This guy gets it.
Posted On June 13, 2013
Came across this commentary on inspiring Millennial employees in Forbes the other day and thought it was worth sharing. The theory and tips and “story behind the story” of managing across the generations that our team provides to clients around the country is important. But sometimes it’s helpful to hear it straight from the folks in the trenches figuring out how to make things work. This guy gets it – and what’s even better, he admits he didn’t always get it. Change can lead to good things.
Author Ty Kiisel confirms the experiences I’ve had over the years and what I’ve seen clients and peers come to realize. But his third point made me pause. Take a look (emphasis is mine):
Don’t depend on where you are within the organizational hierarchy: Of course this might change as the millennial generation gets older and starts to enjoy the perks associated with organizational hierarchy. I hope that doesn’t happen. It may be a pipe dream, but I hope the perks associated with leading an organization come more in line with the perks associated with working in an organization. There are CEOs, some I’ve really come to respect over the years, who claim that what they do is just a different role and not any more important than any other role in the organization.
Millennials have shown a great tendency toward equal rights in the political and social realms. As they gain more and more positions of leadership (the eldest are just in their early 30s) – especially as they rise in the ranks of corporate America – will their fundamental value for equality stay with them when it comes to salary and organizational structures? Or will they primarily avoid that conflict by avoiding the corporate ranks all together? It is a fascinating question.
My only insight – not scientifically relevant at all – is my time at the St. Gallen’s Symposium in Switzerland a while back where most of the Leaders of Tomorrow voted that the banking industry is the one that causes most of the disparities we see in our society today yet the majority of them also stated they were interested in getting into banking due to the opportunities to make big money. They seemed to say “disparity is a problem but as long as the problem in known and allowed and makes people big money, I want in.” And I couldn’t help but notice that the majority of corporate sponsors for the event were banks and that many of the bank CEOs that attended flew in on private jets.