December 19, 2025 • 30 mins
How do you lead Boomers, Gen X, Millennials AND Gen Z in 2026 without losing your mind? Executive coach Amos Balongo reveals the dead-simple communication framework that actually works across generations.
This episode answers every major question leaders are searching for in 2025:
- What is intergenerational leadership?
- What does generational leadership mean?
- What is generational leadership?
- Generational leadership styles & generational differences in leadership
- Intergenerational leadership definition & intergenerational leadership strategies
- Cross-generational leadership and multi-generational leadership in the workplace
- Generational leadership adapting to the changing workplace
- Organizations that promote intergenerational leadership or mentorship
- How to simplify communication across generations
Tim Staton sits down with executive communications coach Amos Balongo to unpack intergenerational leadership and the #1 skill every leader needs right now: how to simplify communication.
Discover why military officers struggle when moving to civilian roles, how Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z see loyalty completely differently, and why the future of work belongs to leaders who can bridge the generational leadership gap.
If you lead teams, mentor young talent, or want to future-proof your career, this is the definitive guide to generational leadership in the workplace and simplifying communication for maximum impact.
Connect With Amos:
Email: balongoamos@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amosbalongo/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmosBalongoinc/
Connect with Tim:
Website: timstatingtheobvious.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.coma/timstatingtheobvious
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHfDcITKUdniO8R3RP0lvdw
Instagram: @TimStating Tiktok: @timstatingtheobvious
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-staton-04b41a271/
Enroll in the Leadership Course: https://themanyhatsofleadership.learnworlds.com/course/the-edge-mindset
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tim Staton (00:02):
This is Tim Staton with Tim stating the obvious.
What is this podcast about? It's simple.
You are entitled to Great leadership everywhere you go, whether it's a church, whether it's
to work, whether it's at your house, you are entitled to Great leadership.
And so in this podcast, we take leadership principles and theories and turn them into everyday relatable and usable advice.
Disclaimer (00:25):
And a quick disclaimer. This show process or service by trademark trademark manufacturer.
Otherwise, does not necessarily constitute an reply, the endorsement of anyone that I employed
by or favors the in The views are expressed here in my show are my own expressed and do not
necessarily state or reflect those of any employer.
Tim Staton (00:36):
In a world where leaders are judged not just by what they achieve, but how they inspire.
Imagine commanding a room like a battlefield general, turning every word into a weapon of influence.
That's the power that Amos Balongo unlocks.
Amos is an executive communications expert, keynote speaker, and communication coach.
Amos empowers senior leaders to master the art of communication.
(01:03):
Elevating your visibility, earning the appreciation you.
Deserve, and spotlighting your unique value.
With 18 years of coaching elite military officers, AMS brings battle-tested strategies to transform your presence.
Today, we're focusing on intergenerational leadership and the power of communication.
So, Amos, welcome to the show.
Amos Balongo (01:21):
Thank you, Tim.
Tim Staton (01:22):
Hey, so my first question for you is what really got you into the communication coaching space?
Amos Balongo (01:32):
You see Tim, one of the greatest things any person, any human being can have is the ability
to be able to communicate and connect.
And being in the coaching space, even the leadership space, it's really wide.
And I narrowed down into communication because of personal experiences I had had, and a lot
of it was my inabilities to be an effective communicator.
(01:58):
And through learning how to become an effective communicator, I realized that, you know, if
you're gonna lead people, communication is a, it's, it's a center, it's a core of being able
to be a great leader.
Cause you can have a great message, but if you can't communicate it, you know, you're just,
that message is dead in the water.
So I figured I'd hone into that and, and coach people how to do it because I was once in that hole, if I will. Yeah.
Tim Staton (02:23):
No, I know what you mean. And so.
I know that you have done some extensive experience coaching military officers as well as they
transition out into civilian space.
So how did that first come about?
Amos Balongo (02:35):
Well, that was interesting because I had some friends that were senior officers in the military
and they were getting ready to transition.
And one of them approached me and said, Hey, are you interested in helping me?
He was going to write a book as well as get into the coaching and speaking space.
Now, this particular general was a friend of mine was a three star general.
(02:58):
And normally when a general speaks or walks into a room, people stand up and it's really you
give orders, people take them.
Now transitioning into the civilian world is a whole different ball game.
And through getting him ready with his book and getting him ready to transition into the civilian
world, it was very clear that this is something that a lot of flag officers, if I will, need.
Tim Staton (03:29):
But that's how I started off.
Amos Balongo (03:30):
And he was able to get his book out and able to understand that going, because he had basically
spent all his life in the military.
And that transition was smoother for him because we went through really as clearly and as vividly
as can be how the workplace looks like and what are some of the things he's going to be dealing
with in the workplace that he doesn't deal with in the military.
And I've enjoyed doing this because it's almost like having folks be able to unlearn and then
(03:57):
relearn what they didn't know. So, yeah.
Tim Staton (04:01):
Yeah, no, that's a, that's a great point that you have unlearn and then relearn what you didn't know.
What is the most common misperception or misconception that you see people have when they get ready to transition out?
Amos Balongo (04:14):
Well, I think one of it is that, you know, it's the fact that they think that the skills and
experiences are translatable exactly into the.
Tim Staton (04:27):
Civilian world.
Amos Balongo (04:27):
But they're not unless you translate them.
Because I can tell you, well, I was a three star general in this, you know, within this, you
know, within the army or the air force.
So I was an admiral in the navy and a three star.
And, and if I don't translate that, what that does in the civilian world, it becomes a little
bit overwhelming because people like, so what, what is combat operations? What is this? What is that?
(04:52):
And, and so I think the biggest challenge I see is how do you translate?
What you have learned over the years to the civilian world, because in the military world, it translates itself.
If I'm a two-star talking to a three-star or one-star talking to a three-star, they get the
lingo, they get what it is, but the civilians have absolutely no idea.
(05:16):
And a lot of times, a lot of flag officers miss opportunities in the civilian world simply because
people are just intimidated by their experiences.
And I look at it as if you're a flag officer, a general, an admiral, you're essentially as a CEO of a company.
(05:36):
That's really how I look at it.
And if I can translate that and your accomplishments in that way, then it really sets you up
for success in the civilian world.
Tim Staton (05:47):
No, that's a great point and a great way to take a look at it. I agree with you.
Flag officers are pretty much like CEOs.
Amos Balongo (05:55):
At very varying different levels.
Tim Staton (05:56):
So it's interesting that you've been working with senior flag officers and lately there's been
a lot of talk about the intergenerational gap that's in the workforce.
You have the boomer generation that's getting ready to retire.
Then you have Generation X that's in the workplace, but they're getting ready to come out.
(06:16):
You got the millennials and you have Gen Z coming in.
And there's a big issue with communication in the workplace.
