Being a millennial is an interesting place to have in the world. Being a millennial in Leadership is an ironic, paradoxical and sometimes amusing seat to have.
There is a massive disparity between my generation and my grandparent’s in many ways but the way that my generation views authority and Leadership is nearly a 180-degree view.
My grandparents were born in the 1940s. My grandpa’s fought in Korea and Vietnam, my grandmothers were teachers and homemakers. Great and hardworking people, they lead traditional lives with familiar trajectories.
My parents were born in the 1970s and graduated high school in 1988. They met in college and got married in 1992. I was born in 1993. My parents both worked in education and provided my sister and I amazing opportunities.
I graduated college in 2015 and began working for Southwest Airlines. I have lived in four different cities and held seven different positions in the last five years. I have been blessed with financial independence and a great career.
Like any generational gap, so much has changed since the 1960s when my grandparents were my age. We could speak about gender roles, views on marriage, political views and role of religion in our lives. Entire books could be written about the differences between the generations. But for the purpose of this simple blog, we will focus on views on Leadership.
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My attitude in relation to Leaders and people in positions of authority has shift throughout my life and I think it will continue to shift as I age and gain experience.
Growing up, I respected Leaders and authority figures out of a sense of obligation and a sort of deference. Now, I respect people in Leadership positions in my workplace but there are some that I hold in much higher regard because of qualities, characteristics or actions that set them apart.
I believe that past generations were willing to accept direction and guidance from people in Leadership positions purely because they held a title. There is a respect for rank and position that my generation fails to hold. I respect people because they earn my respect, regardless of title or position. I respect people because of how hard they work or how they treat others whether they are entry level position or CEO.
I think this transition in thinking around Leadership and evolution of generational attitudes has been a result of social, economic, political and technological changes over the last 50+ years. I cannot put the credit (or blame!) on any one particular item. It is not JUST technological changes or JUST the advancement of women’s rights, even those two are large factor differences between my grandmother’s life and mine.
If you boil this issue down a bit to its core, it is a difference in values and the values that our Leaders hold. It seems like older generations value loyalty, respect, family and fulfilling their duty. My generation values independence, uniqueness and self-expression.
As I work in a middle manager role in my organization, I find that my view on Leadership varies greatly from many of the people that I work with, especially those from older generations. I find that treating people right, and holding relationships with those people, is the foundation to great work. Whereas some other Leaders seem to believe that there should be great work because of the exchange on the 5th and 20th.
But maybe the key to great work and great Leadership is more complex than that. There is an element to all workers fulfilling expectations because that is the exchange for their employment. However, the level to which they complete the work, or the attitude they hold while doing the work, is dependent on their buy-in, relationships, morale and all the other ‘fuzzy’ parts of Leadership.
In Nick Obolensky’s book, Complex Adaptive Leadership, he talks about the two sides of Leadership are much like the concept of Yin and Yang. Yang being traditional, action-oriented and success driven with Yin being People-centered and softer.
In some ways, I feel that I can take the best of my grandparents and parent’s generation; their Yang and add it to my millennial Yin.
This way I can Lead somewhere in the middle.
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This process of learning to lead can be a challenging on. A journey that will never end and starts with an understanding of where we start as individuals. There is SO many resources, books, podcasts and websites about Leadership growth, development and learning but there still Leaders that fail to utilize these resources to learn and growth their skills and abilities.
In my opinion, it is about the lack of intentionality with the way we live or how we spend our time. It is easier to live in a life that requires no effort. You can float through life and allow time to pass without making any effort to improve. Many Leaders are the same. In all organizations, there is a level of Leadership you can sustain without growth or improvement in the least. You can be an average or below average Leader without much effort. For some people, this is enough.
The gap between where Leaders could perform and where Leaders are performing is a result of a lack of effort. I think we close this gap through empowerment and resources. Telling Leaders or want-to-be Leaders that we believe they can be better and then giving them the guide on how to get there.
As Jim Collins starts his most famous book, “Good is the enemy of Great.” It’s easy to be good at Leadership but it is very difficult to be great and some Leaders aren’t up for the challenge.
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