Episode 92
Action Words, Different Meanings to Different Generations
Ever find yourself navigating the nuances of communicating with Gen Z employees rather than Gen X colleagues?
On today's show, we explore the profound impact that different words can have on various age groups, particularly in communication and marketing. We delve into the intricacies of action words tailored for Gen X and Gen Z, underscoring the critical importance of more linguistic precision in the modern workforce.
Our discussion extends to real-world scenarios within the construction industry, underscoring the pivotal role of context and comprehension in fostering effective communication.
We offer insights on coaching employees to recognize the ripple effects of their words and actions, emphasizing the undeniable significance of language, especially in high-stakes environments like job sites in the blue-collar sector.
Furthermore, we examine the profound significance of action words, shedding light on the specific vocabulary that resonates with different generations. It's intriguing to explore how the language used by small business owners across various industries differs from that of larger corporations and professionals in sectors like healthcare and law.
A key takeaway from the episode is the recognition that words possess the power to either exacerbate or alleviate tensions, profoundly shaping interpersonal dynamics and team cohesion. We underscore the imperative of clarity, empathy, and the ability to detach from emotions when confronted with workplace challenges.
We share practical examples of our efforts to empower field workers in recognizing the impact of their linguistic choices on their relationships and performance outcomes.
The episode concludes with a gentle reminder that prioritizing understanding over assumption and considering contextual factors are indispensable facets of effective cross-generational communication.
We encourage you to continue engaging with our show by liking, sharing, rating, and reviewing it, as your feedback is invaluable in our journey of growth and refinement.
Highlights:
- Words matter in the workplace, and they can either de-escalate or escalate situations.
- Understanding the different communication styles of each generation is crucial for effective leadership and teamwork.
- Taking the time to seek to understand before jumping to conclusions can bridge the generational gap and create a common language for a cohesive workforce.
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Transcript
Welcome to Blue Collar BS, a podcast that busts the popular myth that we can't find good people, highlighting how the different generations of today, the boomers, Gen X, millennials and Gen Z, are redefining work so that the industrial revolution that started in the US stays in the US.
Brad Herda [:Mr. Doyle and our listening audience, welcome back to this episode of Blue Collar BS Podcast. I am Brad. And I am Millie Vanilli. Over there is Stephen Doyle.
Steven Doyle [:That's right.
Brad Herda [:As he is singing ice, ice, baby. I know it's not Millie Vanilli, but he's trying to impersonate an artist, which is funnier than shit. If you ever get to see any of these. Uh, what are we talking about today? Mr. Stephen Doyle well, let's talk about.
Steven Doyle [:Something that I do talk about with my clients quite a bit, is words and why words matter in the context of how we are positioning ourselves and the words we use out in the different environments we're in.
Steven Doyle [:Right?
Brad Herda [:A guest on our show way back in the day, Andy Wines, when he was on earlier, his book came out last year or earlier this year, I forget.
Steven Doyle [:No. 2023.
Brad Herda [:And the title of the book was words fucking matter. And words do matter. And words are really important as to how we use them. One of the biggest lessons that he taught me was the difference between help and support from a military perspective. As to there's not very many military folks that nobody wants to help. They're not asking for your help, but they're looking for your support and change out. Just those two words, whether we're selling, whether we're trying to close a deal, whether we're trying to get somebody to do a job. Just that simple change alone can have a massive impact.
Steven Doyle [:Absolutely. So let's talk a little bit about when we are working with our clients and we're talking about words that matter and how to more like action words, if you will, for the different trades specific around the different generations, like hammer flush plumbing.
Brad Herda [:What are we talking about here?
Steven Doyle [:No, when we talk action words, the words that create some level of action from different generations. So let's say we as Gen X. I'll let you come down to Gen X.
Brad Herda [:How about you give our audience the background of how we came up with this list?
Steven Doyle [:So how we came up with the background for this list is when we're out talking about our businesses, whether they're our businesses or they're different trades. So let's say we're business owners in the trades, the words we use. And if we're not consistent or congruent create confusion. So we were talking about, the words that small business owners use on social media are very different than words used by larger corporations. They are very different than words used by specific trades or by other individuals, let's say doctors and lawyers and stuff. They all use different vernacular or different words in how they market each other or how they're marketing themselves.
Steven Doyle [:Correct.
Steven Doyle [:And the thing that we want to talk about here is why they matter and how they matter across the different generations as well.