Amos Balongo (06:25):
So is that something that you're finding as well?
This has been, if I can put it in as simple terms as I can, is this has been one of the most
exciting times for me in my career because we're looking at a wide spectrum of folks.
You go to Gen Zs, the Gen Xs, the baby boomers, and what this is doing, it's
(06:51):
either getting people to think differently and adopt or try and use your essentially strategies
that you've learned in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s towards, for example, the Gen Zs.
And that is a recipe for that plane will just not take off.
Because what we're dealing with here is a very interesting intergenerational gap where at the
palm of your hands now, you have more computing power than the computing power that sent the
(07:17):
Apollo mission to the moon, to space.
And so the younger generation is thinking fast, moving fast, expecting things fast.
Additionally, you've got the folks who are essentially in leadership right now, who that's not
the way they came up the ranks.
That's not the way they came up in the companies.
So there's a gap there. There's a big gap.
And that's where the communication comes in because the Gen Zs are not going away.
(07:41):
In fact, the workforce as As the baby boomers are phasing out, the workforce is being populated
more by these younger folks.
Now, it's up to us as leaders to be able to understand them and value them and figure out how
do we work with them.
Now, granted, there's got to be give and take, but you have to understand that if you try to
(08:04):
basically employ communication strategies you used in the 60s and the 70s and the 80s, It just
doesn't work because back in the 80s, even in 90s, we wrote letters and it took seven days for
the letters to come back and then we responded and now it's a text and in fact it's like I texted
you at 3:00 PM, it's 3:45 PM, how come I haven't gotten a response?
(08:28):
There's a benefit in finding common ground between this intergenerational issue we're having,
but the honors is on the leaders to be able to figure out how do we lead this, this, this, this younger folks?
How do we get them ready for this leadership, roles?
Tim Staton (08:47):
You brought up a really good point about how the younger generation, everything is super fast.
The, the more senior seasoned generations, there's like a pace to it.
There's a timing, there's a rhythm.
So that gap, what is the expectation gap that we're seeing in the workplace right now?
Is it on both sides of the spectrum?
(09:07):
Like, you know, they think I'm gonna enter the workforce.
And I'll be vice president in two years from now or like six months from now, whereas the senior
folks are like, Hey, you know, there's a lot of knowledge that you have to have along the way.
What is that expectation gap that we're finding?
Amos Balongo (09:22):
Great question, Tim. It's on both sides.
And we have young kids coming out of college and expecting to be running a company in two or three years.
And many I meet who even take coaching sessions with me are like, I'm graduating college next year.
I'm going to start with a six figure salary job.
I'm like, that That doesn't work like that.
(09:44):
There is something to be said about earning your professional stripes.
You have to earn those professional stripes to be able to get to that point.
Because at the end of the day, if I give you a Fortune 100 company to run and you're two years
out of college, three years out of college, well, we're going to run into some challenges because
you're just not seasoned enough.
(10:05):
So one of the things that I see is very unrealistic expectations from the younger folks coming into companies.
On the other side, with the leaders, they just expect the younger folks to be able to work for
the company for 25 years, make it to the top, get a gold watch and retire.
(10:27):
And now realizing that times have changed and this younger generation, the loyalty is based
on what's in it for me and how does it How does it work for me?
Because in this particular case, for a lot of these young folks, it's, does this fit my lifestyle?
You know, back in the days, you took a job, you walked 60, 70 hours, and that's what you did.
(10:50):
But now it's, does this fit into my lifestyle?
Does this work for me?
Because if it doesn't work for me, I'll just go somewhere else and find a job, another job.
And when that doesn't work, I'll just get into the gig economy and
There's.
Tim Staton (11:10):
So many ways to make money now.
Amos Balongo (11:10):
That as a leader, you can't hold people hostage with a paycheck anymore.
You have to create the environment where they are able to thrive, where it's conducive for them.
Are they able to come to work with their pets?
Are they able to take time off whenever they need to?
Are we valuing their opinions?
Are we listening to them?
So there's just a lot of conversations that need to be had on both sides to be able to establish
(11:33):
this is kind of where we meet in the middle because I know I know that I'm not going to expect
you to come in and work for the company for 20 years and become CEO, but on the other side,
I also know that I'm not going to come in and in two years become a CEO.
So what's the middle ground?
And I think also for this, the younger folks is how are you painting the real picture of what it takes?
Is there upward mobility within the organization?
(11:55):
And are you placing value just on monetary compensation or are we also looking at the culture within the workplace?
Because as a leader right now, and what I'm telling many leaders is you could offer, you know,
a gen z thousand dollars a year that they wouldn't take it.
Someone else will offer a culture that fits them and they'll go for the culture.
Tim Staton (12:17):
So you brought up a lot of really good points.
So we're going to backtrack here a little bit.
So it was so much.
I was like, I didn't want to interrupt because you're on a roll.
But so it was interesting you brought up the whole six figure thing because I was at the fire
range the other day and I overheard an instructor talking with a guy who worked at.
Amos Balongo (12:36):
An insurance company in Hartford.
Tim Staton (12:36):
And they were they were talking about how so many kids these days, and I call them kids, but
they're really young adults are getting getting bachelor's degrees and master's degrees like one after the other.
Then they try to go in the workplace and they're expecting six figure salaries.
You know, the executives of these companies are like, like, yeah, you have a degree, but you don't have any experience.
So that expectation mix match has to be addressed somewhere.
(12:59):
So I'm glad that you brought that up because I'm hearing it too in other places.
Amos Balongo (13:06):
And then you also brought up about.
Tim Staton (13:06):
The paycheck being held hostage in the cultures of organizations.
Is it more so you think that the younger generation is focusing more on workplace culture and
lifestyle culture and the work balance thing, or is it something else?
Amos Balongo (13:19):
I believe it's a it's a work life balance and on the environment and the culture that they go
into and they want to go into an environment where they feel suits them and and they're comfortable.
And that to me is very key, because when you get people comfortable in an environment, then
they're able to produce and they're happy doing it.
(13:41):
Now, they might not stay in the company for 20 years, but the five years they're going to give
you in your organization, they're going to produce, they're going to be happy.
And everybody within the organization is really going to thrive because then you have a culture
that lifts everybody up where everybody is comfortable.
And as simple as that sounds, Tim, that's a very difficult thing to do, especially if you're
(14:05):
stuck in a culture of come in and grind and put 80 hours and go home and I'll call you on the
weekend at three in the morning.
Tim Staton (14:12):
Yeah, no, I'm with you.
That's the culture I grew up in.
You work 90 plus hours and then you still work on the weekends at times.
And that's just what you do because that's what's expected.
And I hear you and I hear a lot of other people saying that that's not what they want.
(14:35):
That's not what they value.
So when it, when it comes to.
