Attention Next Gens: Don’t Say the Quiet Part Out Loud!

Do…

1. Remember who is paying your paycheck. Even if you don’t agree with your superiors, they are still in the senior position. You don’t have to respect everyone you work for — people should earn your respect no matter what position they are in. However, you do have to approach them as if you respect them and use professionalism at all times. You might be the sharpest person they have ever hired and you might believe you are offering them more than anyone else ever could. That said, this doesn’t give you license to ignore the fact that they control whether you keep your job, get a raise, move to the next position, etc. Do remember who is in charge!
2. Know the culture, including what’s acceptable and what’s not. There are some advisory teams and firms where you can say whatever is on your mind and where the leaders might be the types to say, “Whatever it is, bring it on!” There are other environments where discretion is important. There are some where specific meetings have open invitations to speak but you need to time things correctly when bringing up certain issues. There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to culture, but you should pay attention to what your company’s culture is and manage yourself accordingly. Reading the room correctly and knowing your audience are both important with clients, but equally so with senior colleagues.
3. Ask for help and guidance on how best to communicate new ideas, difficult concepts or impressions you have. When you are working in a newer environment (even one to three years in), you want to have mentorship and guidance about the best ways to approach things — especially those that might be met with some push back — so ask for help. You might not believe the older generations have anything to tell you, but they have been around the block many more times than you have, so they could help you out with what to do.

Don’t….

1. Say the quiet part out loud! A client of mine told me she was scheduled to have dinner with a next gen on her (very high-performing) team. She went somewhere to meet him that was convenient. A little before the meeting, he cancelled with the excuse that he and his fiancé hadn’t had a chance to celebrate something, so they were going to do it that night over dinner! She was incredulous, and so was I upon hearing this story. Follow through is very important, so if you can’t make an important event with your boss, don’t say it’s for something that could easily be done on another night!
2. Avoid get-togethers and opportunities to build relationships. I totally understand people want their personal time to be personal. This doesn’t mean hanging out with team members every night or even every week or month. It does mean that when there is an opportunity for the entire team to be together, take the chance to be there, too. You might have to line up childcare or miss dinner with your significant other. You might even not feel like making conversation with colleagues, but in the long-term you won’t regret deepening relationships with them and being seen as a team player.
3. Underestimate the importance of executive presence. Be thoughtful about what you wear, how you say something, and generally how you come across to your teammates and superiors. People develop their impressions of you — whether fair or not — right away. The amount of time you invest in how you present yourself will pay dividends, because people are watching you all the time!

You might disagree with my perspective here and think these are different times in which leaders need to be more accepting of the younger generation. However, I hear these comments and observations from my clients quite a bit — and not the 60-somethings. These are the successful 40-somethings who observe these disconnects. If you want to move ahead in your career, remember that, while you need to be authentic and your best “you,” someone is always watching and making decisions on what they see!

Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry, in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. The firm has won the Wealthbriefing WealthTech award for Best Training Solution for 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Beverly is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate and graduate students Entrepreneurship and Leading Teams. She is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).

She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.

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