Jun 26, 2024 Board of Trade

Mastering Inter-Generational Collaboration in Today’s Workplace | TD Morning Star

With five generations in the current workforce, we’re experiencing a pivotal moment for every generation to come together and shape the future of workplace culture. That’s why business professionals from their early 80s to late 20s convened at the Tower Club Tysons Corner in Vienna, Virginia, on May 17th for the start of our 2024 TD Morning Star Speaker Series. Renowned expert Annie Griffiths from National Geographic captivated the audience by sharing how humor, body language, sincerity, and deeper listening can build a bridge to anyone.

With her decades of experience with National Geographic and her extensive global adventures, Annie offered a unique perspective on how different generations can learn from each other, bridge cultural divides, and foster a more collaborative and communicative workplace. Annie’s personal experiences of entering the workforce and learning from colleagues older and younger than her over the years were a highlight of the event.

REGISTER FOR OUR JUNE 7 TD MORNING STAR INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP

From Annie’s speech, our members gleaned a wealth of practical information. She dispelled assumptions, emphasized the importance of building genuine connections, and highlighted the value of mentorship. Annie’s unique perspective helped those in attendance begin to explore how these principles can be applied in our professional environments. While our May 17th session featured an inspiring keynote, our upcoming June 7th workshop will be hands-on and designed to delve deeper into practical strategies for fostering collaboration.

Some additional key takeaways and principles were: 

  • Never underestimate a person’s pride and resilience. People can care passionately about similar and different things. Understanding this can help form cultural and generational understanding in the workplace.
  • Sometimes, it’s okay to be an “idiot” to learn and understand people from other generations. Making conclusions about colleagues before you know and understand them can limit what you can learn from them.
  • Don’t assume people cannot learn or think of something that could be specific from one generation to another. As Annie stated, people can learn to do incredible things and are resilient when faced with wanting to understand someone or something when given the chance.

Register now for the second installment of the 2024 TD Bank Morning Star series – an interactive workshop on mastering inter-generational collaboration on June 7th: https://bit.ly/4bkiwvn.

Thank you to the TD Bank team and Terry Kenny, TD’s Market President of the Mid-South Region, for sponsoring the Morning Star Speaker Series. These Morning Star events have helped inspire workforce development and culture in the Greater Washington region for the last 17 years.