Amos Balongo (14:36):
This expectation gap, there's also an expectation.
Tim Staton (14:36):
Gap, I think probably on the senior side when they're looking at new executives coming into
the fold, because like you said, they're maybe not as seasoned.
So how do we get people the right experience at the right levels so that we could work on workplace
culture and we can work on developing the people?
Amos Balongo (14:55):
I think that one of the things is when people join your company, there has to be a clear path.
This is how you progress in the company.
And if you want to get experiences in this field, these are the things you need to do to be
able to get those experiences.
And we need to be able to look at it.
We need to take experience.
And a lot of times we've looked at experience and we think they have to have done this for 20
(15:17):
years to have the experience.
I think we need to shift that to be they've done it and are they competent in it?
Because being in a company for 20 years is what we're used to.
I've been in this company for 20 years, 25 years.
You're granted that good experience.
But there's somebody else who could have been in the company for just two years, but they're
way ahead of you because their experiences are different.
(15:41):
So I look at it as experience not in time, but in evaluated experience.
And we take away the time and say, okay, you were exposed to this for two years.
Let's see what your competency is.
Because then that gives some of these younger folks coming in an opportunity to be like, okay,
(16:02):
I don't need to stay in this role for 20 years to earn my stripes.
I just need to be competent.
But the competence comes with a certain level of experience and a certain level of time.
But it doesn't have to be the 20-30 years.
Because another thing is, think about it, we have to move at the speed of business.
Look at AI and look at the way business is moving.
We can't afford back in the days, yeah, you were in a role for 30 years, but now, you know,
(16:30):
Everything is changing so fast that what you're learning today could be different tomorrow. Yeah.
And we need to be able to move fast enough and adopt fast enough.
And I think the key word I'm looking for here is adoption.
How can we adopt to the speed of business, to the speed of how things are moving in the world?
Tim Staton (16:45):
Yeah, no, that's a great point.
And so when we talk about speed and we talk about, you know, adoption and how do we get to the
speed, it always brings up ethical questions for me.
Because with AI, with trying to be first, with trying to be fast, it always has the risk of
falling off on ethical sides on either way.
And so how do you think the younger generation views ethics versus the senior generation?
(17:11):
Because I think there's a big difference.
Amos Balongo (17:13):
Yes.
Tim Staton (17:14):
And ethics between the two.
So can you talk about that for a little bit?
Amos Balongo (17:16):
Yes. I think the, the, the, the, older generation and the folks that I've talked.
Disclaimer (17:27):
To have, I always hear, you need.
Amos Balongo (17:27):
To be in a place long enough, you need to be in a place and be able to make mistakes, correct
your mistakes and learn from your mistakes and do things, you know, you know, buy the book as best as you can.
Now, younger generation looks at it as, I need to be able to do the job, for example, I need
to be able to do it, do it well.
And the ethics part, I've not seen a disconnect between ethics, because I look at ethics this way.
(17:52):
Either you have it or you don't.
Either an ethical person or you're not.
So it doesn't matter whether you're Gen Z or baby boomer, you know, ethics, ethics. Okay.
It's, it's the issue now comes in, in terms of how, how they look at it.
You know, one group says, hey, I need to be able to do the right thing.
Another group says, I need to be able to do the right thing, but to be able to do the right
thing, I need to have been in a place long enough to be able to do the right thing.
(18:12):
So that's kind of how I look at it, but.
I think that I've never met any young person and I coach quite a.
Tim Staton (18:21):
Few of them who says, who I've.
Amos Balongo (18:21):
Never seen a disconnect in ethics between a baby boomer and a Gen Z, for example.
Tim Staton (18:27):
No, that's good because there's conversations out there with, especially with the amount of
information that's coming out there and the amount of information that's at someone's fingertips.
And just because you can do something doesn't mean you necessarily should do something. Right. Right.
Amos Balongo (18:47):
And so, I mean, and honestly, this.
Tim Staton (18:47):
Is why there's ethics and compliance officers in a lot of corporations.
And they're like, okay, so what's the difference between me paying the fine and me fixing the problem, which costs more?
You know, what's more cost effective in that standpoint?
Not saying right or wrong, but as we move faster, do you foresee the risk of people making probably
less informed decisions that they should have made versus it all pans out?
Amos Balongo (19:10):
I think so. I think that's a risk of, you know, going faster, moving fast.
I often say, you know, we're moving very fast, but we're dying faster.
We're living very fast, we're dying faster.
There's a price to pay in living fast.
There's a price to pay in, you know, not letting things settle.
And so you can have a clarity.
(19:32):
You know, use an example of a, of a, a jug with mud in it.
When you shake it, it's not clear.
When you let the mud settle, you can be able to see it. So
I would say that what I would impress upon, you know, anybody in the fast space is look at it or doing anything faster.
Look at it at what point am I borderline violating ethics?
(19:53):
Be it ethics to human beings, be it ethics to the environment, be it, are we, is it ethical,
you know, what I'm doing, for example, you know, environmental ethics is a big one.
You know, are we following the rules and regulations?
I'm in our company and we're producing some product.
You want to do it really fast, but, you know, am I being ethical?
Yeah, I can pay the fine by paying the I refined because I polluted doesn't make it with the pollution, right?
(20:16):
Or, you know, AI, where we're developing all these AI systems and what am I training my AI to do?
What am I equipping it with?
And is this something that will be detrimental to people in the future?
So it's a very interesting space.
And I think that as much as it's evolving, we're evolving with it too.
And that's why this is a very exciting, we have to have, and I'm glad you wrote that up.
(20:41):
We have to have ethics at the forefront. Of what we're doing.
Tim Staton (20:45):
No, absolutely. And I'm thinking about Gen Z as a whole, and I know it's bad to think of them
as a whole because everybody's different and they're all individuals, but they're very values-based driven.
And so as too much, they won't shop at a place or do business with a place if they view that
business as being unethical or having a certain thing.
Now, is that the same way when it comes to seeking an employer or employment?
(21:08):
They won't apply for a job at a certain location if they think they're unethical or have the potential to be?
Amos Balongo (21:13):
Absolutely. I have seen this a lot and a lot of it is because again, the power of technology.
You know, I'm able to use technology to figure out this is what this company's ethical standards are.
So I'm not going to shop there, go to that restaurant, work for the company because their ethics
don't fall in line with my values.
(21:34):
And it ties me back to the whole culture thing.
You know, what's our culture? What are our values?
Tim Staton (21:39):
Because people will buy that first.
Amos Balongo (21:47):
Before they even look at a paycheck.
Tim Staton (21:47):
It's a great point.
Amos Balongo (21:47):
And I hope everybody listening to this.