Brad Herda [:Yes. And then we ran into some dumb fuckery with chat GTP and we had some fun. Yes. In our absolute brilliance and wisdom, we decided to type in the Chat GPT. What are the top 25 action words for Gen Z? And then what are the 25 top action words for Gen X? And the list is dramatically different. The entire tone between the two things are dramatically different, and they highly, highly fit many of the generational stereotype activities that we talk about and what other people perceive to have happen. Yes, absolutely. The Gen Z action words are far more softer, in many cases, far more people focused per se.
Brad Herda [:Collaborative is one of them. Whereas challenge, even though collaborate, so being collaborative versus collaborating, it doesn't seem like it's a big difference, but there is a difference in that tone and in that vernacular on this list. Educate, empower. Empower is a common word across both of them, which I thought was very interesting. But finding those right words to help your employees or support your employees in understanding what you're trying to get done is critical to that long term communication roadmap.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah, absolutely. Now, they do have, interestingly enough, when we did this, there are words that do resonate, that do kind of go along. So it's very interesting when we start talking about how, and we talked about this on prior shows, is perceptions and common sense and how we, as different generations, need to adapt in the words that we're using.
Brad Herda [:Right, I'm going down to the bottom of the list. So Gen X has restore and right across from it, when we do it, sustain on Gen Z, I'm like, okay, if we sustain, then we don't need to restore, then we don't necessarily, from a Gen X perspective, we don't necessarily get the benefit of the consumption of the goods and materials or resources if we don't use them, but yet we want to be sustainable. So there's this dynamic gap between, I don't want to necessarily say belief systems, but between what those words can and cannot mean when you use them in the conference room or out in the field or different things.
Steven Doyle [:Right?
Steven Doyle [:So let's kind of go through these more in a systematic way so our audience can actually relate here for some of the stuff. So let's talk Gen X.
Steven Doyle [:Right? Okay.
Brad Herda [:Something you don't know anything about. It's okay.
Steven Doyle [:I know, I know. He's a boomer.
Steven Doyle [:Right?
Steven Doyle [:Today I wanted to go hipster style, so we threw on a different hat.
Brad Herda [:That's okay. I want reflective.
Steven Doyle [:Wow. Okay.
Steven Doyle [:I wasn't going to go there, but anyways, so let's talk about action words that Gen X has more relationship to than some of these other words. So we've got words like achieve, adapt, advocate, analyze. And those are all words that for me. Yeah, I would absolutely use all of those words versus. And we're just going to stick in the a's, right. We've got amplify and careful you say that. Yeah, we'll go there today. We'll have the mindset in there.
Steven Doyle [:So for Gen X, we've got achieve, adapt, advocate and analyze. Now Gen Z has amplify and they also have advocate. So when we start looking, they don't have the word achieve. They're not talking about adapting. And these are all things that as Gen X's we're like, well, we want to see some level of achievement. We want to see people we know we have to adapt.
Steven Doyle [:Correct.
Steven Doyle [:But those aren't action words that Gen Z, that resonate with Gen Z. I just found that part, that component right there, just right off the bat to be very interesting from that perspective as well.
Brad Herda [:But there really isn't an action word for achievement inside the Gen z according to chat sheet pt.
Steven Doyle [:Right.
Brad Herda [:Let's just acknowledge our source as well. There's not really an achieve type word there, which I find very interesting. Lots of things are around it, right. But nothing to that results based activity.
Steven Doyle [:Other words here.
Brad Herda [:So we've got like, can you get to decarbonize? Let's get to decarbonize. Let's talk about that.
Steven Doyle [:Decarbonize. I mean, from a Gen Z perspective, I'm looking at that. And that means something completely different to me.
Brad Herda [:Yeah, because you're.
Steven Doyle [:As a mallurgical engineer, decarbonized means something completely different than what it means to Gen Z.
Brad Herda [:Exactly.
Steven Doyle [:From a contextual standpoint, when we say decarbonize, we are on that whole ways to minimize our carbon footprint.
Steven Doyle [:Correct. Right.
Steven Doyle [:Versus what it means on a technical front.
Brad Herda [:Right. We're just using words in a different fashion, that's all.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah. Right.
Brad Herda [:Because words do matter.
Steven Doyle [:Absolutely. So as we go through this list. I mean, there are some other things in this list. I'm actually really happy to see that collaborate is on both lists, challenges on both lists, create is on both lists, empower is on both lists, and innovate is on both lists. But that's pretty much it. So let's look at some of these other words that we have. Like we have, we want to invest, we want to lead, we want to be able to manage, manage, navigate, negotiate.
