Let’s Talk About the Generation Shaping Our Market and World—Millennials—and How They Interact with Leadership
Managers usually feel uncertain when talking about millennials, and that’s not surprising considering fear is the defining word of this generation.
That’s why they’re called the “Lost Generation.”
In fact, those in the millennial generation—born from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s—have lost quite a lot: the chance to have a better life than their parents (wealthier, richer, happier), an honest point of reference (government and authorities are motivated by personal interests and status, or they simply don’t care about them), the perception of self (bombarded by images of fake and inflated realities on social media and online), and, ultimately, faith in money and its power to enhance the world.
On top of all that, they’re losing a big battle: the battle of expectations.
Managers, however, are very much attracted to expectations; especially those managers who are part of the baby boomer generation. Unlike millennials, they haven’t been disappointed. They obtained the success they thought they would, and then some.
In fact, they exceeded both their own expectations and those of their parents who lived through the Depression Era. Thanks to a time of unprecedented economic prosperity during the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, baby boomers were left feeling gratified, optimistic, and enthusiastic about expectations.
Unfortunately, the same no longer applies, as we find ourselves in the face of significant uncertainty.
Expectations didn’t work before COVID-19, and they really won’t work afterward. To be ready to face this unknown next chapter, organizations should first abandon blinding, psychological biases.
In this regard, millennials are way ahead of us: Experience has taught them not to trust expectations. At first they were accustomed to them (expectations from parents, teachers, bosses) and they even craved them (expectations associated with feelings of attachment). But, once confronted with real life, many assumptions about what that would be like were shattered, and hopes placed on them became unrealistic.
But they’ve grown to accept this.
I am not saying that from now on you shouldn’t give your 20-to-30-something-year-old employees specific goals and expect that they will reach them. I’m saying that to be effective, you have to modify how you say things.
If in the ’80s and ’90s it was common to motivate employees with authority and superiority, today it is necessary to use trust and esteem. And not just by our words but by our actions.
Authority and superiority imply hierarchy—orders that come from above. Trust and esteem, on the other hand, come from your employees. They are values gained from mutual connection. You can gain trust and earn esteem from your employees by giving them something unexpected in return: freedom. In the beginning it may feel unnatural, but it will create an environment that is both stimulating and productive.
Freedom means listening before speaking.
Be careful: These principles should not disrupt the organizational structure of your company. Of course, you are the leaders; you establish the objectives of the company. Yet the communication structure does not have to be the same as the organizational one. Direct communication with one another is essential to the flow of creativity. How many times do we tell clients to “use analytics”? Well, maybe it’s time we take our own advice. Listen to your personal analytics; listen to your employees at every level.
Freedom means trusting employees to manage their time autonomously.
Time is our scarcest resource, and millennials value time more than money: 60% of Italian millennials say that training and educational opportunities are more important than economic rewards. As leaders, you set the business goals for the future (the framework), but your allies will decide how to get there and how much time it will take. Time is subjective. If an employee is more inclined to pursue the company goal by first following a personal one, why not encourage them to do so?
Freedom means allowing room for trial and error: Millennials understand that life is imperfect.
If you try to impose a perfectionist model, you’ll quickly lose worker trust. If the expectations are unrealistic, they will simply await inevitable failure. Instead, if you make failure the goal from the beginning, you will eliminate fear and make room for experimentation. This in turn will lead to a more productive, stimulating, and enjoyable workplace prepared to face difficult times of change and uncertainty. In this environment, unpredictability will inspire creativity and innovation because there are no preconceptions, a.k.a. expectations.
This is why letting go of expectations is crucial to create a happier workplace and ensure the safety of your business. It means staying true to our mission as B Corps: to improve lives. At the end of the day we do it for love, for our business, and for our team; and love conquers fear.
Fear is destructive for all generations. So let’s show millennials that they can trust their surroundings again. Let’s start with your fear, as managers, of losing control. Let go of control, introduce freedom, and you will quickly realize that your fear is groundless.
You are great managers, so trust yourselves and have faith in those you have chosen to be on your team—they are your allies.
B the Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.
Hey Business Managers: Are You Ready to Give up Control? was originally published in B The Change on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