Tim Staton (21:47):
And watching to this kind of rewinds that like 35 seconds to just re-hear that again, you know,
that culture is incredibly important and they'll buy into that before they buy into a paycheck.
So I appreciate you bringing up that point.
So we talked about expectations.
What is another key aspect that you're seeing that people are just falling short on?
Amos Balongo (22:14):
I think when we look at what we as leaders need to do to bring people up, we have to be intentional.
We have to be intentional to lead people.
Everybody deserves to be led well.
And this is normal on the leadership side.
And as a leader, if people are not following you, you're just out there taking a walk.
And some of the expectations on the leadership side is that shaping or shape out.
They've got to tow the line.
(22:34):
I hear that a lot.
But the line has changed. Things have changed.
So we have to embrace the change as leaders and say, how do I walk down instead of standing
up on top of the mountain and tell everybody, you need to come up, how do I walk down and walk
down from the top of the mountain and come up with them and show them the way and tell them,
(22:55):
I'm right here with you.
So that's another expectation not being met from the leadership side.
No, that's a good point. Yeah.
And every leader should take stock of who's working for them in the company and look and see
how many Gen Zs do I have, how many baby boomers do I have, how many, what's the intergenerational gap I have here?
Because not doing that is, if you're a CEO of a company right now and you're not paying attention
(23:20):
to that, you might as well be flying blind. Yeah.
Tim Staton (23:23):
And I bet there's a lot of people out there flying blind.
Amos Balongo (23:26):
Yep. Because you've got,
20 or 30 or 40 people that work for your company, they're coming from three or four or five different generations.
You've got an interesting leadership opportunity there.
And it's not a one size fits all anymore.
Tim Staton (23:42):
Absolutely. With being intentional on your leadership and who you're leading and really lowering that emotional resistance.
And I really like how you talk about, you know, they got to toe the line.
They got to do X, Y, and Z because that's what we expect.
I would imagine the counter argument at is, well, why? Can you explain why?
(24:02):
Is it because it's what we've always done or is there actual reason? Right?
So with being intentional about who we lead and how we're leading them, when it comes to communicating
with all different types of people, right?
Email's been around for 50 plus years.
We've talked about letters, text messaging.
What is the biggest issue that you see in that gap with communication?
Amos Balongo (24:26):
Well, I think that Many people make a mistake of saying that, hey, I communicated and you get
down to it's like, oh, I sent the emails, I sent the messages, I communicated. You didn't communicate.
You just put it out there.
Until people receive what you're sending out, you've not communicated.
Because there's a loop there that you've got to close.
First, you've got to get the water. It's like playing basketball.
(24:49):
You can shoot as much as you want, but it doesn't go through the hoop.
You're just out there shooting. Right.
So how many people out there just firing blanks or shooting in the, just basically shooting
the ball, it's not going through the hoop. There's so many.
So you gotta ask yourself, how am I getting the ball through the hoop?
How am I connecting with my folks?
(25:09):
Sending a two page email is not communicating.
Getting the word out there.
But how many people have received the word?
That's a question we gotta ask ourselves and then go back and say, why aren't they receiving it?
You know, we've got so many mediums of communicating.
You might find that a certain group of people will do better by text, a certain group of people
will do better by email, a certain group of people will do better on social media.
Tim Staton (25:32):
Yeah, no, absolutely. You send me a two-page email, I'm be honest with you.
And unless you write my paycheck, I'm probably not gonna read it.
It's just because I get you're competing with everybody's time.
Amos Balongo (25:45):
And I think we have to be, we have to be, we're getting into a place where we have we have to
be brief, as brief as can be.
We have to be strategic, but then we also have to be bold at the same time, because I want them
to look at it, read it, and know exactly what they need to do.
I want to be able to read my message and take action, because otherwise, if my message doesn't
(26:08):
have a call to action, then I'm just, my words or my, what I'm trying to communicate is just hanging out there.
What are you anchoring your communication with?
You've got to anchor it with a call to action.
You have to captivate them.
And then you have to drive them where you want them to go.
And then you have to anchor that communication with a call to action.
(26:29):
Otherwise, you're just out there shooting the ball.
Tim Staton (26:32):
So my last question to you is then, is there anything that we didn't talk about that you were like, you know what?
I really wish that you had asked this question.
And that would be my question.
Amos Balongo (26:42):
All right. That's a good one.
That's a good one, Tim, because I'm so passionate about this that I could spend a lot of time
doing this, but I'm going to keep it simple for the interest of keeping it simple.
And talk about complexity versus simplicity.
A lot of times we feel that communication has to be complex and we forget that the power of
(27:05):
communication is in the simplicity.
Can people see what I'm trying to say? Can they hear it?
Is it simple enough that everybody can understand it?
And once we master the simplicity of how we communicate, we're halfway there.
(27:26):
Keeping it simple and applicable is something that even the audience right now or people listening right now can do. How simple is it?
If it's too complicated, go back to the drawing board.
I want it simple enough that a fourth grader can read it and understand it.
Then you know your message is being understood because what's the point of putting out complex stuff?
You see, life is already complex as it is.
If I give you something that's complex, chances of you applying it are pretty slim to none.
(27:52):
So I've got to give it to you in a way that you can take it, you can apply it, and you can see some results.
So we've got to keep it simple. It's not that hard.
Tim Staton (27:58):
So what is one thing that they could do to help keep it simple?
Amos Balongo (28:01):
Okay. I would say if you're communicating, say you're writing a message and it's an email, for
example, and I would want to maybe talk about organizational culture because I'm familiar with that.
Talk about who you are, what you do and how it makes an impact. Simple. In very simple terms.
A lot of organizational cultural statements or mission statements are too complicated. They're too complicated.
(28:26):
You know, if you have a fourth or fifth grader in your home, take your mission statement of
a company, give it to them and ask them, do you understand what this is?
And then have them tell you what it is.
If they don't understand what it is, scrap it and go back to the drawing board.
This is who we are.
This is what we do, and this is the impact we make. As simple as that.
(28:46):
If you're able to do that, that's one trick.
I've got many tricks, but that's just a simple one.
You know, find a fourth, fourth to eighth grader, give them your mission statement, see if they understand what you do.
If they don't, then go back to the drawing board or give me a call.
I'll help you with that.
Tim Staton (28:59):
I know tons of people are going to have questions.
They're going to want follow ups with you because intergenerational leadership is hard and intergenerational
leadership is even harder to meet with everybody to where they're at.
Oftentimes, We want people to talk to.
Amos Balongo (29:15):
Us to where we're at.
Tim Staton (29:15):
And as leaders, like you said earlier, we got to go down to where they're at and communicate with them.
So Amos, I really appreciate you being on the show today and everyone's going to be able to reach out to you.
So thank you so much for being here and sharing your knowledge.
Amos Balongo (29:25):
Thank you, Tim. It's been my pleasure.
