Leading and Learning Across Generations

With up to six generations active in today's workforce, how can organizations deliver learning experiences that truly resonate? Our guest Steve Goble shares insights on bridging generational gaps through intentional listening, personalized training paths, and adaptable strategies. From Baby Boomers to Gen Z, learn how to embrace differences, build stronger teams, and inspire continuous growth. 

Show Notes:

Steve Goble offers practical tips for creating impactful learning experiences that drive growth and connection across your workforce. His key takeaways include:

• Listen First: Successful training starts with listening to employees' needs and preferences to create programs that resonate.
• Embrace Generational Strengths: Recognize and leverage the unique strengths each generation brings to the workforce.
• Personalize Learning Paths: Avoid one-size-fits-all training by offering flexible, personalized learning options.
• Foster Engagement Through Communication: Build trust by communicating training plans clearly and setting expectations for future growth.
• Adapt and Innovate: Encourage teams to embrace new technologies and learning approaches while allowing space for trial and error.

Learn more about The Goble Group. 

Powered by Learning earned Awards of Distinction in the Podcast/Audio and Business Podcast categories from The Communicator Awards and a Gold and Silver Davey Award. The podcast is also named to Feedspot's Top 40 L&D podcasts and Training Industry’s Ultimate L&D Podcast Guide.

Learn more about d'Vinci at www.dvinci.com.
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Transcript

Susan Cort: [00:00:00] Meeting the diverse training needs of multiple generations starts with a common foundation, listening. 

Steve Goble: Ask what your employees want and then do your best to deliver what you can when you can and communicate why. You know, hey, if they want x and you can deliver some of x right now, you can't deliver all of x, you can communicate, hey, we can give you x.

Steve Goble: 1 this year and we can finish off x. 2 next year or lay out the road map. Help them see, okay, I'm listening to you, I hear what you're saying. And I think regardless of generation, that leads to people feeling heard, they feel listened to, and they feel appreciated, which not only strengthens the relationship, but when it does come time to deliver on that learning, I think they're much more engaged.

Susan Cort: That's Steve Gobel, Chief People Builder at the Gobel Group. Steve joins d'Vinci's Jenny Fedullo and me with advice on reaching learners across the generations. Next, on Powered by Learning. [00:01:00] 

Announcer: Powered by Learning is brought to you by d'Vinci Interactive. d'Vinci's approach to learning is grounded in 30 years of innovation and expertise.

Announcer: We use proven strategies and leading technology to develop solutions that power learners to improve quality and boost performance. Learn more at dvinci.com. 

Susan Cort: Today I'm joined by Jenny Fedullo, d'Vinci Learning Experience Director, and our guest, Steve Goble of the Goble Group. And we're going to talk about how best to deliver the best learning experiences by understanding how different generations want to learn.

Susan Cort: Hi, Steve. 

Jenny Fedullo: Hi, Steve. Good to see you. 

Steve Goble: Hi, Jenny. Hi, Susan. Great to see you. Thank you for the opportunity and the invitation to join the Powered by Learning podcast here with d'Vinci. I greatly appreciate it and looking forward to sharing this morning. 

Susan Cort: Well, thanks, Steve. We appreciate that. And just start out by giving our listeners a little bit about your background.

Steve Goble: Sure. Um, I'm the owner and chief people builder at The Goble Group. I serve small independent [00:02:00] businesses and larger teams across central Pennsylvania with learning and development, executive coaching, and a little bit of training. My business turned 14 years old here in 2025. I'm a certified TrustEdge partner with the TrustEdge Leadership Institute.

Steve Goble: I'm a founding partner of the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team, and in 2017, I was a Central Penn Business 40 Under 40 recipient. So, uh, I've, uh, been enjoying serving people and focusing on that aspect because I truly believe That the people in the organization are the only competitive advantage that organizations have these days.

Jenny Fedullo: So true. So true. Steve, what a, what a phenomenal background. I know we connected, was it last month at an, at a Central PA ATD event and we got to talking and thought, hey, let's connect on a podcast. Yeah. So, here we are, um, really talking about generational, you know, differences and bridging, bridging that gap through learning and leading, [00:03:00] kind of together, kind of, you know, meshing the two.

Jenny Fedullo: Can you, you know, to start off, can you paint the picture, remind our viewers, what does a multi-generational workforce look like today? What are those generations we're dealing with and what do they, what do they each one of them bring? 

Steve Goble: No, absolutely. Because in most organizations, there's anywhere from four to six different generations still active in the workplace.

