Attitudes About Change

“I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Isaiah 43:19

I just finished reading a Gallup study, "The State of the Global Workplace: 2022," that says 70% of U.S. employees are disengaged at work. Three days later, Carey Niewhof, a blogger and leadership coach, wrote about his survey of 900 younger and older workers. Each had some unflattering things to say about the other generation. None of this is really new, except that it is new to us. If we are younger, our complaints were once held by the older generation about those who went before them. And if we are older, it is the first time we hear these complaints against us. If we are older and making complaints about the younger generation, let's not forget we once made the same complaints about our elders. Since the pandemic, many cultural changes have been accelerated, and thus the complaints seem magnified. While the general complaints are similar, the specifics have changed. It is good to remind ourselves why older leaders need to listen to younger leaders and vice versa. So let's get into it one complaint at a time.

The first complaint the younger generation has about the older generation is that we are unwilling to embrace change. Sound familiar? "They are stuck in their ways with tons of blind spots and no willingness to listen or learn." As an older leader, this sounds harsh, yet I remember feeling the same way about those running the church when I was twenty-five. More senior leaders have tread many paths, and one hopes the Bible is right when it attributes wisdom to elders. However, things are changing at a rate our ancestors could not have imagined. What worked in yesterday's church may not be relevant to the emerging church. One piece of wisdom older leaders can bring to the church today is a deep faith in the faithfulness of God. Our years should have taught us humility. The church's existence does not depend on doing it our way. We brought changes to the church when we were young. We can allow God to raise new leaders who can bring relevance to the moment.

According to Niewhof, the biggest complaint that older leaders have of younger leaders is that they are lazy. They want off work whenever they want. Lax with work hours. Lack of internal drive. Inconsistent work ethic. Get off your phones. These were some of the most frequent complaints. But Niewhof rightly asks, "Are older leaders confusing how young leaders want to work with whether younger leaders want to work?" We can all admit that things have changed dramatically since the pandemic began. The digital world has become familiar to everyone. We shop online; we text instead of calling; we zoom instead of having face-to-face meetings; we get tutoring in everything from sex to car maintenance on YouTube, and churches now have to contend with engaging people in digital and in-person worship.

Niewhof concludes, "A lot of young leaders really want to work, really want to hustle, and the fact that they're not in the office or visible doesn't detract from that. Young leaders aren't lazy. Lazy people are lazy." So maybe we must be careful in making judgments based on our previous paradigms of 9-5 in an office, formal in-person committees as the only valid form of decision-making, and visibility as the only factor determining engagement. Still, younger leaders need to pay attention to the preference of older leaders for more formal face-to-face engagement. If you want to reach them, you have to meet them at their well. When you are in a meeting, put down your phone and pay attention to the people in the room.