Disclaimer (29:28):
As always, thank you for stopping by and checking out this episode and listening to it.
I really hope that you enjoyed it.
Before we go, I'd like to ask a favor of you, if I could.
If you could please share this episode with one or two people who you think might like this topic.
Amos Balongo (29:43):
If you haven't followed or subscribed on.
Disclaimer (29:43):
The platform that you're listening to and hit all the bells and icons and all the whistles so
that you know that when we post another episode, you'll be alerted.
Please go ahead and do all that before you go.
If you got some value out of this episode, please leave a review or a comment so we can help
spread the show to other people who might be interested in the topics that we've talked about
here today, but may not have found our show yet.
Again, thanks for stopping by.
Tim Staton (30:04):
I'm Tim Staton. Stayin' the Obvious.
This is Tim Staton with Tim stating the obvious.
What is this podcast about? It's simple.
You are entitled to Great leadership everywhere you go, whether it's a church, whether it's
to work, whether it's at your house, you are entitled to Great leadership.
And so in this podcast, we take leadership principles and theories and turn them into everyday relatable and usable advice.
Disclaimer (00:25):
And a quick disclaimer. This show process or service by trademark trademark manufacturer.
Otherwise, does not necessarily constitute an reply, the endorsement of anyone that I employed
by or favors the in The views are expressed here in my show are my own expressed and do not
necessarily state or reflect those of any employer.
Tim Staton (00:36):
In a world where leaders are judged not just by what they achieve, but how they inspire.
Imagine commanding a room like a battlefield general, turning every word into a weapon of influence.
That's the power that Amos Balongo unlocks.
Amos is an executive communications expert, keynote speaker, and communication coach.
Amos empowers senior leaders to master the art of communication.
(01:03):
Elevating your visibility, earning the appreciation you.
Deserve, and spotlighting your unique value.
With 18 years of coaching elite military officers, AMS brings battle-tested strategies to transform your presence.
Today, we're focusing on intergenerational leadership and the power of communication.
So, Amos, welcome to the show.
Amos Balongo (01:21):
Thank you, Tim.
Tim Staton (01:22):
Hey, so my first question for you is what really got you into the communication coaching space?
Amos Balongo (01:32):
You see Tim, one of the greatest things any person, any human being can have is the ability
to be able to communicate and connect.
And being in the coaching space, even the leadership space, it's really wide.
And I narrowed down into communication because of personal experiences I had had, and a lot
of it was my inabilities to be an effective communicator.
(01:58):
And through learning how to become an effective communicator, I realized that, you know, if
you're gonna lead people, communication is a, it's, it's a center, it's a core of being able
to be a great leader.
Cause you can have a great message, but if you can't communicate it, you know, you're just,
that message is dead in the water.
So I figured I'd hone into that and, and coach people how to do it because I was once in that hole, if I will. Yeah.
Tim Staton (02:23):
No, I know what you mean. And so.
I know that you have done some extensive experience coaching military officers as well as they
transition out into civilian space.
So how did that first come about?
Amos Balongo (02:35):
Well, that was interesting because I had some friends that were senior officers in the military
and they were getting ready to transition.
And one of them approached me and said, Hey, are you interested in helping me?
He was going to write a book as well as get into the coaching and speaking space.
Now, this particular general was a friend of mine was a three star general.
(02:58):
And normally when a general speaks or walks into a room, people stand up and it's really you
give orders, people take them.
Now transitioning into the civilian world is a whole different ball game.
And through getting him ready with his book and getting him ready to transition into the civilian
world, it was very clear that this is something that a lot of flag officers, if I will, need.
Tim Staton (03:29):
But that's how I started off.
Amos Balongo (03:30):
And he was able to get his book out and able to understand that going, because he had basically
spent all his life in the military.
And that transition was smoother for him because we went through really as clearly and as vividly
as can be how the workplace looks like and what are some of the things he's going to be dealing
with in the workplace that he doesn't deal with in the military.
And I've enjoyed doing this because it's almost like having folks be able to unlearn and then
(03:57):
relearn what they didn't know. So, yeah.
Tim Staton (04:01):
Yeah, no, that's a, that's a great point that you have unlearn and then relearn what you didn't know.
What is the most common misperception or misconception that you see people have when they get ready to transition out?
Amos Balongo (04:14):
Well, I think one of it is that, you know, it's the fact that they think that the skills and
experiences are translatable exactly into the.
Tim Staton (04:27):
Civilian world.
Amos Balongo (04:27):
But they're not unless you translate them.
Because I can tell you, well, I was a three star general in this, you know, within this, you
know, within the army or the air force.
So I was an admiral in the navy and a three star.
And, and if I don't translate that, what that does in the civilian world, it becomes a little
bit overwhelming because people like, so what, what is combat operations? What is this? What is that?
(04:52):
And, and so I think the biggest challenge I see is how do you translate?
What you have learned over the years to the civilian world, because in the military world, it translates itself.
If I'm a two-star talking to a three-star or one-star talking to a three-star, they get the
lingo, they get what it is, but the civilians have absolutely no idea.
(05:16):
And a lot of times, a lot of flag officers miss opportunities in the civilian world simply because
people are just intimidated by their experiences.
And I look at it as if you're a flag officer, a general, an admiral, you're essentially as a CEO of a company.
(05:36):
That's really how I look at it.
And if I can translate that and your accomplishments in that way, then it really sets you up
for success in the civilian world.
Tim Staton (05:47):
No, that's a great point and a great way to take a look at it. I agree with you.
Flag officers are pretty much like CEOs.
Amos Balongo (05:55):
At very varying different levels.
Tim Staton (05:56):
So it's interesting that you've been working with senior flag officers and lately there's been
a lot of talk about the intergenerational gap that's in the workforce.
You have the boomer generation that's getting ready to retire.
Then you have Generation X that's in the workplace, but they're getting ready to come out.
(06:16):
You got the millennials and you have Gen Z coming in.
And there's a big issue with communication in the workplace.
Amos Balongo (06:25):
So is that something that you're finding as well?
This has been, if I can put it in as simple terms as I can, is this has been one of the most
exciting times for me in my career because we're looking at a wide spectrum of folks.
You go to Gen Zs, the Gen Xs, the baby boomers, and what this is doing, it's
(06:51):
either getting people to think differently and adopt or try and use your essentially strategies
that you've learned in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s towards, for example, the Gen Zs.
And that is a recipe for that plane will just not take off.
Because what we're dealing with here is a very interesting intergenerational gap where at the
palm of your hands now, you have more computing power than the computing power that sent the
(07:17):
Apollo mission to the moon, to space.
And so the younger generation is thinking fast, moving fast, expecting things fast.
Additionally, you've got the folks who are essentially in leadership right now, who that's not
the way they came up the ranks.