Steve Goble: And when I say active, they're not just there by name only. They're very intentional about what they're doing. They have certain specific roles. I, you know, at the, the older generation is the traditionalists or the silent generation. These are legacy individuals that are focused on loyalty. They've been with the company 35, 40, 50 years even, maybe still some of the founders.

Steve Goble: So, they come with, you know, an advisory aspect. Uh, they're, they're very close to retirement, but they're not quite there yet only because they don't want to, because they love what they're doing. 

Jenny Fedullo: Right. 

Steve Goble: Uh, then you have baby boomers, you know, at the time, the largest number of, uh, you know, employees age range in [00:04:00] the workforce, hard work experience.

Steve Goble: They grew up with that face-to-face collaboration and the, you know, in the room, get it done kind of mindset. Then you have Gen Xers, uh, and that's where I proudly lie as a Gen Xer. Me too. Um, yes, there we go. Absolutely. We're taking over the world right now. Yeah. It's finally our turn. Yes. Um, you know, we're independent, we're, we're adaptable.

Steve Goble: Uh, you know, we grew up in a time where it was, you know, sink or swim just kind of threw us into the water and figured out, and we did for better or worse. We really just figured it out. Uh, but we were on the cusp of that technological advancement. Uh, we grew up with computers, we grew up with video games, whereas the baby boomers didn't, and then after us come, you know, the millennials or Gen Y, and they took that technological aspect and just kept going with it.

Steve Goble: Very collaborative in their mindset, tech driven, but they, they're starting to shift away from, uh, the 45, 50 hours a week in the office. Where the flexibility to get their job done, they [00:05:00] care about getting the job done, but how they get the job done isn't as detailed or as intentionally, you know, location wise in the office, so to speak.

Steve Goble: And then you have Gen Z and Gen Alpha, you know, there's not much of a differentiator yet that we're seeing in the marketplace simply because there's not a lot of Gen Alpha, but they're sharing a lot of the Gen Z traits. Again, they've taken technology and just advanced it even further. 

Jenny Fedullo: Oh yeah.

They got cell phones when they were 5, 6, 7 years old sometimes.

Steve Goble: And for better or for worse, we're not gonna get into that conversation, but they're much more adaptable and eager to try new technologies. And they see the value of technology and what it can do in the workplace. So there's kind of just, you know, a very broad generalization of the various generations and they each bring their own separate abilities and intrigue to the environment.

Steve Goble: within our workforces, but helping them understand and collaborate is where a [00:06:00] lot of opportunity still lies to get the most value out of each of them as individuals. 

Jenny Fedullo: Yeah, I know, I know your work focuses on really solving organizational people problems across generations. What are the most common challenges you're seeing and how do you help teams overcome that?

Steve Goble: The first biggest challenge is the lack of intentional relationship building and the stereotypes around these generations.

Steve Goble: Now, some of the stereotypes are true, sure, but because we're all uniquely individually made, we have, you know, traits of both. Especially, I think, Gen Xers and Millennials kind of, you know, we fit as a bridge between several generations. But we don't, we, as organizations, they aren't intentional about building those relationships.

Steve Goble: It's one of the biggest problems. And there's two big excuses as to why they don't do that. One is the excuse of we're too busy. We're too busy doing this. We're too busy doing that. So we get that mindset of focusing on the tasks gotta get done. [00:07:00] This has to be done. This has to be done. But we're doing the wrong thing sometimes instead of building those relationships.

Steve Goble: Another excuse I see is that we've always done it this way. That's the excuse that if you talk with the Gen Alpha's, you talk with the Gen Z's, you talk with Millennials, even, even Gen Xers, right? The idea that we've always done it this way is incredibly frustrating because so much has changed in the last five, 10, 30 years of technology.

Steve Goble: And you know, that excuse of we've always done it this way does not work anymore. Because of the technology that is changing so fast and so rapidly, we have to be able to adjust. As leaders, as individuals and as teams. And ultimately this just comes down to, you know, the biggest challenge is ego. And the, you know, I read it somewhere in a book.

Steve Goble: I love to read. Um, I read it somewhere in a book. Ego, the acrostic is everyone's greatest obstacle. Now we all have egos. Egos can be good. There's no doubt about it. We all have egos. I have an ego. [00:08:00] We cannot let our own egos get in the way of the goals and the vision and the success we're looking for.

Steve Goble: Within organizations, but also at the individual level. 

Jenny Fedullo: I love it. I'm writing down everyone's greatest obstacle that's there's so much to just talk about with that, right. It's so intriguing. Yeah. 

Steve Goble: I wish I remembered where I read that. I wish I remembered. So I can give credit where credit's due. I, you know, I didn't come up with that.

