I'm sure at one other time I have written about the bad behavior of other generations in this blog. I have noticed that everyone is always so quick to point out the flaws of Millennials and very slow to consider their own. Last night I had an experience which once again reminded me that maybe we are a little less than accurate about our interpretations of Millennials compared with other generations.
Case in point...I was at an event yesterday giving a presentation. The audience was made up of young Millennials (high school seniors) and their parents. Also in attendance were a few other professionals. Safe to say a majority were young people but other generations were certainly represented. Here's what struck me. At one point I looked around the room to see all of the Millennials fully attentive and listening to the speaker. They weren't distracted by cell phones or each other. Then next to me is a gentleman who was in the Baby Boomer generation sitting playing games on his blackberry throughout the entire presentation. Now I could understand a little if he had work to do but he was playing solitaire. Not discretely but quite obviously. Now Boomers please don't think that I believe that everyone is just like that, although I would argue that we stereotype Millennails into one grouping so why would it be unfair to do the same to other generations? This isn't by any means the first time I have seen Millennials behaving in a totally appropriate manner while other generations have behavior that is less than desirable.
So what does all this mean? Well the moral of the story is DON'T GENERALIZE AND SAY ALL MILLENNIALS ARE DISRESPECTFUL AND DON'T KNOW HOW TO BE PROFESSIONAL!!! Clearly there are people in other generations who can behave poorly too! We all have our moments, but the key is we have a tendency to be more critical of Millennials because they are so different from us. Maybe it's time we started looking at ourselves and asked what kind of role models are we?
Want behavior to change? BE A GOOD ROLE MODEL and live the kind of behavior you want to see from young people!!!
Millennials and Success - A New Recipe
We all know that Millennials are different. It's evident in the amount of information that is out there (both good and bad) about how they work, live, and play. Although we hear many horror stories about them, what we are seeing is just how successful they are as entrepreneurs. I recently read an article that talked about some of the most successful Gen Yer's and I have to admit I found myself a little jealous. Why am I not doing some of the things they are? Why am I not utilizing all this social media to promote my message or my brand? It made me start to wonder if part of the negative attention that Millennials receive is simply the rest of us being a little upset at the fact that we aren't doing these things. I mean, let's be serious, are there any of us who would say we wouldn't want to have a better balance between work and life? (although I have to admit I have a pretty good balance right now). We've talked about this before, the difference between us and Millennials, they expect it and get it. So we say, well they're lazy; they don't value work; they don't understand the work environment and how it's supposed to be. Well, let's think about it, what is it supposed to be like? Honestly, every generation that enters the workplace, changes it in some way. So they are only doing what every other generation before them has done.
So, to honor their potential greatness, I'd like to highlight a few Millennials who I think work hard, but more importantly work very smart. I think this is the defining element for Millennials. They use tools that help them work smarter (not that the rest of us don't but I have seen countless employers underestimate how quickly Millennials can accomplish tasks). Here are a few of my favorites...
Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen
http://www.internqueen.com/
I talk about this young lady all the time when I discuss internships with students. She has such an amazing success story. She turned her experience in 15 different internships during college into a highly successful consulting business. You can follow her on twitter at http://twitter.com/InternQueen. What I love about her is she has great advise for both students and employers about internship success.
Dan Schawbel, Author of the book “Me 2.0”
http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/
Here is another very successful Millennial who has written a book about the importance of developing a personal brand. In a world that is driven by social media and having an online presence, I am reminded just how important it is to manage your identity and the brand that you (or others) will develop. His blog has some really great ideas and information about personal branding!
Need more convincing about just how innovative and successful this generation is? This article discusses 13 of the more successful Millennials out there http://www.lifewithoutpants.com/generation-y/13-generation-y-rockstars/
The key behind this months blog is just to celebrate and recognize that Millennials have a lot to offer and we need to look for ways to engage them and connect them to the mission in our companies. I'll talk more about that next month as we discuss strategies for keeping this generation involved.
So, to honor their potential greatness, I'd like to highlight a few Millennials who I think work hard, but more importantly work very smart. I think this is the defining element for Millennials. They use tools that help them work smarter (not that the rest of us don't but I have seen countless employers underestimate how quickly Millennials can accomplish tasks). Here are a few of my favorites...
Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen
http://www.internqueen.com/
I talk about this young lady all the time when I discuss internships with students. She has such an amazing success story. She turned her experience in 15 different internships during college into a highly successful consulting business. You can follow her on twitter at http://twitter.com/InternQueen. What I love about her is she has great advise for both students and employers about internship success.
Dan Schawbel, Author of the book “Me 2.0”
http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/
Here is another very successful Millennial who has written a book about the importance of developing a personal brand. In a world that is driven by social media and having an online presence, I am reminded just how important it is to manage your identity and the brand that you (or others) will develop. His blog has some really great ideas and information about personal branding!
Need more convincing about just how innovative and successful this generation is? This article discusses 13 of the more successful Millennials out there http://www.lifewithoutpants.com/generation-y/13-generation-y-rockstars/
The key behind this months blog is just to celebrate and recognize that Millennials have a lot to offer and we need to look for ways to engage them and connect them to the mission in our companies. I'll talk more about that next month as we discuss strategies for keeping this generation involved.
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