Bonus Conference Episode: Unlocking Gentelligence

Presented by Megan W. Gerhardt, PhD, Miami University's Farmer School of Business

STFM Conference on Medical Student Education Scott Fields Lecture | Saturday, January 31, 2026

It’s time for smarter intergenerational conversations. With five distinct generations currently in today’s workplace, organizational leaders and teams frequently encounter frustration and complexity when managing intergenerational dynamics. In this engaging keynote, Megan W. Gerhardt, PhD, pushes back on lazy generational stereotypes to understand why generations bring different norms into the workplace. Using the Gentelligence® framework, Dr Gerhardt shares actionable, practical strategies to help transform generational diversity from a perceived challenge into a competitive advantage for your organization. Using powerful questions, Dr Gerhardt talks about ways to dismantle harmful age-based stereotypes, identify and address barriers to effective intergenerational collaboration, and develop practical approaches that replace generational bias with genuine curiosity and openness. Using the 4 practices of Gentelligence®, Dr Gerhardt will walk through how to have meaningful intergenerational dialogue to create organizational cultures that leverage the unique strengths each generation brings to the workplace. By the end of this engaging session, attendees will possess concrete tools to foster understanding, connection, and collaborative success across all generational cohorts within their teams.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants should be able to:

Develop practical strategies for replacing generational stereotypes and judgment with genuine curiosity and openness to different perspectives.Create smarter intergenerational conversations through strategic “power questions” that foster understanding and connection.Apply four key practices of Gentelligence® and ways to apply them to workplace challenges.

Copyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2026

Megan W. Gerhardt, PhD

Megan W. Gerhardt, PhD, is a professor of Management and Leadership at Miami University's Farmer School of Business. In addition to her academic work, she consults and speaks with leading organizations worldwide on leveraging generational diversity in the workplace and is the author of "Gentelligence: A Revolutionary Approach to Leading an Intergenerational Workforce".

Her Gentelligence® framework was featured as Harvard Business Review's Big Idea in March 2022 and selected for Harvard Business Review's Top 10 Must Reads for 2024. Through her work (www.gentelligence.org), Dr Gerhardt focuses on harnessing individual differences to drive impact and exceptional performance.