As a leader, if you have Millennials on your staff or team, and you aren't one, you need help. How can I make such a broad-based assessment of teams I know nothing about? It's because I do know something about Millennials....my staff and volunteer teams are comprised largely of them. Here's what I know: Millennials think differently, communicate differently, respond differently, and have different needs than any generation previous to them.
If your primary experience has been with leading boomers, busters, and gen-xers, I don't have to go far out on a limb to predict that you've had some challenges relating to the younger folks on your team. There is no way that I can even begin to tackle all the issues you may need to have resolved, so I just want to make a couple of suggestions that may help you move toward more fruitful relationships.
1. Listen
Remember, Millennials think, communicate, and respond DIFFERENTLY, not WRONGLY. The world they were raised in looked very different from the one you were raised in, and as a result, they see things differently. We don't have the luxury, as leaders, of relating to all our team members in the way most comfortable for us (unless we want to weed our teams down to people exactly like us). This means we "old dog" leaders must be willing to learn a new trick. The answer for our generational conflicts isn't to leave a group behind, but to learn from them. This requires a skill we might not be as thrilled about developing, but our teams sure will appreciate when we do...LISTENING. The divide between you and your millennials won't be bridged by more talking, it will be bridged by more listening. Ask purposeful questions that will give you real insight into their world, and then be quiet. Even be bold enough to ask the question, 'how do you need to be led?' This will prove more fruitful than the frustration-fest conversations you've been having.
2. Learn
Don't be scared of a little education. Do some reading on the millennial mindset and see if there are some easy adjustments you can make in leading them. For instance, it is well-documented that millennials thrive on immediate feedback, and lots of it. This means instead of restricting 'evaluation' to a formal time and space, we should be providing constant evaluation in real-time, giving our team the opportunity to put our insights to work for them immediately.
It is also widely accepted that millennials desire, even demand, authenticity. If they don't feel a genuine connection to you as a leader, to your heart and your vision, you will lose them. The days of facade-oriented, surface level relationships with team members are over. This is, quite frankly, a good thing. Mark 3 outlines the leadership style of Jesus in verse 14 as He calls His disciples to Himself. Mark records that He ordained them to BE WITH HIM and to preach. The first order of business for Jesus as He developed His team was to cultivate authentic relationship...everything that followed was based on that. For us this means that we can choose to invest in open, honest, conversations that reveal who we are at a core level to our team members. That authenticity will build trust and loyalty and create the success we need in our church or business.
Two key questions: Can you listen to your team? Can you learn something new about how they perceive and respond to life? If your answer is yes to both, then you are positioned to succeed in managing millennials.
Some helpful articles:
http://talent.linkedin.com/blog/index.php/2013/12/8-millennials-traits-you-should-know-about-before-you-hire-them
http://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2014/12/04/giving-s-m-a-r-t-feedback-to-millennials/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2014/08/14/authenticity-the-way-to-the-millennials-heart/
No comments:
Post a Comment