At a recent Pinnacle Society Conference (a group of hopelessly driven headhunters) in New Orleans I had the good fortune to see Penelope Trunk, syndicated career advice columnist, mega blogger and author of “Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success.”

Penelope speaks to (and ostensively for) those of the 25 to 35 age bracket. She is a very entertaining and commanding presence (being an ex-pro beach volleyball player she’s rather tall).

Penelope’s thrust was to educate a room full of recruiters as to the ways of Generation Y and how much things have changed. The room was full of “gray beards” with few under the age of 45 (I barely made that limit;-), she informed us that this generation didn’t accept career success as a substitute for personal satisfaction, that they expected to be mentored by their bosses not managed and that above all else measured by results not the way in which they got those results. They see politics as socialization and work as a place where their friends are. If they work someplace this doesn’t exist then this won’t be their place for very long. Being a relatively sensible person I consumed her words and accepted much of it but admittedly was hard pressed to believe you “Y’ers” weren’t about competition, advancement, promotion and the almighty BUCK ($). I didn’t realize how on target she was until a week later (much to my chagrin).

I was busy putting the finishing touches on a I.T. Leadership search for a high growth start-ups (75 M revenue) Director of I.T. when on the way to the offer they asked the chosen candidate to come in for one last interview. Conversation really. Meet with a couple direct reports (Generation Y), they’d extend the offer we’d pop the champagne, slap each other on the back and soon be smoking cigars… Only problem is that I and, my 40 year old candidate didn’t properly focus on our audience and their expectations. To make a long story short…it was almost lost for no other reason other than the perception of one generation’s expectations and verbiage for cultural norms and how completely different it was from the others. The moral of the story; if you’re a manager in today’s I.T. world read Penelope's Blog or similar books, articles. If you’re in Generation Y, read up on those of the Baby Boom. For god sake y’all let’s get on the same page.