Life Lessons in 4 Strategies for Millennial Leaders
Gen Z is not the enemy. And as a millennial, you can lead Gen Z and younger generations and not drive yourselves crazy.
I want to talk about four sustainable strategies around how we can lead younger generations to success as millennials.
Strategy number one for millennials learning how to lead younger generations is that you need to be able to care about the whole person. You have to be person-centered. You must be more than just work-centered. You must be more than just stakeholder-centered, student-centered, and customer-centered. You have to be human-centered. You have to be people-centered, which means connecting with the person you are working with and connecting to the entity in front of you.
Strategy number two is don't take questions as disrespect. Just because somebody asks you a question does not mean they're disrespecting you. Questioning is not automatically disrespectful. People are asking for additional direction. If they're asking so many questions in public, you need to be more explicit. Take that as an opportunity for you to get better.
Strategy number three is to leave space for autonomy and creativity. Yes, it is your responsibility to provide direction. Yes, it is your responsibility to provide structure. Yes, it is your responsibility to provide frameworks and guidance. But you have to leave some space for creativity, autonomy, and innovation.
Strategy number four is to invite younger generations into mentorship. Even if it's not mentorship with you, we must be good bosses and supervisors. We're the bosses now. We're in charge now. We're leading teams now. Let's think about how we didn't appreciate older generations supervising and leading us, and let's not perpetuate some of the same bad behavior.
Let's be intentional about the kind of leaders we are so that we can lead generations who not just walk in our footsteps but also create pathways.
If this conversation inspired you, if you want to be a better leader or be more intentional about being the kind of leader that inspires generations to come, then I invite you into mentorship.
Check back each week for the newest blog post from Mentor Me!