Working with Millennials is Scary.

That’s right. I said it. Working with millennials is scary - but not because of preconceived stereotypes.

It's scary because they force me to accept the fact that I'm aging. It's scary because if I’m being honest, I'm embarrassed by how cynical my experience can make me sometimes. It's scary because I might be deluding myself with how important my “experience” actually is.

I recently joined the SmashFly team in Boston, convening for the very first Recruitment Marketing Conference, Transform. Note, I did not say ‘user conference’; the distinction is important for a few reasons:

• Transform was not a glorified SmashFly pep rally  
• The goal was to move the Recruitment Marketing discipline forward - not the SmashFly brand
• Expectations were higher for the quality of the content

The Transform audience was not merely a room full of SmashFly friendlies; content had to be highly relevant and valuable. (This is where my team came in -  guiding the substance and delivery of content from executives who are very successful HR & marketing practitioners - not necessarily professional speakers.)

By all accounts on Twitter, #TransformRM, with emcee @timsackett, was a legit success. You can read about it here and here or visualize it on Storify here . The conference and the content delivered on the promise to evolve the discipline, and I definitely left with a new perspective - but it had nothing to do with Recruitment Marketing and everything to do with Millennials.

Working alongside Millennials ‘in the wild’, I didn’t observe insufferable stereotypes many older generations assume are true (with the exception of mad selfie skills - see proof above). Instead, this team illuminated some simple truths we would all do well to remember.

Truth #1: Trust is a powerful motivator.

Upon arrival early Wednesday I found the team full-hustle. I was greeted by Joe (who consistently denies sounding exactly like Mark Ruffalo, but 100% does.) Joe had the “super easy” task of mic’ing up the speakers and making sure their final presentations (no guys, this FINAL_FINAL.ppt version) synched up with lights and audio. Executionally critical, considering an additional 3200 people were watching via livestream.

I think I visually saw the moment Joe realized this task was about as simple as herding cats. Not because speakers weren’t prepared, but because no matter what you think you can control, you cannot control this many moving parts, and slides, and edits… and nerves.

As the challenge unfolded, I heard him calming nerves, explaining confidence monitors, fixing last minute font issues, and even debating jewelry choices that could interfere with sound quality. Joe went full MacGyver - creative problem solving skills for days.

Bottom line - trust motivated him to go above and beyond. He’s the digital marketing manager for SmashFly, not a sound technician. He stepped up because the rest of his team was counting on him. They trusted him to just handle it and he wasn’t about to let a detail slip on his watch.

Truth #2: Pride and appreciation for detailed work raises the bar across the board.

One of the first things attendees noticed was the immersive brandgasm that was Transform (#TransformRM #OMG #OCD #everythingmatches.) SmashFly’s creative director Josh (total closet conference virgin), seized every opportunity to create a cohesive brand experience. From the Transform stage and workout-shaming invites, to the wrapping paper and airbrushed cupcakes, his team missed zero.

The attention to detail wasn’t lost on any of us. Acting as Transform’s speaker concierge, we helped practitioners including  Shaunda Zilich from GE, Julia Levy from Fiserv and John Cotton from CH2M organize their content, sharpen their delivery, and design beautiful presentations that seamlessly blended into the Transform brand experience. It was amazing to watch the speakers naturally tune their own attention to every detail. They could have declined our help, but instead, they embraced our content suggestions, welcomed our design help and took the dry runs dead serious. All of this, in the spirit of delivering two days of content that felt more TED talk-ish than HR tech conference-ish.

Bottom line - Taking pride in the work and appreciating the finer details became our collective obsession. Transform speakers immediately picked up on and contributed to SmashFly’s commitment to raise the bar.

Truth #3: Passion for a shared goal trumps raw experience.

As we wrapped the final day, I joined in a well earned champagne toast. Shannon, Transform’s event team leader, pulled us in a small room and shut the door. Bleary eyed, and buzzing on adrenaline, she thanked us for our contributions; recognizing each of us individually for our commitment to making the conference a success.

Then she said something to SmashFly’s CMO that floored me. “Lori - I’ve never pulled off a conference this big. Thank you for trusting me.”

As Jared Nypen from Great Clips so eloquently stated after he had to follow Mel Robbin's keynote: “Holy Shit.”

This was Shannon’s FIRST large conference? You mean we all could have died (or worse had speakers pass out from stage fright)?!

Bottom line - Shannon rallied her team around a shared goal, making any lack of experience undetectable and irrelevant. Perhaps she was channeling confidence from trust, mutual respect, and pride in the collective work. One thing is certain, under a spotlight cast by industry vets and tough analysts - this team executed like a bunch of OG event pros.

I loved working alongside every lazy, entitled, disrespectful energetic, positive, humble millennial on SmashFly’s event team. They certainly authenticate SmashFly’s stated culture. Not a single one of them failed to stop and thank me, genuinely appreciating the experience I bring to the table. Every thank you was a breathe of fresh air; my chance to exhale some pent up Gen X cynicism and get re-energized about the work that lies ahead for the Ambidustrious team.

So yes - working with millennials is scary - in this case - scary good.

Like many people expanding a team, Ambidustrious will be hiring in the coming months and this experience has me reconsidering the way I’ll evaluate the next member of our team. I’ll be remembering much of what I learned from Transform’s Recruitment Marketing experts, but also the simple truths above.

Included in my job description will be:

• Seeking the team player, who finds trust motivating.
• Seeking the selfless person who gets passionate about a shared goal - even when their role feels small.
• Seeking the person who is humbled by and respects the effort of high quality of work - every single time.

Congrats SmashFly - I hope we get to do this again. Thank you for reminding me that the only way to truly transform is to take a risk and bet on passion. Here’s to doing something that scares you every day 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Go!