Jay Leno and Generation X

There have been numerous posts about NBC's mishandling of the Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien situation. Most have taken the stance that NBC has royally screwed up, they have managed to alienate the talent, the audience, and the general public as well.

I don't really care all that much about who hosts the Tonight Show, I won't watch unless NBC names basketball commentators Hubie Brown the new host with Jeff Van Gundy as his sidekick.

But to me, the real issue is only partly about inept executives and (possibly) scheming celebrities.

It is a straight up workplace generational drama. Leno is just a few months shy of 60, placing him squarely in the Baby Boom generation, that massive group that has led and shaped the business world for the last 20 years or so. O'Brien is 46, and could be considered at the upper end of Gen X, and after waiting patiently for his chance (to be fair, one that was promised to him) at the 'big job' suddenly finds himself getting squeezed by a Boomer that won't retire.

A long-tenured Boomer with the plum job that he can't or won't let go, a guy that has a track record of success (Leno was regularly the ratings leader in his old time slot), with a talented, yet frustrated Gen X dude waiting in the wings eager for his chance.

This little scenario is likely to play out more and more in the next few years.  Unlike Leno, whose issues with simply walking away are not financially driven, we know many, many boomers will have to postpone retirement, still trying to recover from the effects of the recession on retirement savings and real estate values.  And waiting in the wings, like Conan was, the Gen X cohort that keeps wondering when these boomers will finally step aside and let them climb in to the big boy chair.Hubie circa 1981

For organizations, managing the expectations of the top Gen X talent, facing what has been called a 'gray ceiling' above from boomers that by choice or necessity are not ready to retire, and pressure from increasing numbers of ambitious younger generations could be a significant issue. 

Figuring out how to manage the Gen X stars when the boomers won't let go is a challenge for sure.  It is a good thing for Jeff Van Gundy that even though the 76 year-old Hubie won't retire either, there are plenty of games to go around, and both announcers have work. 

What do you say, am I just being a sour grapes Gen Xer here?