Leading Across Generations: What Millennials Teach Us About Effective Leadership

I recently came across an insightful article about leading millennials, and I believe its principles are applicable to everyone, not just millennials. You can read the full article here, but what particularly caught my attention were these four elements outlining what millennials expect from their leaders: Mission-based role assignment, Acknowledgment of life outside of work, Attention as an individual, not a group, and Encouragement to work toward something greater than themselves.

The article discusses the characteristics and expectations of millennials in the workplace, as well as the leadership styles and traits that resonate with them. Here’s a brief summary:

Millennials in the Workplace: Millennials represent the largest generation in today’s workforce and bring unique expectations and values. They challenge traditional leadership styles and prioritize communication, relationship-building, and empowerment.

What Millennials Want in a Leader: They seek companies with compelling mission statements beyond profit, desire acknowledgment of their life outside of work, crave personalized leadership, and strive for fulfillment aligned with a meaningful mission.

Modern Leadership Styles for Leading Millennials: Effective leadership involves fostering innovative thinking, prioritizing employee well-being and development, showing empathy, inspiring innovation and change, and prioritizing diversity and inclusion.

Traits of Millennial Leaders: Millennials are willing to speak out, prefer teamwork, value diversity and purpose, prioritize flexibility, excel in communication, and are work-focused.

As I mentioned earlier, what millennials want in a leader and the leadership styles they prefer are qualities that we all desire from our bosses, at least that’s what I sought during my time in the Army.

Do you agree?

66 thoughts on “Leading Across Generations: What Millennials Teach Us About Effective Leadership”

  1. Well leadership is not for anyone to have. That quality is only found in the ones who are ready to grow together.
    Any type of greed can make your team lose 🙂

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  3. Culture seems to have a lot to do with leadership style and I am reminded of an observation from the early nineties that, in the US, a team tends to be seen as a pool of talent that those with leadership pretentions can try to exploit to make themselves look good. This never went down well in Australia and I’m left wondering if this exploitative and disrespectful attitude is at the core of what Millennials resent in old school leaders in the US.
    It’s undoubtedly more complex than that but I’ll let it go there.
    Thanks.

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    1. That’s a good point, and you are probably right. At least that is what some millennials will point to. But, as you said, it’s more complex than that, and there are too many variables involved.

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  5. Interesting point! Reading this sheds some light on some of the leadership traits I see in the younger generation that are effective. I tend to be more af an authoritarian leader, so sometimes we butt heads. I can definately add this to my repetoire.

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        1. That’s true. I think that decentralized leadership is acceptable in some cases as long as they follow the provided intent and accomplish the overall objectives. For example, in the U.S. Armed Forces, some decentralization is acceptable because we don’t want our military personnel to wait for detailed instructions from higher command before completing a task, unlike the Russian Army, which is highly centralized and rigid. Flexibility is acceptable, and in my opinion, the new generation provides that.

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  10. Great encapsulation Edward. I’ll read the rest when I have time to digest it. On the whole I’m seeing them over wrote with work and device addicted. The high powered kids in my life are burning the candle at both ends and overwrought with work. My daughter that is a single mom and a school teacher has it the most figured out… of course she has great family support but the she is crafty , thrifty, using sites like “buy nothing”. and is enjoying life. It’s painful to watch the others even in the midst of the break out of fun they have but TG for that💓

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    1. Cindy, you just brought up a good point. Overwrought with work and device addiction, I’m a firm believer that device addiction is a serious problem that might negatively impact our future as a country, but I never thought about the specific areas it affects. “Buy nothing”—I didn’t know about this, and I just looked it up; it’s an interesting concept. I’m going to check out that website. Well, you just gave me a few points to chew on.

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            1. I know, but the consumerism mentality is so pervasive, at least in this country, that it’s still driving the way we live. We’re still buying big trucks and SUVs even though most Americans don’t need them. I think we have some way to go, but we’ll get there.

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                1. Yes, they are. Have you seen the number of community projects that they are leading to address what was just mentioned? There is one that I saw on NBC Nightly News about an apartment complex that does not allow cars. The complex has stores, a cafe, outdoor seating spaces, and residents are provided with a transportation discount card. It’s a pretty cool concept.

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  12. What I’m about to write has nothing to do with leading and leadership.

    So here it goes. I owe my life to a millennial, literally. I needed a donor to receive a stem cell transplant back in 2015. Being a donor and giving the gift of life is one the greatest things you can do for another human being.

