Leading Millenials

To lead, a leader needs to adapt to the followers and diversity comes in many forms, not least demographics. I was recently invited to assist at a seminar where the participants were all in their 20s which meant they were all “millenials” i.e. being persons born between 1977 and 1997 (also known as “generation Y”). When talking to the participants I realised that their hopes, expectations, motivations and drivers were entirely different to my generation (“generation X”). Wondering how a “baby boomer” (born before 1964) or “Xer” (born between 1964 and 1976) might lead the milenials brought me to an article by Meister and Willyard, “Mentoring Millenials”, HBR 2010. Besides giving guidance on “new” mentoring techniques to help develop millennials, the authors also researched and identified what millenials want.

Here’s how to lead millenials including further implications (“et alors”):

Leading Millenials

The authors identified three key areas where millenials typically have clear expectations: from their boss, from their company and regarding learning. As a leader in an organisation, if you understand these expectations you can better lead millenials…

Boss

Millenials expect that their boss will:

·         Help them navigate their career path

·         Give them straight feedback

·         Mentor and coach them

·         Sponsor them on formal  development programs

·         Be comfortable with flexible schedules

Company

Millenials expect that their company will:

·         Develop their skills for the future

·         Have “strong” values

·         Offer customisable options in remuneration

·         Get the work/life balance correct

·         Offer a clear career path

Learning

Millenials want to keep learning:

·         Technical skills in their area of expertise

·         Self-management and personal productivity

·         Leadership

·         Industry or functional knowledge

·         Creativity and innovation strategies

Et alors

This generation appears to be interested in continually learning and the millenials need to have a clear sense of purpose: they need to “connect” with their organisation and it is the leader who is going to make this happen (explaining the sense of purpose and leading with values). The millenials might not yet realise it, but they need to be led: their expectations of their boss are that the boss is a leader rather than just a manager; their expectations of their company are that it can support and develop them, something in fact that the leader (rather than just the organisation) does; and in terms of learning, typically they might approach this with more enthusiasm than other generations, but they again want to be led through structured programs. Engage, support and direct – that seems to be how leaders of today need to adapt to the millenials.