I’ve just started a new job and my boss is a Millennial!
Yes, she’s the Chair of the Board at 25 years of age! A savvy, successful businesswoman and she wants to learn from me.
I love it!
Only two days on the job and she bought me a gift. That’s never happened to me before!
You may have noticed that I love donning bright shades of lipstick everyday. Well my new boss noticed straight away. So she bought me two of the new MAC Retro Matte lipsticks. One was a gorgeous deep, dark pink called “ALL FIRED UP” and the other was a beautiful intense scarlet red called “DANGER LADY.”
So of course I’m all fired up to do my absolute best for her and I can feel a special relationship developing between us already. We can learn so much from each other and achieve great things as a collective genius.
You see what I know and what she knows is that in the 21st century we must harness the potential and the passion of all generations to create the best schools we can. This is the first time since the start of the industrial age that we have four different generations in our workforce and boardrooms all at the same time. Added to this the first Gen Z’s will be graduated from university in 2018 and joining us in 2019. What a fabulous group of diverse perspectives and thought leaders to harness collective genius in our learning spaces and schools?
The thing is that my new boss and I really respect, trust and value each other. We know that we bring different skills, abilities, perspectives and wisdom to the table. My new boss says that she loves working with me because I’m honest and she is learning a great deal from me.
Sadly many Millennials, also known as Gen Y, have been given some bad press over the last five years or so. Millennials were born around1980 – 1996 and are considered the most technologically savvy generation in the workforce living through the birth of the Internet and mobile phones and having digital information at their fingertips, although Gen Z and Gen Alpha will eclipse their knowledge and digital expertise in a few more years.
Millennials have grown up with 1000s of TV Channels, personal computers and instant networking with peers. They love their smart phones. They are empowered, pragmatic, confident, collaborative, versatile and very busy. Growing up the Millennials witnessed the Columbine shootings, 9 /11 and the blended family. They are highly educated, socially conscious, optimistic and adaptable having grown up with constant change and diversity. They seek fast rewards, instant feedback and a sense of safety. Millennials are ready and able to solve problems and take action.
Sadly, many Millennials feel frustrated that they are not listened to, valued or trusted. Most graduate teachers today are Millennials and after a few years of teaching they are confident about taking on leadership positions in schools.
What are you doing to unleash the potential and passion of the Millennials in your school?
I’m trying to fast-track them with the leadership skills I’ve learnt over the past 20 years and you might like to try that too. I’ve created an online leadership course that you can take anywhere and anytime. Check it out here.
Wishing you all the best in developing your teams and harnessing all the collective genius at your school.