Brad Herda [:Navigates in there twice as well. Same side.
Steven Doyle [:Yes.
Steven Doyle [:So it's very interesting on the words that we choose. So if we as Gen X's and even if we were to look at millennials, but we're looking at the kind of more the age, the age gap between x's and z's, the words that we use when we are out having conversations. We're out marketing to individuals and let's talk as we're marketing, trying to bring Gen Z's or bring workforces, people into the workforce to our business. The words that we're trying to use to resonate, attract a certain crowd.
Steven Doyle [:Correct.
Steven Doyle [:So we need to be mindful if we are constantly attracting, putting information out there and attracting a certain talent that we're like, why is this age group we're constantly getting in this specific age group of people? What's the words that you're choosing and how you are portraying yourself?
Steven Doyle [:Right.
Brad Herda [:There's a few manufacturers in our area that are doing massive radio ads to try to reach people. And I find it well, and they're targeting on the radio station that doesn't have a lot of younger people in it, but yet they're trying to reach, I think they're trying to possibly reach the parents of individuals along the way. And it's a really hard battle to do that because the words that they're using for some of those ads are geared towards the younger employee using the words as collaborative environment and education and being able to share and sustainability and being part of that unification or solid teamwork, those types of things that the parents are like, yeah, I'm not going to tell my kid about that. That's like fluff work, potentially, from their viewpoint.
Steven Doyle [:Right. It is.
Brad Herda [:What kind of soft organization are you having? No, they should be getting up in the morning, get out of bed, it should be dark out when they go to work, and it should be dark out when they come home. What do you mean? You have this flex schedule and you can go to your soccer game or you can go do this, or you can make this happen and just make up hours. What is this Pandora world placebo thing that you are running from a manufacturing perspective?
Steven Doyle [:Right.
Brad Herda [:What is it that you're talking about? Because that's not what they grew up with. That's not what the parents, the Gen X or boomer parents, or even older millennial parents even had to deal with. So let me ask you this question, right. So you got field guys, you got a client, you got construction side of things, and you've got field guys going across different generations. What types of things are you doing with them to support them in making sure they become aware that words matter? First of all, how do you create the awareness with them that their words that they're using to get the results they're trying to drive for are potentially driving a wedge in that relationship between those two individuals versus creating that conversation that can provide results and create cohesion? How are you getting them to at least to even understand that?
Steven Doyle [:Yeah, so great question.
Brad Herda [:That's what I do.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah, I'm aware. Well aware. So when that comes up, typically it comes up in the form of, hey, something has already been said. And let's say there's either discontent or there is frustration is typically when that comes up because in the construction space early on, there's really no filters. It's just like, look, I need something done. This is what's going to happen. You're going to do it this way, and I'm going to say it the way I need to say it. So I'm going to communicate in a way that I know how to do.
Steven Doyle [:And I'm not going to filter that for your candy ass to be able to make it okay. It's just, this needs to get done. It needs to get done this way. So when that happens and there continues to be discontent, some of the training that we do is actually talking about giving scenarios of how do you have a conversation with this person? And it really comes down to having one, clarity and building trust with the person in such that I want them to understand the importance of what they need to do. But I can as the, let's say it's a superintendent. As a superintendent, I don't need to bring the emotion and the anger into this conversation. I need to strip it down to information, data, facts. But also realize, is the person open to having the level of conversation? Because if they're not open to having the level of conversation, it's a whole different conversation we have to have.
Steven Doyle [:Right?
Steven Doyle [:One, we have to gauge are they open to it, then? Two, we're stripping emotions away.
Brad Herda [:All right, let's just go down that superintendent. Yeah, let's just go down that path for a moment.
Steven Doyle [:Right.
Brad Herda [:So I've got a 21 year old guy that's out doing the thing. He did it wrong, needs to be worked. Superintendent's got a deadline. It's 03:00 in the afternoon. Concrete is coming tomorrow morning at 06:00 a.m. And rain is going to be here an hour. And I got all this rework to do. So I don't know many superintendents that have the skill to take the emotion out of that particular situation when that young kid has messed things up to not damage that relationship.
Steven Doyle [:So when that happens with. Because that great scenario, great question. Because it happens all the time. Sometimes it's okay to express the frustration, but how you express that frustration, but the other thing also is when we do our training is, did you, as the superintendent have clarity to set the motion right at the beginning of the day? Like, were you watching throughout the day? Because clearly this doesn't happen in an instant. It doesn't happen like, oh, the shit just happened, right at 03:00 so you want to ship shit just happened at 03:00 no, you observed it happening and you chose not to. So again, there is some choices that were made that you said, oh, I'll deal with this later, or, I don't have time for this now. Now it's 03:00 shit's hit the fan. Now you're angry because this happened, but you didn't stop it from happening.
