In his masterpiece, The Tao of Leadership, John Heider says:

"Too much force will backfire. Constant interven­tions and instigations will not make a good group. They will spoil a group. The best group process is delicate. It cannot be pushed around. It cannot be argued over or won in a fight.  The leader who tries to control the group through force does not understand group process. Force will cost you the support of the members. Leaders who push think that they are facilitating pro­cess, when in fact they are blocking process. They think that they are building a good group field, when in fact they are destroying its coherence and creat­ing factions. They think that their constant interventions are a mea­sure of ability, when in fact such interventions are crude and inappropriate. They think that their leadership position gives them absolute authority, when in fact their behavior dimin­ishes respect. The wise leader stays centered and grounded and uses the least force required to act effectively.  The leader avoids egocentricity and emphasizes being rather than doing."

I have a number of clients who struggle with employees in the Gen X (born between 1965 and about 1980) and Gen Y (born between about 1980 and the early 1990s) generations. My advice: learn everything you can about them, empathize with them, learn how to appreciate them, and learn how to access their generous qualities. They come from a completely different mindset from those of us in the Baby Boomer generation. It is nonsensical to judge them. They are neither worse nor better than us; they are simply different. And it is even more nonsensical to dismiss them.   Like them or not, they are part of our world, indeed part of us. Where to start? Wikipedia is always a good place nowadays (Gen X and Gen Y).

(By the way, I also have a number of clients who will take Gen X’ers and Gen Y’ers over ’Boomers all day long, and are doing quite well.  Without exception, they are the ones who took the time to get to know them.)