Steve Goble: So I can't take credit for that, but, um, I don't remember, but it's, it's, it's something that it resonates because that is, that crosses the age demographic. Right. That crosses throughout all the generations and sometimes we're our own worst enemies. Indeed. 

Jenny Fedullo: So, in your experience, how can organizations design training programs that, that are going to resonate with learning preferences across the, you know, multi generational workforce?

Jenny Fedullo: I know for us at d'Vinci, we really take a research based approach to designing training programs. We rely heavily on, on Gagné's nine [00:09:00] events of instruction. Particularly, there's three of the nine, gaining attention, re stimulate recall of prior knowledge and, and active learning strategies, and really focus on those based on our audience.

Jenny Fedullo: Like, for example, you know, Millennials and Gen Zs, active learning, you know, gotta have that hands on, interactive, uh, you know, the way you gain attention for a Millennial is gonna be a little bit different than how you might grab attention for a Gen Z, so we really think about that when we're designing the programs.

Jenny Fedullo: Really aim to create personalized feeling and make it impactful for everyone. What are your thoughts? 

Steve Goble: The first thing organizations have to do is ask what their employees want. And when they tell you they don't want any training, cause that's what they're going to do. They don't think they want any training.

Steve Goble: They don't think they need any training. You have to ask them again because what they, what we need to understand. And I think the younger generation does get this is that because they see the technology changing so quickly around them, they know they need to keep up, but they're not being afforded the [00:10:00] opportunities to keep up.

Steve Goble: Because the generations that, you know, the, the, the boomers and even some Gen Xers and certainly traditionalists aren't keeping up with them. So, you know, ask what your team wants. Because if they don't, you know, if you're trying to deliver something they don't want, you're not going to get that buy in no matter how good it is, no matter how good the information is, no matter how well structured it is.

Steve Goble: And we also need to stop assuming that one-size-fits-all approach. 

Susan Cort: So how do you avoid generalizing? Like I don't really identify with some of the generational characteristics that, that my group is. So if you're in charge of, of training in your organization, if you have a small workforce, you might be able to do it.

Susan Cort: But if you've got a larger workforce, how do you know that you're really meeting the learner where they need to be, especially if not everybody fits into these tidy buckets of generational characteristics? 

Steve Goble: You have to diversify your options, uh, and the opportunities. And that's easier said than done, especially with large organizations when I know resources are limited, time is limited.

Steve Goble: But again, I think it [00:11:00] really goes back to first ask, you know, again, ask what your employees want and then do your best to deliver What you can, when you can, and communicate why. You know, hey, if, if they want X and you can deliver some of X right now, but you can't deliver all of X, I think having that relationship intact, if it's sound to begin with, you can communicate, hey, we can give you X, X. 1 this year, and we can finish off X. 2 next year.

Steve Goble: Or lay out the roadmap, help them see, okay, I'm listening to you. I hear what you're saying, but just from a resource standpoint that we have right now as an organization, we can't do all of that, but here's the roadmap. We'll lay it out. And I think regardless of generation, that leads to people feeling heard.

Steve Goble: They feel listened to and they feel appreciated, which not only strengthens the relationship, but when it does come time to deliver on that learning. I think they're much more engaged. 

Jenny Fedullo: Yeah, I, I agree and I know at d'Vinci, the way we often approach it is through we, we do [00:12:00] personas. We create personas and then the learning paths.

Jenny Fedullo: Learning paths are so, um, effective. Yes. When you have multiple levels there where they can kind of choose the level that's going to, align and give them, give them that. The personalized experience that they need. 

Steve Goble: And they want that personalized experience as well because they don't see themselves as the stereotypical Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, whatever we're calling them, right?

Steve Goble: And that makes a huge difference, not only in their ability to maintain the knowledge we're trying to teach them on. It helps to strengthen that relationship internally, which lowers HR costs, which increases retention and so many other added value benefits for the organization. 

Susan Cort: Well, I think you, you've both hit on something that's so important and that's just listening to your workforce and not, not only about what kind of training they like and the modality that they'd like, but just to kind of keep in touch with them as the training is rolled out to make sure that you're continuing to listen and evolve the training.

Steve Goble: Yeah, [00:13:00] absolutely. Hey man, I have a program that I do called 5Ls of Leadership. And the first L is listening, because if you don't listen, you're not going to keep people regardless. 

Jenny Fedullo: So with your expertise in, in change management, how do you advise teams to adapt to emerging technologies? AI, right? Let's talk AI.

