8 Ways to Successfully Lead Millennials

It’s hard to conduct a leadership seminar these days without someone bringing up their difficulties with managing millennials. Millennials (defined as those aged 18-34) now number 75.4 million, surpassing the 74.9 million Baby Boomers (ages 51-69). For many of the organizations we work with, millennials now comprise over one-half of their work forces.

A lot of our clients have asked us, “How do you manage the millennials? Since they’re becoming a larger part of our work force, we need to get this right.” Clients then have fun citing characteristics of millennials such as: they type with their thumbs! They want to become CEO of the organization within the year. 

This blog will most likely have readers who feel compelled to send me emails letting me know I am ignorant, na?ve, or unwilling to acknowledge the mounds of data that tell us who millennials really are, and how they want to be led.

But, after leading a workforce where the ages of my employees range from 23 to 68, I don’t find it necessary to differentiate my leaderships style with millennials. I feel strongly about this because I have worked with many millennials who exhibit the work ethic and behaviors most often attributed to baby boomers. On the other hand, I have also experienced a lot of baby boomers who exhibit the behaviors most often associated with millennials. My own three children can display the stereotyped behaviors of millennials and baby boomers all during the course of one meal. When it comes down to it, people are people, and most of us have the same basic needs when it comes to work.

Almost all people:

• Want to do work they enjoy and find important
• Want to be included
• Want to make a difference
• Want to be trusted and have autonomy to do their work
• Want to be cared about, valued, and recognized for the contributions they make
• Want to be fairly compensated
• Want to grow personally and professionally
• Want flexibility with their schedule and completing their tasks
• Want to have both a meaningful personal and professional life

When I listen to how some people describe millennials, I wonder if some people may think that I’m a millennial. I seldom work past five during the week, or anytime during the weekend. I always want to find an easier way to do things. I get bored easily and want to do something else. I don’t like being asked to do stupid things or follow archaic rules. I like spending time on social media when I have the time to spare.

If you’re a leader tasked with managing millennials, here are eight tips to keep in mind to ensure your leadership style is effective for all types of people.

Stop labeling your team members. For the first time, the description we have assigned to a specific generation has taken on a negative connotation. I have yet to hear anyone use the words ‘millennials’ and ‘strong work ethic’ in the same sentence. Almost everything you hear about millennials in the workforce is a challenge of some sort. My personal favorite is, “This entitled generation expects to receive a trophy just for showing up to the office.”

Most millennials don’t like being called a millennial, nor do they identify with the term. I will agree, however, that many millennials identify more with the “individual” label than as a member of a large group. At the end of the day, it doesn’t do anyone any good to label someone based on which decade they were born in.

Accept the differences. In every generation, people are varied and incredibly different. When we discuss the negative “job-hopping” millennials, most people are forgetting that there are baby boomers who are doing the bare minimum to avoid getting fired. Are they really any better than a young worker looking for a job that is the best fit for their energy and talents? People are different. They contribute unique personalities, skill sets, and experiences, regardless of their age.

Ensure the mission, vision and values for your organization are clear. Although your mission, vision and values may not stir up passion in every millennial (the same way they don’t stir up passion in every baby boomer) there are many who will buy into the bigger picture of the organization with passion and enthusiasm. Doing meaningful work gives people purpose, and our research shows that people are most engaged when they feel they are making a difference and understand how their contributions directly affect the bigger picture.

Ensure every team member has a growth and development plan. Your organization may not be able to promote a team member as fast as they want to be promoted. But, people who feel they are growing personally and professionally, and see that their leader is equally invested in their growth, are much more willing to continue working for your team.

Communicate often. Meet with your team members often. Ask for their ideas and opinions, and let them put their ideas into action. Good, ongoing communication with team members ensures that you are clear on what’s important to them, how they want to grow, and how you can effectively support and motivate them as a leader.

Really, genuinely care. As a leader, you need to care about each individual team member, and be invested in ensuring they have a work-life balance that fulfills both their personal and professional needs.

Be humble. Admit when you make a mistake or don’t handle something as well as you know you could have. Admit what you don’t know and more importantly, admit when you learn something from one of your teammates. Millennials are tech savvy, and freshly educated. They have fresh ideas and unique skill sets that are valuable for others to learn from.

Acknowledge and recognize team members’ impact. Some people say, “I don’t need no stinking recognition. I just do my job well and that’s the only acknowledgment I need.” But, in my experience, these individuals need the recognition more than anyone else. They don’t get enough recognition and over-compensate by telling everyone that they don’t need positive feedback. Everyone has the need to be valued, appreciated and recognized for the contributions they make to this world. Make an effort to acknowledge the contributions made by your team members and recognize the positive impact of their work.

Successfully engaging millennials is really no different than engaging any other generation. People are people. As leaders, we have the responsibility to lead them all fairly. We must recognize their unique traits, and ensure our leadership style is one that motivates and inspires all employees, no matter what decade they were born in.