That's not the way they came up in the companies.
So there's a gap there. There's a big gap.
And that's where the communication comes in because the Gen Zs are not going away.
(07:41):
In fact, the workforce as As the baby boomers are phasing out, the workforce is being populated
more by these younger folks.
Now, it's up to us as leaders to be able to understand them and value them and figure out how
do we work with them.
Now, granted, there's got to be give and take, but you have to understand that if you try to
(08:04):
basically employ communication strategies you used in the 60s and the 70s and the 80s, It just
doesn't work because back in the 80s, even in 90s, we wrote letters and it took seven days for
the letters to come back and then we responded and now it's a text and in fact it's like I texted
you at 3:00 PM, it's 3:45 PM, how come I haven't gotten a response?
(08:28):
There's a benefit in finding common ground between this intergenerational issue we're having,
but the honors is on the leaders to be able to figure out how do we lead this, this, this, this younger folks?
How do we get them ready for this leadership, roles?
Tim Staton (08:47):
You brought up a really good point about how the younger generation, everything is super fast.
The, the more senior seasoned generations, there's like a pace to it.
There's a timing, there's a rhythm.
So that gap, what is the expectation gap that we're seeing in the workplace right now?
Is it on both sides of the spectrum?
(09:07):
Like, you know, they think I'm gonna enter the workforce.
And I'll be vice president in two years from now or like six months from now, whereas the senior
folks are like, Hey, you know, there's a lot of knowledge that you have to have along the way.
What is that expectation gap that we're finding?
Amos Balongo (09:22):
Great question, Tim. It's on both sides.
And we have young kids coming out of college and expecting to be running a company in two or three years.
And many I meet who even take coaching sessions with me are like, I'm graduating college next year.
I'm going to start with a six figure salary job.
I'm like, that That doesn't work like that.
(09:44):
There is something to be said about earning your professional stripes.
You have to earn those professional stripes to be able to get to that point.
Because at the end of the day, if I give you a Fortune 100 company to run and you're two years
out of college, three years out of college, well, we're going to run into some challenges because
you're just not seasoned enough.
(10:05):
So one of the things that I see is very unrealistic expectations from the younger folks coming into companies.
On the other side, with the leaders, they just expect the younger folks to be able to work for
the company for 25 years, make it to the top, get a gold watch and retire.
(10:27):
And now realizing that times have changed and this younger generation, the loyalty is based
on what's in it for me and how does it How does it work for me?
Because in this particular case, for a lot of these young folks, it's, does this fit my lifestyle?
You know, back in the days, you took a job, you walked 60, 70 hours, and that's what you did.
(10:50):
But now it's, does this fit into my lifestyle?
Does this work for me?
Because if it doesn't work for me, I'll just go somewhere else and find a job, another job.
And when that doesn't work, I'll just get into the gig economy and
There's.
Tim Staton (11:10):
So many ways to make money now.
Amos Balongo (11:10):
That as a leader, you can't hold people hostage with a paycheck anymore.
You have to create the environment where they are able to thrive, where it's conducive for them.
Are they able to come to work with their pets?
Are they able to take time off whenever they need to?
Are we valuing their opinions?
Are we listening to them?
So there's just a lot of conversations that need to be had on both sides to be able to establish
(11:33):
this is kind of where we meet in the middle because I know I know that I'm not going to expect
you to come in and work for the company for 20 years and become CEO, but on the other side,
I also know that I'm not going to come in and in two years become a CEO.
So what's the middle ground?
And I think also for this, the younger folks is how are you painting the real picture of what it takes?
Is there upward mobility within the organization?
(11:55):
And are you placing value just on monetary compensation or are we also looking at the culture within the workplace?
Because as a leader right now, and what I'm telling many leaders is you could offer, you know,
a gen z thousand dollars a year that they wouldn't take it.
Someone else will offer a culture that fits them and they'll go for the culture.
Tim Staton (12:17):
So you brought up a lot of really good points.
So we're going to backtrack here a little bit.
So it was so much.
I was like, I didn't want to interrupt because you're on a roll.
But so it was interesting you brought up the whole six figure thing because I was at the fire
range the other day and I overheard an instructor talking with a guy who worked at.
Amos Balongo (12:36):
An insurance company in Hartford.
Tim Staton (12:36):
And they were they were talking about how so many kids these days, and I call them kids, but
they're really young adults are getting getting bachelor's degrees and master's degrees like one after the other.
Then they try to go in the workplace and they're expecting six figure salaries.
You know, the executives of these companies are like, like, yeah, you have a degree, but you don't have any experience.
So that expectation mix match has to be addressed somewhere.
(12:59):
So I'm glad that you brought that up because I'm hearing it too in other places.
Amos Balongo (13:06):
And then you also brought up about.
Tim Staton (13:06):
The paycheck being held hostage in the cultures of organizations.
Is it more so you think that the younger generation is focusing more on workplace culture and
lifestyle culture and the work balance thing, or is it something else?
Amos Balongo (13:19):
I believe it's a it's a work life balance and on the environment and the culture that they go
into and they want to go into an environment where they feel suits them and and they're comfortable.
And that to me is very key, because when you get people comfortable in an environment, then
they're able to produce and they're happy doing it.
(13:41):
Now, they might not stay in the company for 20 years, but the five years they're going to give
you in your organization, they're going to produce, they're going to be happy.
And everybody within the organization is really going to thrive because then you have a culture
that lifts everybody up where everybody is comfortable.
And as simple as that sounds, Tim, that's a very difficult thing to do, especially if you're
(14:05):
stuck in a culture of come in and grind and put 80 hours and go home and I'll call you on the
weekend at three in the morning.
Tim Staton (14:12):
Yeah, no, I'm with you.
That's the culture I grew up in.
You work 90 plus hours and then you still work on the weekends at times.
And that's just what you do because that's what's expected.
And I hear you and I hear a lot of other people saying that that's not what they want.
(14:35):
That's not what they value.
So when it, when it comes to.
Amos Balongo (14:36):
This expectation gap, there's also an expectation.
Tim Staton (14:36):
Gap, I think probably on the senior side when they're looking at new executives coming into
the fold, because like you said, they're maybe not as seasoned.
So how do we get people the right experience at the right levels so that we could work on workplace
culture and we can work on developing the people?
Amos Balongo (14:55):
I think that one of the things is when people join your company, there has to be a clear path.
This is how you progress in the company.
And if you want to get experiences in this field, these are the things you need to do to be
able to get those experiences.
And we need to be able to look at it.
We need to take experience.
And a lot of times we've looked at experience and we think they have to have done this for 20
(15:17):
years to have the experience.
I think we need to shift that to be they've done it and are they competent in it?
Because being in a company for 20 years is what we're used to.