Jenny Fedullo: So while, while addressing generational differences, I know, I know for, for us at, at d'Vinci, we're not only designing learning solutions, but trying to foster the buy in and adaptability against across the generation. So. You look at, you know, a traditionalist or a baby boomer, you know, in particular, they need to know the why, right?

Jenny Fedullo: Where a Gen X needs more pragmatic application, where then you move on to the Millennials and Gen Zs, and they're already embracing AI, right? Make them the advocates and the mentors, really. Driving that grassroots adoption. So really for us, aligning the implementation strategy with, with their [00:14:00] generational strengths is really going to help bridge that gap. What are your thoughts? 

Steve Goble: I agree. There, there, there's a, definitely a huge gap of understanding in, in, uh, adoption early on. Um, but we have to be willing to try new things, The same thing is going to happen as technology continues to evolve around AI, around the blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

Steve Goble: You know, and there's a lot of public media talk about cryptocurrencies, but the reality is the beauty of cryptocurrencies is the blockchain behind them, and that doesn't get talked about enough. And I'm, I'm not knowledgeable enough to talk about it other than that. It's cool. I'm exploring it and I'm learning, but that's the extent of my knowledge.

Steve Goble: Do not listen to me on understanding it. Uh, but I think at the same time, as part of this new stuff. We have to be willing to fail as part of the learning process. And we need to give that permission to our teams. Hey, we're trying something new. We're learning something new. [00:15:00] It's okay to fail here as long as we've learned something in that failure and give, you know, give guide rails to work within versus strict rules.

Steve Goble: Now, obviously that specific advice, you know, guide rails versus guide rails versus strict rules. is going to be dependent on industry or any regulatory stuff. I know, you know, in the banking world, they don't really have guide rails. They have more strict rules or even some of the healthcare world. They have kind of strict rules and I understand that.

Steve Goble: But the reality is we still have to be. Be willing to try new things. without fear of being punished for failing. That's part of the learning process. Nobody got it right the first time. I mean, we, we, you know, think about when my, my daughter just turned 14 a month ago, my son's 11. But if you're a parent out there, think about when your child first learned to walk, we have to let them fail.

Steve Goble: It's painful to fail. Sometimes they fell, they got blue bruised, they got bloodied, maybe started crying. But as a dad, I'm really glad I'm not carrying around a [00:16:00] 14-year-old kid because we have to let them fail and learn from that experience. Right. And that's hard to do sometimes because of the pain we go through it.

Steve Goble: But if we don't go through the pain, we're never really going to learn. And get the most ability out of it. 

Jenny Fedullo: Yeah. So what role does leadership play in connecting generational strengths to create, you know, what they need to get things done, to create that cohesive and productive team? 

Steve Goble: Well, leaders have the responsibility to go first.

Steve Goble: They have the titles, the positional authority, and you know, just because you have a title or positional authority doesn't make you a leader. I'm going to make sure that is clear to talk on leadership. You have that positional authority, have that title. You have to be the initiator. You have to do it with intentionality and you have to understand and identify the strengths of each members of your team.

Steve Goble: Because knowing the strengths of your team is, is really important to relationship building, to success. And you have to be okay with the teams changing more frequently than the past. [00:17:00] You know, baby boomers stuck at the job 35, 40 years. They didn't like the boss. They sucked it up for lack of better words.

Steve Goble: Right. And just dealt with it. Baby Boomers, a little more aggressive in your face kind of ways. Gen Xers, you know, we're all in that, whatever. We'll do our own thing. We just pretend we're listening to you and ignore you anyway and do our own thing. And that's how the, some of the generations are, but we have to be okay with teams changing more frequently.

Steve Goble: And you know, and I'm a, I'm a sports fan. I grew up, uh, I played D1 lacrosse in college and I enjoy sports watching them now, too old to play them anymore, but, um, we have to be okay with the transition. The teams make, to make sure that we're building the strongest team possible. Uh, and that requires us to continue learning about the technology, learning about each other as individuals and understanding the needs and desires within the age of members of your team of how they determine what success is.

Steve Goble: Success is defined differently by these generations coming up now than it was [00:18:00] by the traditionalist, by the baby boomers. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but we just have to understand the why behind it. 

Jenny Fedullo: Agreed. I'm glad you said that about the, um, the strengths. I've always been interested in focusing on strengths.

Jenny Fedullo: I know, um, any new team member that joins my team, I always have them do a profile. Um, I can't remember the author. I'm going to have to look it up. I wrote a book, Now Discover Your Strengths, and there's like a, 

Steve Goble: Marcus Buckingham. 