    My donor was a millennial in good physical health, fitted all the criteria to be a perfect match for a successful transplant.

    Again, I owe my life to a selfless, empathic millennial, who had nothing to gain himself, but offered me a second chance at life. Priceless.

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  13. I don’t have any millennials on my team but I love the values you call out. There is so much hope when we have a purpose bigger than profit. I agree – those are great signs of a leader for every generation!

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  14. Absolutely, the principles outlined in the article about leading millennials are applicable to everyone in the workforce, regardless of age or generation. The desire for mission-driven work, acknowledgment of life outside of work, individualized attention, and encouragement towards a greater purpose are universal human needs. Effective leadership that prioritizes communication, empowerment, empathy, and fostering a sense of belonging resonates with people across different generations and industries. These qualities not only enhance employee satisfaction and engagement but also contribute to organizational success and growth.

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  15. This is spot on. In my previous job, I led crews of 90 to 200 people, a good portion of them were millennials and Gen Z. I am very proud of the fact that many of them told me I was the best boss they ever had, which proved to me that my approach worked. I had the most successful teams, and many of them are still succeeding to this day, which I am very proud of.

    They could be challenging at times, but so could the Gen Xers that I led, honestly. Oftentimes, the hardest part was getting Gen Xers and the few boomers left to understand what was important to the generations that followed.

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      1. Thank you, Edward. Lot of good folks, and I still miss them.

        The biggest challenge with Millennials and Gen Z is sometimes getting them to understand and accept that sometimes things just are what they are, whether it be a policy, work condition, etc., and honestly, why good attendance and output was important. Trying to get them to understand that the business can’t just stop because they had a fight with their S.O. or because they “don’t feel like moving fast” could be tough.

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          1. Exactly. That’s why I have always been a hands on leader. I am out on the floor and not perched in my office. Once a lot of them saw that I was willing to do what was needed to keep things moving, and wasn’t afraid to get dirty, most responded well.

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              1. We had a ton of turnover issues based on multiple reasons, but one of the biggest was a strict attendance policy. I would try and talk to people and explain to them that there is minimal leeway, but depending on the circumstance, there may be options like FMLA, LOA, etc.
                But, ultimately, I found that the “old school” supervisors were nowhere as successful as I was in dealing with people. The 80s and 90s mindset is dead, but some just refused to see that. Fear based leadership rarely works anymore. Most will hand you their badge and walk on the spot these days.

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                  1. Yes, 100%! I worked with one who was 68 and wasn’t going to go, and they finally nudged him along.
                    Ironically, I texted him today, and he said he was entertaining a comeback with another company, but the plant had too many issues and he didn’t want quite that many headaches.

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                    2. I guarantee 100% he will un-retire when he gets the right call. He’s a great guy, but just too set in his ways. These younger crews, he just can’t adapt to their mindsets.

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                    3. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I struggle with the older individuals who don’t want to retire. I understand that some of them are just afraid and don’t know what else to do. For instance, the person I mentioned is afraid that he’ll die as soon as he retires. While I believe they are still valuable members, they could take on different roles such as mentors, rather than leading small teams on the company’s floor. In the Army, I think there is a bit of selfishness, especially among those who are married with children. Families may be eagerly anticipating their retirement after years of deployments and separation, but instead, these Army Soldiers continue to serve and are reluctant to give their families the few years they have left.

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                    4. I struggle with it too, Edward. My former colleague was similar to yours. Not as much worried about dying, but not wanting to sit home and do tasks for his wife all day, or have to go take a part time job bagging groceries somewhere.
                      They had discussed utilizing him in a different fashion at our old company, but nothing ever came of it. Sadly, his shift suffered greatly for it, because he was out of touch and too stubborn to adapt. That’s why they finally started nudging him with corrective actions, etc. He had enough and announced his retirement.
                      He was doing ok financially, he has a cabin in Alaska near where his daughter lives up there, and two or three grandkids. He also has a son who lives around here with a kid. Dude, go chill in your cabin a few months a year, see the family up there, come home and hang with your son and grandkid and hunt and fish.
                      But, as you say, some just cannot let go.

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                    5. Well said. I don’t have that problem, my friend. I pulled the retirement trigger fast, and I have no complaints yet. Focusing on my family now and enjoying my son through his high school years is all I need.

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