I've been in this company for 20 years, 25 years.
You're granted that good experience.
But there's somebody else who could have been in the company for just two years, but they're
way ahead of you because their experiences are different.
(15:41):
So I look at it as experience not in time, but in evaluated experience.
And we take away the time and say, okay, you were exposed to this for two years.
Let's see what your competency is.
Because then that gives some of these younger folks coming in an opportunity to be like, okay,
(16:02):
I don't need to stay in this role for 20 years to earn my stripes.
I just need to be competent.
But the competence comes with a certain level of experience and a certain level of time.
But it doesn't have to be the 20-30 years.
Because another thing is, think about it, we have to move at the speed of business.
Look at AI and look at the way business is moving.
We can't afford back in the days, yeah, you were in a role for 30 years, but now, you know,
(16:30):
Everything is changing so fast that what you're learning today could be different tomorrow. Yeah.
And we need to be able to move fast enough and adopt fast enough.
And I think the key word I'm looking for here is adoption.
How can we adopt to the speed of business, to the speed of how things are moving in the world?
Tim Staton (16:45):
Yeah, no, that's a great point.
And so when we talk about speed and we talk about, you know, adoption and how do we get to the
speed, it always brings up ethical questions for me.
Because with AI, with trying to be first, with trying to be fast, it always has the risk of
falling off on ethical sides on either way.
And so how do you think the younger generation views ethics versus the senior generation?
(17:11):
Because I think there's a big difference.
Amos Balongo (17:13):
Yes.
Tim Staton (17:14):
And ethics between the two.
So can you talk about that for a little bit?
Amos Balongo (17:16):
Yes. I think the, the, the, the, older generation and the folks that I've talked.
Disclaimer (17:27):
To have, I always hear, you need.
Amos Balongo (17:27):
To be in a place long enough, you need to be in a place and be able to make mistakes, correct
your mistakes and learn from your mistakes and do things, you know, you know, buy the book as best as you can.
Now, younger generation looks at it as, I need to be able to do the job, for example, I need
to be able to do it, do it well.
And the ethics part, I've not seen a disconnect between ethics, because I look at ethics this way.
(17:52):
Either you have it or you don't.
Either an ethical person or you're not.
So it doesn't matter whether you're Gen Z or baby boomer, you know, ethics, ethics. Okay.
It's, it's the issue now comes in, in terms of how, how they look at it.
You know, one group says, hey, I need to be able to do the right thing.
Another group says, I need to be able to do the right thing, but to be able to do the right
thing, I need to have been in a place long enough to be able to do the right thing.
(18:12):
So that's kind of how I look at it, but.
I think that I've never met any young person and I coach quite a.
Tim Staton (18:21):
Few of them who says, who I've.
Amos Balongo (18:21):
Never seen a disconnect in ethics between a baby boomer and a Gen Z, for example.
Tim Staton (18:27):
No, that's good because there's conversations out there with, especially with the amount of
information that's coming out there and the amount of information that's at someone's fingertips.
And just because you can do something doesn't mean you necessarily should do something. Right. Right.
Amos Balongo (18:47):
And so, I mean, and honestly, this.
Tim Staton (18:47):
Is why there's ethics and compliance officers in a lot of corporations.
And they're like, okay, so what's the difference between me paying the fine and me fixing the problem, which costs more?
You know, what's more cost effective in that standpoint?
Not saying right or wrong, but as we move faster, do you foresee the risk of people making probably
less informed decisions that they should have made versus it all pans out?
Amos Balongo (19:10):
I think so. I think that's a risk of, you know, going faster, moving fast.
I often say, you know, we're moving very fast, but we're dying faster.
We're living very fast, we're dying faster.
There's a price to pay in living fast.
There's a price to pay in, you know, not letting things settle.
And so you can have a clarity.
(19:32):
You know, use an example of a, of a, a jug with mud in it.
When you shake it, it's not clear.
When you let the mud settle, you can be able to see it. So
I would say that what I would impress upon, you know, anybody in the fast space is look at it or doing anything faster.
Look at it at what point am I borderline violating ethics?
(19:53):
Be it ethics to human beings, be it ethics to the environment, be it, are we, is it ethical,
you know, what I'm doing, for example, you know, environmental ethics is a big one.
You know, are we following the rules and regulations?
I'm in our company and we're producing some product.
You want to do it really fast, but, you know, am I being ethical?
Yeah, I can pay the fine by paying the I refined because I polluted doesn't make it with the pollution, right?
(20:16):
Or, you know, AI, where we're developing all these AI systems and what am I training my AI to do?
What am I equipping it with?
And is this something that will be detrimental to people in the future?
So it's a very interesting space.
And I think that as much as it's evolving, we're evolving with it too.
And that's why this is a very exciting, we have to have, and I'm glad you wrote that up.
(20:41):
We have to have ethics at the forefront. Of what we're doing.
Tim Staton (20:45):
No, absolutely. And I'm thinking about Gen Z as a whole, and I know it's bad to think of them
as a whole because everybody's different and they're all individuals, but they're very values-based driven.
And so as too much, they won't shop at a place or do business with a place if they view that
business as being unethical or having a certain thing.
Now, is that the same way when it comes to seeking an employer or employment?
(21:08):
They won't apply for a job at a certain location if they think they're unethical or have the potential to be?
Amos Balongo (21:13):
Absolutely. I have seen this a lot and a lot of it is because again, the power of technology.
You know, I'm able to use technology to figure out this is what this company's ethical standards are.
So I'm not going to shop there, go to that restaurant, work for the company because their ethics
don't fall in line with my values.
(21:34):
And it ties me back to the whole culture thing.
You know, what's our culture? What are our values?
Tim Staton (21:39):
Because people will buy that first.
Amos Balongo (21:47):
Before they even look at a paycheck.
Tim Staton (21:47):
It's a great point.
Amos Balongo (21:47):
And I hope everybody listening to this.
Tim Staton (21:47):
And watching to this kind of rewinds that like 35 seconds to just re-hear that again, you know,
that culture is incredibly important and they'll buy into that before they buy into a paycheck.
So I appreciate you bringing up that point.
So we talked about expectations.
What is another key aspect that you're seeing that people are just falling short on?
Amos Balongo (22:14):
I think when we look at what we as leaders need to do to bring people up, we have to be intentional.
We have to be intentional to lead people.
Everybody deserves to be led well.
And this is normal on the leadership side.
And as a leader, if people are not following you, you're just out there taking a walk.
And some of the expectations on the leadership side is that shaping or shape out.
They've got to tow the line.
(22:34):
I hear that a lot.
But the line has changed. Things have changed.
So we have to embrace the change as leaders and say, how do I walk down instead of standing
up on top of the mountain and tell everybody, you need to come up, how do I walk down and walk
down from the top of the mountain and come up with them and show them the way and tell them,
(22:55):
I'm right here with you.