Jenny Fedullo: Yes. Yes. 

Susan Cort: You win the prize. 

Jenny Fedullo: You do win the prize. It was killing me. Yeah.

Steve Goble: There's two authors. It was Marcus and somebody else, but I'm a huge fan of, of, of 

Jenny Fedullo: Buckingham's 

Steve Goble: work because he's done the research, right? 

Jenny Fedullo: Yep. 

Steve Goble: And he's written several other great books beyond, but it does start with our strengths. Think about what we enjoy doing as individuals. It's much more fun working from our strengths.

Steve Goble: Versus working from our weaknesses. Now, and we can delegate somebody else on our team, because what our strengths are might be different than somebody else's strengths, [00:19:00] and what their strengths are might be our weaknesses. 

Jenny Fedullo: Agreed. 

Steve Goble: And it doesn't mean, it doesn't mean better or worse, right. It just means that we're all different, and understanding that is okay.

Steve Goble: Going back to the sports analogy, football, all right. It's football season right now. And both the Steelers and the Eagles are doing well. We're, we're located in PA. So, let's talk about them for a minute. So, I mean, you have the quarterback, you have the lineman, you have the running back, you have the wide receivers on offense, and they all have the role to play.

Steve Goble: And, you know, the quarterback makes the most money. Usually they are, you know, running the team, right? But if they have a terrible offensive line in front of them, no matter how good they are, they'll never reach their potential because the rest of the team around them isn't as strong. And that's the same true in business.

Steve Goble: Yeah, there's gonna be leaders of the team or the face of the team or those that have that position authority and title but they need a great support team around them To truly value, to truly get the best experience, not only results wise for the [00:20:00] organization, but also cohesiveness and structure and relationship building on the team.

Jenny Fedullo: Yeah. To talk about that book a little bit more, the thing that got me the buy in on that book was the analogy with Dan Marino. So the listeners, if you're not listening, Dan Marino was a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Miami Dolphins. And I said, thank goodness. His coaches didn't focus on his weaknesses.

Jenny Fedullo: Oh, you need to be a better running back. You need to do this. You need to be a better blocker. No, let's keep building your strength as a quarterback and what you're doing well. Right? So that, that was my buy in on that book, that analogy and that story. I'm like, absolutely. Let's figure out what each person can bring and, and really go with it.

Steve Goble: Yeah. And then find complimentary players who have their own strengths that amplify the success of the team. 

Jenny Fedullo: Yep. Alright, well, this was a lot of fun, but we do need to probably wrap it up. Any parting thoughts? What, what advice would you give for a listener who's, who's faced with leading and training a multi-generational workforce?

Steve Goble: You know, one thing I talk about with [00:21:00] clients and teams, individuals is once you're done learning, you're done, whether that's learning about people, whether it's learning about business skills, whether it's learning about generations, AI technology, once you're done learning, you're done. So never stop learning.

Steve Goble: Always be open to understanding, to ask questions, get, you know, share insights, share this podcast, share other podcasts, share books. You want your done learning, you're done. 

Jenny Fedullo: Yeah. That's an amazing piece of advice. I agree. You should. 

Steve Goble: Yeah. 

Jenny Fedullo: That's what keeps us going, right? Is, is you've always should embrace new opportunities and new experiences and learn from them.

Jenny Fedullo: This has been a lot of fun. 

Susan Cort: We are, we are done. We are done with this podcast interview, but not done learning and, and not. Yeah, exactly. Perfect. Not, not done talking with you, Steve. We appreciate you taking the time to chat with Jenny and me today and we're looking forward to sharing this with our listeners.

Steve Goble: Now again, I thank you for the opportunity to join you here on the Powered by Learning podcast. I appreciate the opportunity [00:22:00] and look forward to connecting again in the future as well.

Susan Cort: Jenny, Steve had some good advice on focusing on the learner before developing training. 

Jenny Fedullo: Yeah, I completely agree, Susan. He shared so many valuable insights and what really stood out to me Was his focus on listening and intentionality, which really aligns well with how we approach learning solutions here at da Vinci.

Jenny Fedullo: I mean, whether it's designing training for multi-generational teams or creating personalized learning paths, it all starts with understanding the unique needs of the learner. 

Susan Cort: Absolutely. Thanks, Jenny. You're welcome. And special thanks to our guest, Steve Goble of the Goble Group. If you have an idea for a topic or a guest, please reach out to us at poweredbylearningatdvinci.com.

Susan Cort: And don't forget that you can subscribe to Powered by Learning wherever you listen to your [00:23:00] podcasts.