Written by GSA speaker Cheryl Cran
- Cheryl Cran
Gen Y’s are often generalized as a group that defies authority, lacks social skills and show disdain for traditional work methods. Well after seeing the movie, The Social Network this weekend I have to say that Mark Zuckerberg as he was portrayed definitely fit all of these generalizations.
What was most striking to me though was although we may view his behavior as overtly thumbing his nose at the structure at Harvard you could not deny that it was his brazen defiance that led to the creation of a world phenomenon.
It was not his intent to tackle the Traditionalists and Baby Boomers adherence to privacy rather he was focused on the needs of his generation and what they wanted which was transparency, connection and ways to find out if ‘girls were single’.
It turns out that Zuckerberg did not authorize the portrayal of himself in the movie and at the same time that the movie came out he made a major donation in New York to counter any negativity from the movie. There were 3 very distinct learnings I took away from the movie that I think applies to all of us in leadership and business.
Here are the 3 things I think we can learn from Gen Y CEO of Facebook:
1. In order to create a new social order there needs to be a ‘tearing down’ or a ‘letting go’ of existing structures. If Zuckerberg had not gone ahead and created Facemash at Harvard he would not have had the foundation for what was to become Facebook. He also ‘borrowed’ pictures from directories from the houses within Harvard without permission. Although this caused a ruckus for the ‘structure’ it created a new order that quickly overtook and created a new structure for his own generation and ultimately for the 500 million users on Facebook today.
What structures do you have in your organization that need to be ‘restructured’ in order to create a new level of connectedness?
2. Zuckerberg has a vision and a passion to create open, and transparent forums for people to connect and share. He is adamant about not selling out to big corporate and to keeping himself as the guiding vision for the future of Facebook. For many traditional business people the goal is to build a business and then ‘sell out’ to make a buck- not so for Zuckerberg or for many Gen Y’s who truly believe that connectivity is the global future.
What does your company stand for? Do you feel aligned to the mission, vision and goals and if not do you have ideas on how you could re-ignite this in your company?
3. Intelligence and honesty is more impressive than ‘smoke and mirrors’ which Zuckerberg has absolutely no time for. People describe him as ‘looking right through you’ if you stated the obvious and although some of us might interpret that as rude it is an example of just not suffering fools gladly. We could all learn to focus on honesty and directness as a transparent form of communication.
Do you or your team members stay ‘politically’ correct by saying the right things but not necessary the ‘needed’ things are being said? How could you elicit more honest dialogue within the company?
It is important to see the things we can learn from rebellious Gen Y’s- it is likely many of us will be working for them one day since most of us won’t retire until at least 75- time to get on the train right about now.
Cheryl Cran, CSP is the author of “101 Ways to Make Generations X, Y & Zoomers Happy at Work” and is a leadership & generations expert. She has been interviewed by Forbes, Entrepreneur and Selling Power magazines and is a regular on the Fanny Kiefer TV Show.