So that's another expectation not being met from the leadership side.
No, that's a good point. Yeah.
And every leader should take stock of who's working for them in the company and look and see
how many Gen Zs do I have, how many baby boomers do I have, how many, what's the intergenerational gap I have here?
Because not doing that is, if you're a CEO of a company right now and you're not paying attention
(23:20):
to that, you might as well be flying blind. Yeah.
Tim Staton (23:23):
And I bet there's a lot of people out there flying blind.
Amos Balongo (23:26):
Yep. Because you've got,
20 or 30 or 40 people that work for your company, they're coming from three or four or five different generations.
You've got an interesting leadership opportunity there.
And it's not a one size fits all anymore.
Tim Staton (23:42):
Absolutely. With being intentional on your leadership and who you're leading and really lowering that emotional resistance.
And I really like how you talk about, you know, they got to toe the line.
They got to do X, Y, and Z because that's what we expect.
I would imagine the counter argument at is, well, why? Can you explain why?
(24:02):
Is it because it's what we've always done or is there actual reason? Right?
So with being intentional about who we lead and how we're leading them, when it comes to communicating
with all different types of people, right?
Email's been around for 50 plus years.
We've talked about letters, text messaging.
What is the biggest issue that you see in that gap with communication?
Amos Balongo (24:26):
Well, I think that Many people make a mistake of saying that, hey, I communicated and you get
down to it's like, oh, I sent the emails, I sent the messages, I communicated. You didn't communicate.
You just put it out there.
Until people receive what you're sending out, you've not communicated.
Because there's a loop there that you've got to close.
First, you've got to get the water. It's like playing basketball.
(24:49):
You can shoot as much as you want, but it doesn't go through the hoop.
You're just out there shooting. Right.
So how many people out there just firing blanks or shooting in the, just basically shooting
the ball, it's not going through the hoop. There's so many.
So you gotta ask yourself, how am I getting the ball through the hoop?
How am I connecting with my folks?
(25:09):
Sending a two page email is not communicating.
Getting the word out there.
But how many people have received the word?
That's a question we gotta ask ourselves and then go back and say, why aren't they receiving it?
You know, we've got so many mediums of communicating.
You might find that a certain group of people will do better by text, a certain group of people
will do better by email, a certain group of people will do better on social media.
Tim Staton (25:32):
Yeah, no, absolutely. You send me a two-page email, I'm be honest with you.
And unless you write my paycheck, I'm probably not gonna read it.
It's just because I get you're competing with everybody's time.
Amos Balongo (25:45):
And I think we have to be, we have to be, we're getting into a place where we have we have to
be brief, as brief as can be.
We have to be strategic, but then we also have to be bold at the same time, because I want them
to look at it, read it, and know exactly what they need to do.
I want to be able to read my message and take action, because otherwise, if my message doesn't
(26:08):
have a call to action, then I'm just, my words or my, what I'm trying to communicate is just hanging out there.
What are you anchoring your communication with?
You've got to anchor it with a call to action.
You have to captivate them.
And then you have to drive them where you want them to go.
And then you have to anchor that communication with a call to action.
(26:29):
Otherwise, you're just out there shooting the ball.
Tim Staton (26:32):
So my last question to you is then, is there anything that we didn't talk about that you were like, you know what?
I really wish that you had asked this question.
And that would be my question.
Amos Balongo (26:42):
All right. That's a good one.
That's a good one, Tim, because I'm so passionate about this that I could spend a lot of time
doing this, but I'm going to keep it simple for the interest of keeping it simple.
And talk about complexity versus simplicity.
A lot of times we feel that communication has to be complex and we forget that the power of
(27:05):
communication is in the simplicity.
Can people see what I'm trying to say? Can they hear it?
Is it simple enough that everybody can understand it?
And once we master the simplicity of how we communicate, we're halfway there.
(27:26):
Keeping it simple and applicable is something that even the audience right now or people listening right now can do. How simple is it?
If it's too complicated, go back to the drawing board.
I want it simple enough that a fourth grader can read it and understand it.
Then you know your message is being understood because what's the point of putting out complex stuff?
You see, life is already complex as it is.
If I give you something that's complex, chances of you applying it are pretty slim to none.
(27:52):
So I've got to give it to you in a way that you can take it, you can apply it, and you can see some results.
So we've got to keep it simple. It's not that hard.
Tim Staton (27:58):
So what is one thing that they could do to help keep it simple?
Amos Balongo (28:01):
Okay. I would say if you're communicating, say you're writing a message and it's an email, for
example, and I would want to maybe talk about organizational culture because I'm familiar with that.
Talk about who you are, what you do and how it makes an impact. Simple. In very simple terms.
A lot of organizational cultural statements or mission statements are too complicated. They're too complicated.
(28:26):
You know, if you have a fourth or fifth grader in your home, take your mission statement of
a company, give it to them and ask them, do you understand what this is?
And then have them tell you what it is.
If they don't understand what it is, scrap it and go back to the drawing board.
This is who we are.
This is what we do, and this is the impact we make. As simple as that.
(28:46):
If you're able to do that, that's one trick.
I've got many tricks, but that's just a simple one.
You know, find a fourth, fourth to eighth grader, give them your mission statement, see if they understand what you do.
If they don't, then go back to the drawing board or give me a call.
I'll help you with that.
Tim Staton (28:59):
I know tons of people are going to have questions.
They're going to want follow ups with you because intergenerational leadership is hard and intergenerational
leadership is even harder to meet with everybody to where they're at.
Oftentimes, We want people to talk to.
Amos Balongo (29:15):
Us to where we're at.
Tim Staton (29:15):
And as leaders, like you said earlier, we got to go down to where they're at and communicate with them.
So Amos, I really appreciate you being on the show today and everyone's going to be able to reach out to you.
So thank you so much for being here and sharing your knowledge.
Amos Balongo (29:25):
Thank you, Tim. It's been my pleasure.
Disclaimer (29:28):
As always, thank you for stopping by and checking out this episode and listening to it.
I really hope that you enjoyed it.
Before we go, I'd like to ask a favor of you, if I could.
If you could please share this episode with one or two people who you think might like this topic.
Amos Balongo (29:43):
If you haven't followed or subscribed on.
Disclaimer (29:43):
The platform that you're listening to and hit all the bells and icons and all the whistles so
that you know that when we post another episode, you'll be alerted.
Please go ahead and do all that before you go.
If you got some value out of this episode, please leave a review or a comment so we can help
spread the show to other people who might be interested in the topics that we've talked about
here today, but may not have found our show yet.
Again, thanks for stopping by.
Tim Staton (30:04):
I'm Tim Staton. Stayin' the Obvious.
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