Sitting in the storytelling café of an online conference, espresso in hand, and talking about experiences. It’s a format I enjoy. At #ChangeMaker50PLUS I was allowed to do just that some time ago.
My topic was: “50plus meets 30minus” – a cross-generational dialogue between baby boomers and Generation Z.
I took up three points. They are still relevant today.
(1) One of my daughters was a social entrepreneur in the start-up scene. Our conversations about gender equality and intergenerational justice have shaped me.
Since then, inverse learning and reverse mentoring have played a central role in knowledge transfer for me. My daughters were and are my best teachers.
(2) One current question in particular concerns me: How do we bring more age diversity into the decision-making processes of sustainability management? What is meant above all is the active participation of the young generation.
There are many ideas, good ones even. But how do we actually manage to implement them? I already reported on this here and at LinkedIn last week (https://lnkd.in/eptBGCZ8).
(3) More and more, I meet young founders who are not striving for status, but for impact. People who have the future of our planet in mind. One of them is Max Rünzel.
His start-up HiveTracks is working on bee health and biodiversity monitoring. And it is precisely at the interface between the digital app world and analogue management that I can contribute my management experience if necessary.
Knowledge transfer is not a one-way street. It arises in mutual exchange through genuine cross-generational interest.
My question to you: How can we actively create spaces in which generations shape the future together?
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I am Bernd Scharbert and I accompany managers in questions of intercultural leadership, diversity and sustainably effective work.
Thanks to Volker Kaufmann for his #Brueckenbauer initiative. This article addresses his question: How does true knowledge transfer succeed – and what can generations learn from each other?
