The technology use gap among the generations is closing rapidly. There may be no better example that hits home than Michael Winerup’s Generation B (for Boomer) column in the New York Times (January 17, 2010), “On Vacation and Looking for Wi-Fi.”

We all are touched; most of us are trapped by the psychological effect of being accessible 24/7 and the desire to keep on top of the deluge of messages and data coming in unstoppable torrents.

Winerup points out that just a few years ago the middle-aged members of his three-generation, geographically extended family vacationing together left their work and tech gadgets at home. Three years ago, a few made a visit to an Internet café on their vacation for the novelty of it.

This year some of them stood in a long line in a resort lobby to pay for 25 hours of internet service, brought laptops, and checked e-mail daily. This way they reduce the e-mail build-up awaiting them the first day back at work. I relate to that post-vacation return anxiety even as I resist checking e-mail every day when out of the U.S.

“We expect ourselves to be available,” said Winerup. That’s the Boomers’ mindset. Technology is making us work harder. Gen X and Y have been continuously connected for years, but many of them don’t want to be always available for work.

Winerup says we all are expected to use all the Internet tools for research and client relations. No more depending on secretaries and assistants.

The hit film Up in the Air made the point that critical human interactions, like layoffs, still require in-person contact. (Excellent work by George Clooney and his co-stars. A great story made even more captivating by the recession.) All the electronic connectedness not only can be a poor substitute for in-person higher touch contact, but it also leaves little time for the high touch. Now it has even invaded vacation time away with family and friends.

Positive or negative that the generations have something else in common?…I guess it depends….

Please share your thoughts.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot

Editor’s note: Phyllis Weiss Haserot is the president of Practice Development Counsel, consulting and coaching, an inter-generational relations expert and West Key Author of The Rainmaking Machine and The Marketer’s Handbook of Tips and Checklists. For more information, visit her website, pdcounsel.com, or her blog, Next Generation, Next Destination.

She appears in a free webcast, “Getting Your Multi-Generational Work Teams to Shine: 7 Secrets of Collaborative Dialogue” here.

One trait thought to be essential for successful leaders - in law firms and elsewhere – today and in the future is “resilience,” defined as tough-mindedness and the ability to accept criticism.

A study (released in mid-2006) of more than 2,000 employees at the managerial and professional levels by PsMax Solutions, a human capital assessment firm, provides some intriguing findings. Ranked highest of all groups was the middle-managers’ resilience score. CEOs and company presidents ranked lowest in resiliency, followed by executives and professional employees.

Whether the cause or the effect of resilience, in middle management roles people are subject to feedback from all directions. Middle managers may be responsible for planning, directing and coordinating day-to-day activities and leading the people on the front lines. In a professional firm, middle managers include the directors of marketing, professional development, recruiting, information technology and finance and office administrators.

Law firm senior associates and managers in accounting firms are in this category.

Clearly CEOs and professionals need to increase their resilience given the challenges they face with the accelerating pace of work demands and change. Without developing the resilience trait, such problems as allowing stress and frustration to show, becoming defensive in response to criticism and difficulty in bouncing back can greatly impact individual performance and team results.

Another group sorely in need of developing resilience as defined above is Generation Y/Millennials, new to the dynamics of organizational politics and economic realities. This is especially true for those who have been hovered over by helicopter parents, teachers and mentors through school years.

Coaching can be very helpful in developing resilience. People can learn with a coach’s support to accept constructive criticism, learn from it, and temper reactions to non-constructive feedback. They can learn to be more open with their thoughts and reactions rather than holding them in and building high stress. Listening, showing that you are listening, speaking and not shutting down communications all are behaviors that can be learned and practiced. Coaching can also help managers, chiefs and directors navigate the dynamics of an organization’s internal politics.

We all can have some control over what we let get to us and cause high stress and what we overcome to be more effective managers and leaders for our own benefit as well as those around us.

Resilience is a personal gift as well as a key leadership trait.

Please share your thoughts and experiences

Phyllis Weiss Haserot

Editor’s note: Phyllis Weiss Haserot will appear on a panel for Cornell Law School alumni on November 18 in New York on alternative career options. More in-person talks and webcasts on inter-generational challenges, professional development and social networking topics are planned with her for December and 2010.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot is the president of Practice Development Counsel, consulting and coaching, an inter-generational relations expert and West Key Author of The Rainmaking Machine and The Marketer’s Handbook of Tips and Checklists. For more information, visit her website, pdcounsel.com, or her blog, Next Generation, Next Destination.

Firms have felt tensions among the different generations in the workplace for a while – and typically have done little to achieve better harmony beyond sending HR, professional development, and marketing professionals to seminars and conferences to learn about the differences. But when it affects client relationships, then it gets attention!

In this time of urgent need to hold on to all profitable clients, waiting for complaints in not an option. That’s too late and a competitor will win them away. The savvier and safer route is to anticipate potential problems and develop strategies and training to avoid problematic situations from arising.

What, generationally speaking, do firms and individual lawyers need to look at in order to develop and maintain the best client/counsel relationships? Here are a few things to consider:

• Are your client teams multi-generational, and is there an effort to make sure relationships are built at every level of seniority?

• Have tensions or difficulties arisen that could be traced to generational differences and world views? For example, are communication styles and media used causing friction between counsel and client? Are there different views on accessibility and flexibility? On the level of formality the client is comfortable with?

• How and how often is reporting done and feedback given?

• Do younger attorney understand the importance of interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence to client confidence, loyalty and trust?

• Are older attorneys making an effort to stretch their comfort level with younger clients’ use of technology as an extension of themselves? Are they using social networking tools with their clients?

Age diversity is a key component of the diversity puzzle. Understanding how to capitalize on it rather than be encumbered with negative energy from generational differences that can fairly easily be resolved will give a boost and competitive edge to your practice.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot

Editor’s note: Phyllis Weiss Haserot will lead a webcast titled Communicating and Working with Clients of a Different Generation on Thursday, July 30 at 12:30 p.m. EDT on West LegalEdCenter.

She is the president of Practice Development Counsel, consulting and coaching, an inter-generational relations expert and West Key Author of The Rainmaking Machine and The Marketer’s Handbook of Tips and Checklists. For more information, visit her website, pdcounsel.com, or her blog, Next Generation, Next Destination.