expertise on the seminary and graduate front, i.e. learning from them as both students and developers of courses.
"Side hustles" -- You used that a few times. I was smiling as we talk about "side hustles" here fairly often.
Mentoring millennials to be great leaders at LBC, but more importantly "great leaders." (period). Strong!
You've also given me an idea for a periodic "generational report" from various generational segments on multiple levels at LBC: students, faculty/staff, corporate.
As an "amen" to the technological shift our reference on pages 115-116. Our Wildly Important Goal 2021-22 is to move from 10-35 online programmatic offerings (we on track with that goal). The most recent numbers show a marked increased in undergraduate inquiries, actually eclipsing the graduate side, which I think has traditionally been larger.
You conclusion: "We aren't arguing over what we're arguing about... but the value behind it." Appreciate you beating the drum as to valuing the values of the generations. Good stuff.
Second, two questions (really three):
From the work you've done and were you in my shoes, what would be an immediate "next step" for LBC from your perspective?
You are roughly a 6 to 1 subscribers to "subscribe to" ratio on Instagram so knowing social is a "first-step as to I'm showing you I'm interested/engaged"and yet knowing I can't be "in relationship" with a thousand people (1) how do you determine who to follow and (2) how interactive do you allow yourself to be knowing that constant reactive leads to less proactive?
Third, here's my endorsement. I don't want to endorse what I haven't read so thanks for letting me finish it before talking about it:
Happily, there is much discussion today about diversity and inclusion. Dr. Bobby Manning brings “generational inclusivity" into this conversation. More importantly he helps us understand it, navigate it, build on it, and leverage its importance to drive our organizations toward a brighter future. For me, Gentegration is an essential tool for navigating life and leadership at LBC.