Steven Doyle [:So there's a lot of things that we talk about in our training up front. Now, in the heat of the moment, we also look at, okay, this is now a team effort because we have x amount of time to do it. Let's walk through this is what we need to have done now. We're now showing, we're telling, we're talking through, we're training at the same time, but we're going to do it together because if we can't do it together, and I'm just going to put it back on you as a superintendent, there's still going to be frustration because I'm sitting here expecting you to get down and you to figure it out. Whereas two hands are better than one, maybe there's a whole crew of people that got to do the rework, right. So it's not a generational thing. This is a team thing now where the team has to come to get together versus it truly being a generational thing. Now, the one thing that we have seen that Gen Z's appreciate more is when you have somebody that's older that will actually, in the heat of the moment, take the time to actually show them and encourage them to build them up to, okay, look, this is done wrong.
Steven Doyle [:We've got to come together. This is how we're going to do it. I'm going to be here with you. We're going to do it together.
Brad Herda [:Great thing pointed out, because one of those words is validate in the Gen Z categories, right? Validate that what I'm doing is going to work along the way, provide me that confidence to know what's there. And we talk about this a lot as well, because one of our guests talked about that high school education and the workforce that you have through high school doesn't exist anymore. So they get to their first job, and that self confidence, that awareness, the opportunity to go not just focus on the one thing, but see all the other things around them. That's a skill that has to be developed and now that has been transferred to the employer. And it is a difficult thing to understand when you have two generations, possibly close to three generations ahead of that, that didn't grow up that way. So words do matter. Words can de escalate or escalate situations along the way. And I really liked what you said about taking the emotion out of it, and let's just deal with the fact.
Brad Herda [:Fact is, hey, it's not square. Fact is, concrete is coming tomorrow morning. Fact is, it's going to rain in an hour. Fact is, we need to get it done. There's nothing to blame. We can do the root cause analysis. We can do five whys. We can blame the supervisor later.
Brad Herda [:Fact of the matter is, boss is angry that we need to get this done and concrete showing tomorrow. So let's make that happen.
Steven Doyle [:That's ultimately any job site, any workforce. That's ultimately what we're looking at. And yes, sometimes it's hard to strip away the emotion, but when we really look at it, where is the emotion coming from? It's because a series of actions didn't happen, or did happen or did, and it's all built up. And now you're dealing with it at the end moment, at the nth hour when everything needs to be done. It's a lot easier when we can take a deep breath, have the conversations, what are the facts that we know? How can we get through that? And you'd be surprised when we can strip emotions away. These action words actually start to come into play a lot more, a lot easier. And we all start to have a common language in an understanding because we truly spent the time developing the clarity and communicating in a way that we all relate.
Brad Herda [:And it is important and words do matter. And I guess that is the biggest takeaway is understand. Seek to understand before you go out and have the conversation and get yourself the context around the situation. And don't jump to conclusions, no matter what it is. I mean, the it guy could be coming back to the boomer and just make the assumption that the boomer doesn't know what the hell is going on and jumps to that conclusion. Oh my God, you're just old. Don't understand it versus saying, okay, Bill, what did you do? How did it go through what had happened and be frustrated with the time it's going to take to understand what they did by clicking on the red x a thousand freaking times because it wouldn't shut down to lock things up. But they got to take time to understand.
Brad Herda [:It's got to go both directions as well, right? It's like those commercials when your kids become your parents as homeowners.
Steven Doyle [:Those are good ones.
Brad Herda [:My favorite is the salad version of that with all the different lettuce types and different things. And the guy goes up, that'll be $19. He goes, I'm just paying for one. Just paying for my own. Those commercials are hilarious, but yet often true. All right, Mr. Doyle, have a wonderful rest of your day. And remember, words do matter.
Steven Doyle [:That they do. Have a good one, my friend.
Brad Herda [:Thank you for listening to blue collar Bs. Brought to you by Vision four business solutions and professional Business Coaching, Inc. If you'd like to learn more on today's topic, just reach out to Steve Doyle or myself, Brad Herda. Please, like share, rate and review this show, as feedback is the only way we can get better. Let's keep blue collar businesses strong for generations to come.
